How would you deal with the Rossolimo Attack?

I recently heard about it and I want to know how to play as white and how to defend as black.

I hate it also

There is no one said way to do it.  A lot depends on your style of play, and what Sicilian you play as Black when White goes main line.

That said, it can also be avoided completely!  Don't play 2...Nc6.  The only Sicilians where 2...Nc6 is the only way to get there are the Accelerated Dragon (2...d6 leading to the Dragon and 2...g6 leading to the Hyperaccelerated Dragon are two totally different beasts) and the Sveshnikov.  You can get to the Classical via 2...d6, the Scheveningen via 2...e6 or 2...d6, etc.

Note I am excluding side lines, like the Ga-Pa Sicilian.  There's a reason it's rarely ever played at the top level.

On the flip side, as White, most now-a-days take on c6 immediately, inflicting the doubles pawns on Black, but again, you can't rely on the Rossolimo as your lone variation against the Sicilian as nothing forces Black to play 2...Nc6.

2...e6 is a good way to avoid the various 3.Bb5 openings.

But like TF said, it depends on what you prefer.

If an opening is annoying to you, the first thing I suggest is to look at some games using the main lines. If you get a feel for what's going on, sometimes you may even start liking the opening.

The Rossolimo is such a pain for black nowadays that if you like the Sveshnikov I would recommend 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bf4 e5 8.Bg5 as your move order. Of course white can deviate, but overall I think it is better to deal with white's other choices in this line than the Rossolimo.

Is the Canal-Sokolsky attack the same as the Rossolimo attack?

3.Bb5 on 2...Nc6 dat much a problem?  lots of ideas for both sides... i asked the great openings Jan about this once; he went through some of them.  i like 3...Nf6 or ...d6.  3...g6 as pfren posted is good too.  many transpositions and black often has slight problems in other lines, although again many possibilities.

Thanks guys... NE7 that's not it.

Is taking on c6 right away better than 0-0?

AFAIK, you either force the doubled pawns or let black have a harmless advanced french-like structure.

Which is to say, white is capturing on c6 sooner or later. Also AFAIK, if you wait too long to capture, you'll get the ideal positions a tempo or two behind what you'd normally have which are also harmless for black.

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessopening?eco=b51

Odd...don't know why the databases I have have that name for it...

But I just put 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 into one of my own opening databases and that's called the Rossolimo attack...

http://www.365chess.com/eco/B30_Sicilian_Nimzovich-Rossolimo_attack_(without_...d6)

http://www.365chess.com/eco/B51_Sicilian_Canal-Sokolsky_(Nimzovich-Rossolimo_Moscow)_attack

Is like one supposed to be an accelerated Rossolimo attack or something?

No, they're different.

It's like being confused that Bb5 is the Spanish while Bc4 is the Italian 

I'm just confused why the one database calls 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 the Nimzovich-Rossolimo attack (without d6) and the other (1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+) the Canal-Sokolsky Nimzovich-Rossolimo-Moscow attack.

Or you can sometimes play c3 and get your bishop to c2, or even to f1 after Re1. 0-0 is the main line I'm pretty sure.

Most people call 2...Nc6 3.Bb5 Rossolimo
Most people call 2...d6 3.Bb5 Moscow

Maybe the hilariously long name is because there are transpositions, so it lists everything it could be.

Okay, that makes sense.

Bf1, c3, d4 is the main idea in some of the lines involving Bb5 on the 3rd move. In this variation (2...Nc6 and 3...g6) I don't think that's normal.

I don't have my database to check though. But I remember capturing on c6 and playing against the doubled pawns is good in some variations. Although the line Pfren showed has zero of the problems for black that I like to see as white heh.

It seems that everything always goes very tactical for white.

It's possible in the g6 variation as well. Of course taking is fine but it's just that no other lines were analyzed yet besides the immediate capture.

The knights are absolute beasts!