Download PGN of March ’25 Anti-Sicilian games
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Firouzja and Vidit attempt an interesting sideline in the Rossolimo 3...g6 4.0-0 Bg7 5.c3 e5 6.d4, with varying success. I like 9.Qa4, which is likely to come as a surprise to many Black players.
My personal favourite for this month is Rapport’s game, with a very direct pawn sacrifice in the 2...g6 3.c3 Bg7 4.d4 line, which Fressinet also successfully employed.
Finally, some inspiration for players who want to avoid theory altogether - with Bauer and Chigaev showing the way with a g3-setup after 2...e6 3.c3 d5 4.e5.
3.c3 Sicilian: 3...Nf6 4.h3 [B50]
Alapin players may choose this line to confuse Black with a slightly different move order. Both our games will explore the wild position that occurs after 4...Nc6 5.Bd3 e5 6.0-0 g5!:
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when Megaranto, S - Rozum, I continued 7.Bc4 g4 8.Ng5 gxh3! and Black was quickly winning.
Hikaru had other ideas with 7.Bb5. He should have lost but was saved by his resourcefulness. Nakamura, H - Salem, A is additional proof that this variation is quite promising for Black.
Rossolimo Variation: 3...g6 4.0-0 Bg7 5.c3 e5 6.d4 [B31]
Diving back into better known lines, two super-GMs try their hand at a rare move after 6...cxd4 7.cxd4 exd4 8.Bf4 a6 9.Qa4!?:
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A rare move, compared to the more common 9.Bc4 or 9.Ba4 lines. The text move has a decent score, and at the very least has the merit of potentially confusing Black.
Play continued 9...Nge7 10.Bd6 b6, when Firouzja, A - Caruana, F saw 11.Qa3!? and Caruana quickly crumbled after failing to find the right way out of the opening.
Vidit, S - Fressinet, L varied with 11.Bc4. White achieved an edge out of the opening, but missed his chance and was ultimately outplayed.
2 c3 Sicilian, Hyper Accelerated Dragon: 2.Nf3 g6 3.c3 Bg7 4.d4 [B27-B28]
We saw 3...d5 a few updates ago, but this time Black delays taking the centre with 3...Bg7. Our games saw (with very different move orders) 4.d4 cxd4 (4...d5? 5.dxc5!) 5.cxd4 d5 6.e5 a6 7.h3 Nc6 8.Nc3 f6:
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9.Bd3! A great sacrifice - a line I’d certainly recommend for White.
True to his style, the Hungarian Maestro converted his gambit effortlessly in Rapport, R - Galchenko, M after Black accepted the gift 9...fxe5 10.dxe5 Nxe5 11.Nxe5 Bxe5.
Dubov was a little more cautious however, with 9...e6. Though, as seen in Fressinet, L - Dubov, D, White can also obtain a crushing position if Black isn’t careful.
2...e6 Sicilian: 3.c3 d5 4.e5 [B40]
While this line may often turn into a French Defence, we’ll study two examples where White opts for a setup with g3 and d3, rather d4.
Well known in France and beyond for his creativity, especially in the opening, Christian Bauer did not disappoint after 4...Bd7 5.g3!?, a very rare move:
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Black struggled to respond appropriately and quickly got into trouble in Bauer, C - Martinovic, I.
IM Fantinel decided to push 4...d4, avoiding a transposition to the French Defence. White demonstrated an interesting gambit idea in Chigaev, M - Fantinel, T, after 5.d3 Nc6 6.g3 Nge7 7.Bg2 Ng6 8.Qe2 Qc7 9.0-0:
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White musters some serious counterplay for the e5-pawn. The idea was originally played by Magnus Carlsen in a Blitz game in 2021 - certainly worth a look!
Till next time, Ezra
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