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In a busy period for elite chess, many more Rossolimos were spotted across high-level tournaments.
The English players brought some sidelines to the spotlight at the London Classic, with games from both Adams and McShane.
Our other games mostly include systems with c3 against the Rossolimos, and include a now recurring protagonist, Erdogmus.
We’ll also see a calmer setup as an answer to 3...Nf6, as demonstrated by Bacrot and Svidler.

Download PGN of January ’26 Anti-Sicilian games

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Rossolimo 3..e6: 4.c3 [B30]

This fourth move is a less common option but was played twice by compatriots Adams and McShane at the London Chess Classic, but with very different outcomes.

Adams was unlucky to be facing Abdusattorov in the form of his life, who won the tournament in stratospheric fashion. Their game continued 4..d5 5.d3 Bd7. Black showed excellent preparation and won relatively quickly in Adams, M - Abdusattorov, N.

In a later round, the game continued 4..a6 5.Bxc6 bxc6 6.0-0 Ne7 7.b3N:

A new idea from White, who decides to treat the position with simplicity. I like this approach, McShane, L - Theodorou, N eventually went White’s way after a balanced game.


Rossolimo 3..e6: 4.0-0 Nge7 5.Re1 h6 [B30]

We’ve seen this line before in a previous update, where Black plays the clever waiting move 5..h6. It seems to have grown in popularity since (though I don’t think I can claim any credit for that!).

Erdogmus, Y - Rapport, R continued 6.c3 a6 7.Bf1 d5. I still like this line for Black, who seems to be scoring quite well with it. White entered an equal endgame but rapidly lost the thread, and the game.


Rossolimo 3..Nf6: 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.d3 Qc7 [B30]

Our next three games stem from this position:

Though 3..Nf6 is not very common, White still needs to be careful not to be caught off-guard. We need to pick a system, and this is the one I suggest!

After 6.a4 e5, White continued 7.Na3 Be6 8.h3 in Hardaway, B - Yalcinkaya, E and achieved a comfortable advantage that was confidently converted.

Bacrot (Alexandre) chose 7.a5, and his game continued 7..Be6 8.Nbd2 Be7. I would probably recommend leaving the pawn on a4, as it is conceptually simpler - but Bacrot, A - Van Foreest, J is still worth a look!

Finally, when Svidler plays, it’s always worth paying attention. Not seeing the need for a4, he went for 6.Nbd2 e5 7.Nc4 Be6 8.b3:

While White won, it had more to do with the player than the opening, though he was never in any trouble. See Svidler, P - Kobo, O.


Rossolimo 3..g6: 4.c3 Nf6 5.Qe2 [B31]

I faced this once as a younger player with Black, and have a memory of losing in around 20 moves. I had no idea what to do!

In this position, Black has two main options.

First, 5..Bg7 the natural way of playing. I’ve analysed Lagarde, M - Uruci, E which shows a solid way forward for White, though Black did blunder quite early on.

Black can also play 5..e5, which was seen in Suyarov, M - Abasov, N. These lines with ..e5 generally look ugly for Black, but are very hard to refute. Suyarov did not manage it either and Black found equality from the opening.



Till next time, Ezra

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