In chess , the Scheveningen Variation of the Sicilian Defence is an opening that is a line of the Open Sicilian characterised by Black setting up a "small centre" with pawns on d6 and e6. There are numerous move orders that reach the Scheveningen; a common one is:
31-492: The seemingly modest d6–e6 pawn centre affords Black a solid defensive barrier, control of the critical d5 and e5 squares, and retains flexibility to break in the centre with either ...e5 or ...d5. Black can proceed with rapid development , and the opening provides sound counterchances and considerable scope for creativity. The line has been championed by Garry Kasparov , among many other distinguished grandmasters . The variation first came to international attention during
62-466: A queenside minority attack to pressure White's e4-pawn. This is often carried out by means of ...b5, ...Bb7, and placing a knight on d5, or c4 via b6. Players began experimenting with 5...a6 in the 1920s, often transposing to the Scheveningen after a subsequent ...e6. The Czech chess master Karel Opočenský was among the first to combine 5...a6 with ...e5, and in an attempt to have
93-604: A Scheveningen ). The Najdorf begins: Black's 5...a6 aims to deny the b5-square to White's knights and light-square bishop while maintaining flexible development . If Black plays 5...e5 ?! immediately, then after 6.Bb5+ ! Bd7 (or 6...Nbd7 7.Nf5) 7.Bxd7+ Nbxd7 (or Qxd7) 8.Nf5, the knight on f5 is difficult to dislodge without concessions. Games in the Najdorf frequently feature opposite-side castling, where White castles long and both sides launch simultaneous attacks on their opponents' kings. Black usually plans
124-482: A list of unorthodox chess pieces, see Fairy chess piece ; for a list of terms specific to chess problems , see Glossary of chess problems ; for a list of named opening lines , see List of chess openings ; for a list of chess-related games, see List of chess variants ; for a list of terms general to board games , see Glossary of board games . Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation The Najdorf Variation ( / ˈ n aɪ d ɔːr f / NY -dorf ) of
155-555: A rather defensive and potentially dangerous position. For this reason, many advocates of this defense tend to play the Najdorf Variation move order and then play 6...e6, transposing into the Scheveningen. The most prominent example of such a preference for the Najdorf move order was seen in World Chess Championship 1984 , where after game one when Kasparov had difficulties in the opening, he never allowed
186-477: A rook) 9.Qe2 Nc5 10.f3. The ensuing position is balanced, with Black ready to counter White's g2–g4–g5 with a7–a6 and b7–b5–b4 on the other flank. After 6.f4, in one of the main lines, 6...Nc6 7.Be3 Be7 8.Qf3, White seeks to castle queenside placing his rook on the half-open d-file, and support the g-pawn's advance with the queen. 6.g3; 6.Bb5, etc. These moves are less difficult to meet and are not theoretically challenging to Black. The Keres Attack puts Black into
217-440: A simultaneous pawn storm on opposite sides of the board. This approach has become the modern mainline and is seen regularly at the highest level. The main move. In the early days of the Najdorf 7.Qf3 was popular, but the reply 7...h6 did not allow White to obtain any advantage. Nowadays, White players almost universally respond with the move: 7.f4. White threatens 8.e5, but Black has several options: Historically speaking, this
248-588: Is modeled after the Yugoslav ( Rauzer ) Attack in the Sicilian Dragon . White starts an aggressive pawn storm on the kingside with f2–f3, g2–g4, h2–h4, and often g4–g5. White castles long and a very sharp game is often the result. Black, however, does not have to acquiesce to passive defence and has at least as many attacking threats. The main line continues 6.Be3 a6 7.f3 b5 8.g4 h6 9.Qd2 Nbd7 10.0-0-0 Bb7 ( diagram ). White's plans are to force g4–g5 and open
279-734: Is too dangerous to be ignored. 7.h4 is strongest and the most popular. 7.g5 hxg5 8.Bxg5 Nc6 9.Qd2 Qb6 10.Nb3 a6 11.0-0-0 Bd7 12.h4 gives White an equal game at best. 7...Nc6 8.Rg1 ( diagram ) and here Black has two main lines to choose from: both of which may give White a slight edge. Another very popular line is the Classical Variation (also known as Maroczy Variation ) which is initiated by 6.Be2. Used to great effect by Anatoly Karpov , among other distinguished grandmasters, this methodical approach has gained many followers. The main line continues 6...a6 7.0-0 Be7 8.Be3 0-0 9.f4 Qc7 10.a4 Nc6 11.Kh1 Re8 12.Bf3 ( diagram ) reaching one of
310-508: The Fischer – Sozin Attack 6.Bc4, White tries to pressure the d5-square directly. Viable Black responses in the centre include variations of Nb8–c6–a5 or Nb8–d7–c5, supplemented by a7–a6 and b7–b5–b4 on the queenside. A possible line is 6...Be7 7.Bb3 0-0 8.Be3 Na6 (aiming for the c5-square; note that in case 8...Nbd7, then 9.Bxe6!? fxe6 10.Nxe6 Qa5 11.Nxf8 Bxf8, and White sacrifices two pieces for
341-611: The Sicilian Defence is one of the most popular, reputable, and deeply studied of all chess openings . Modern Chess Openings calls it the " Cadillac " or " Rolls-Royce " of chess openings. The opening is named after the Polish-Argentine grandmaster Miguel Najdorf , although he was not the first strong player to play the variation. Many players have relied on the Najdorf (notably Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov , although Kasparov would often transpose into
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#1732793660301372-588: The ...a6 early line, which can still become quite interesting and complex, and still advantageous for Black, even with the powerful English Attack. Many modern chess software programs, such as HIARCS , still play ...a6 early on, despite the fact that "modern" often precludes the line in definitive analysis, depending on the book. Vlastimil Jansa has advocated this variation. Glossary of chess#development This glossary of chess explains commonly used terms in chess , in alphabetical order. Some of these terms have their own pages, like fork and pin . For
403-538: The 1923 chess tournament in the village Scheveningen at the North Sea coast near The Hague. During the tournament the variation was played several times by several players, including Euwe playing it against Maróczy . White has several different attacking schemes available, but the one considered most dangerous is the Keres Attack, named after GM Paul Keres , which continues 6.g4. This move takes advantage of
434-424: The 1930s, this received little attention until Fischer regularly adopted it, and it was a frequent guest at the top level through the 1970s. White plays 6.Bc4 with the idea of playing against f7, so Black usually counters with 6...e6 7.Bb3 b5. The Sozin has become less popular because of 7...Nbd7 where Black intends to follow up with ...Nc5 later. It is possible to avoid the 7...Nbd7 option with 7.0-0, but this cuts out
465-492: The Amsterdam Variation, leading to a more defensive kingside pawn structure. The idea is to eventually counterattack on the g1–a7 diagonal with a move like ...Qb6, preventing White from castling. An example line would be 6...g6 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.a4 Nc6 (note 8...Nc6 as opposed to the usual Najdorf ...Nbd7, as c6 is a more flexible square for the knight with a queen on b6) 9.Bd3 Qb6. Introduced by Weaver Adams during
496-723: The Black's move 6...e5. Garry Kasparov would often transpose to the Scheveningen (6...e6) to avoid this problem when the two competed for the World Championships. In the 1980s and 1990s, a number of English players ( John Nunn , Nigel Short, and Murray Chandler ) began using an approach previously tried against other Sicilian variations, such as the Dragon. The English Attack, named for them, involves 6.Be3, and often leads to opposite-side castling with both sides launching
527-403: The Keres Attack and finally switched to the Najdorf move order. The Najdorf move order, while eliminating 6.g4, allows White additional options such as 6.Bg5, and g4 is still a possible move after. Basically, the Najdorf move order delays g4 by one move making the attack vastly less powerful, and meanwhile the Scheveningen move order speeds up kingside development making 6.Bg5 much less powerful. As
558-488: The Keres Attack is feared more than 6.Bg5, the Najdorf move order is seen more at the highest level today. Because Najdorf's original intention was to play ...e5 all in one go and the history of the move order, openings beginning with 5...a6 are often put in the Scheveningen category if ...e6 is played immediately after. Much modern analysis of the Scheveningen is under the rubric of the Najdorf . In fact, many books exploring
589-493: The Lipnitzky/Fischer Attack (6.Bc4) for much of his career. He won numerous games with it as White, though in the following years counterattacking approaches were found for Black that led to its decline, though a modern variation (7...Nbd7) caused a resurgence and it appeared in the 1993 PCA World Championship match between Garry Kasparov and Nigel Short . Anatoly Karpov faced the Najdorf many times with
620-661: The Scheveningen today have Najdorf in the title. This, continuing the line of thinking in the English section above, is technically the Najdorf Variation of the Sicilian Defense with the very popular English Attack. Note that the "Modern" Scheveningen only covers lines without an early ...a6 from Black. The "Classical" Scheveningen includes the early ...a6. This distinction is important in choosing books to study, as titles covering recent games will often leave out
651-438: The aggressive possibility of castling long. Because of the success of various players with these variations, White often plays 6.Be2 and goes for a quieter, more positional game, whereupon Black has the option of transposing into a Scheveningen Variation by playing 6...e6 or keeping the game in Najdorf lines by playing 6...e5. Another option is to play 6...Nbd7. Some lines include: GM Daniel King recommends 6...g6 against
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#1732793660301682-453: The e4-pawn, since ...b4 is a threat. It was not until early 2008 that an answer to Black was finally found. After 9.0-0 b4, White has the positional sacrifice 10.Nd5!, which gives Black long-term weaknesses and an open e-file for White to play on. Since then, it has been popular on all levels of play. A notable feature of the Najdorf is the sheer amount of potential white replies - Grandmasters have played 22 different responses to 5...a6. Beside
713-404: The fact that 5...e6 cuts off the black’s light squared bishop's control of g4, and plans to force the knight on f6, Black's only developed piece, to retreat. This also launches White into a kingside attack. Black usually continues with 6...h6 to stop White's expansion. Previously moves like 6...Nc6 or 6...a6 were also recommended for Black but practical tests have shown that White's offensive
744-424: The hands of the Najdorf Variation." So from then on he played something else. A Ruy Lopez as Black, something classic in which the other had to know how to play chess to beat him. 6.Bg5 is an aggressive attempt by White to refute the opening and was regarded as the main line until the 1980s when its use began to decline. Bobby Fischer, who called the Najdorf "one of the greatest creations in chess theory", favoured
775-453: The kingside files to his advantage. The first player may also exert considerable pressure on the d-file. Black will often consider an exchange sacrifice or at least a pawn sacrifice to open the queenside files for the heavy pieces. Time is of the essence and new ideas are discovered each year. Many elite players including Alexander Morozevich , Peter Leko , and Alexei Shirov have poured many hours of study into this critical variation. With
806-718: The main tabiyas of the Classical Scheveningen . White's plans here are to build up a kingside attack, typically by means of g2–g4–g5, Qd1–e1–h4, Bg2, Qh5, Rf3–h3, etc. Black will aim for a diversion on the queenside via the semi-open c-file, or strike in the centre. Positional pawn sacrifices abound for both sides and the theory is very highly developed, thanks to decades of research by the most elite players such as Garry Kasparov , Vasily Smyslov , Anatoly Karpov , Viswanathan Anand , Veselin Topalov , Boris Gelfand and many others. The combative English Attack
837-485: The middle of the twentieth century, this odd-looking pawn move has mostly been used as a surprise weapon to combat the Najdorf. Should Black continue with 6...e5 anyway, White can respond with 7.Nde2 following up with g4 and Ng3, fighting for the weak light squares by playing g5. It is thus recommended that Black prevents g4 altogether with 7...h5. Black can also employ a Scheveningen set-up with 6...e6 followed by 7.g4 b5 8.Bg2 Bb7, forcing White to lose more time by defending
868-461: The seventh or the fourteenth. So then, being a practical person, he thought 'if you have to do something at 7:00AM or at 9:00 or at 10:00, better do it as soon as you get up, and get it over with'. Ironically, Najdorf would abandon the variation later when the theory developed to become very sophisticated: "Here comes some kid who's memorized the moves and he kills me. He arrives with his books, he gets me into something I don't know and Najdorf dies at
899-415: The variation named after him, claimed to have shown it to Miguel Najdorf himself. However, Najdorf was a stronger player and, with the help of other strong Argentine players in the 1950s, deepened the analysis of the opening. He played it as early as 1937. it was Miguel who realized that in this position the move 5...a6 was always useful for Black. If it is not played on the fifth move it will be played on
930-474: The white pieces, and frequently opted for the Classical/Opočenský Variation (6.Be2) (inspired by Efim Geller, who acted as Karpov’s second). The Classical Variation aims to castle kingside for a more positional game, which suited Karpov's style. He contributed both to the theory and the popularity of the variation while at his peak, finding ways to exploit the weakness of the d5-square created by
961-715: Was the usual reply until the mid-1960s, when the rejoinder 7.Bc4 put the move "out of business". Recently, however, the line has seen a resurgence in high-level play. The idea for Black is to postpone ...e6 to retain more dynamic options (for example, to play ...e7–e5 in one move). The most important developments include: This has become the modern main line. Since the early 1990s, the English Attack, 6.Be3 followed by f3, g4, Qd2 and 0-0-0 in some order, has become extremely popular and has been intensively analysed. Four lines are then usual for Black: Introduced by Veniamin Sozin in