True reversed Sicilian?
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So, I just wanted to point out that white Can get a true reversed Sicilian defense if the opening is played right. I’m a c4 player and a Sicilian player and just today I wondered if whites extra tempo could be taken away to get a true reversed Sicilian in the opening as white. I figured that by playing the Saragossa opening (c3) followed by black playing e5 (the most common response), couldn’t white just push to c4 creating a perfect reversed Sicilian?
Mar 12, 2023
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#2
Your actually two moves up with white because you don’t have to play a6 or b6 or e6 or d6 or g6.
I learned it is better to play actively and energetically over wasting tempi.
Mar 13, 2023
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#4
wdym5 wrote:
So, I just wanted to point out that white Can get a true reversed Sicilian defense if the opening is played right. I’m a c4 player and a Sicilian player and just today I wondered if whites extra tempo could be taken away to get a true reversed Sicilian in the opening as white. I figured that by playing the Saragossa opening (c3) followed by black playing e5 (the most common response), couldn’t white just push to c4 creating a perfect reversed Sicilian?
Why would you want to do that? It would be just as stupid for me to play 1.d3 d5 2.e3 e5 3.d4 just to get a French. Sure, it's my favorite defense, but like any other defense, including the Sicilian, Black is at a slight disadvantage. Why torture yourself? I want the slight edge as White, and a line I have played multiple times is 1.b4 e5 2.Bb2 f6 3.b5 d5 4.e3 Be6 5.d4 e4 and you have a reversed French with interest. Black will almost certainly have to play ...f5, taking an extra move. He has to worry about castling and the weakness of d5 having already moved the f-pawn. White has his pawn on b5 and ready to play c4. This position is far better for White than 1.d3 d5 2.e3 e5 3.d4 is.
Mar 13, 2023
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#5
wdym5 wrote:
I figured that by playing the Saragossa opening (c3) followed by black playing e5 (the most common response), couldn’t white just push to c4 creating a perfect reversed Sicilian?
I seem to recall that Carlsen did this once, maybe four or five years ago when he was playing the Sveshnikov pretty regularly. I want to say that it was against Svidler, I think in an OTB rapid tournament, and that they repeated a line they'd recently played with colors reversed.
Objectively speaking, not a great idea to give up your first-move advantage. Not insane either, but I wouldn't call this a "Carlsen did it so I should too" situation.
Mar 13, 2023
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#6
Looked it up. Not far off -- I had the right players, but it was only three years ago and therefore online, not OTB, and blitz, not rapid.
https://www.chess.com/news/view/grischuk-steinitz-memorial-chessbrah-invitational-chess.
Also, Carlsen had announced before the tournament that he was going to play this against him as White, after Svidler had given him a hard time about how he had played the same line as black.