Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...c5/2. Nf3/2...d6/3. d4/3...cxd4/4. Nxd4/4...Nf6/5. Nc3/5...a6

Sicilian Najdorf
a b c d e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h
Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN) rnbqkb1r/1p2pppp/p2p1n2/8/3NP3/2N5/PPP2PPP/R1BQKB1R w
Moves: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6

Sicilian Najdorf

5...a6 is the characteristic move of the Najdorf Variation of the Sicilian Defence, the most popular variation of the entire Sicilian Defence. The variation is named after the Polish-Argentinian Grandmaster Miguel Najdorf. In one sense, 5...a6 is a waiting move; White has no immediate threats, so Black delays developing their minor pieces until they know where they will be best placed. Flexibility is the key to this opening: depending on White's choices, Black may develop their queen's knight to c6 or d7 and their light-squared bishop to b7 or d7. Additionally, Black retains the option of playing ...e6 or ...e5, depending primarily on White's deployment of the bishops: 6.Bc4 and 6.Bg5 are both moves that directly control d5 and so ...e7-e5 in those cases cannot be recommended. It is, however, this flexibility that makes the Najdorf a hot favorite with the world's chess elite.

5...a6 is not without its own purposes, however. On a6 the pawn prevents a White piece from coming to b5, thus preparing ...e5 while preventing Bb5+ or Ndb5. It also supports the advance of the b-pawn with ...b5. If Black achieves this thrust, they will gain space on the queenside, further restrict White's pieces, and create the option to fianchetto the light-squared bishop with ...Bb7. White should be ready to counter a minority attack on the queenside. One idea, however, is to allow ...b7-b5, and then counter with a2-a4, hoping to prove that the pawn thrust has only weakened Black's queenside.

The most aggressive move for White is 6. Bg5, threatening to exchange the knight, giving Black doubled pawns. 6. Be2 is the Classical/Opocensky variation, in which White seeks to play positionally and exploit the weak d5-square if Black plays ...e5. 6. Be3, the English Attack (recently White's most popular choice) in which White has a simple plan of playing Qd2, castling queenside, playing f3 to secure e4 and g4 and pushing forward the kingside pawns and mating Black. There are also some deeper, more subtle positional ideas behind this move, but that is the basic outline of White's plan. Today, the Fischer-Sozin attack with 6. Bc4 has become unpopular for White, but was a Fischer favorite throughout his career and can lead to a brutal attack if Black is not careful. 6. f3 is mainly a transpositional tool for the English attack (to avoid the annoying line 6.Be3 Ng4). 6. f4, the Amsterdam variation, was favored by Tal and the Hungarian players Leko and Judit Polgar, hoping to directly pressure e5 and in some cases attack along the f-file. Fischer's other contribution to Najdorf theory, 6. h3, is rarely seen, preparing g2-g4 to fianchetto the bishop, while the immediate fianchetto, 6. g3, is out of favor now. 6. a4, preventing ...b7-b5, is considered innocuous, as it leaves a hole on b4 for Black's knight.

Theory table

For explanation of theory tables, see theory table and for notation, see algebraic notation.

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6

	6	7	8	9
English Attack	Be3 e5	Nb3 Be6	f3 Nbd7	Qd2 Be7	+/=
Opocensky Variation	Be2 e5	Nb3 Be7	O-O O-O	Be3 Be6	+/=
Traditional Main Line	Bg5 e6	f4 Qb6	Qd2 Qxb2	Rb1 Qa3	+/=
Fischer-Sozin Attack	Bc4 e6	Bb3 b5	O-O Be7	Qf3 Qb6	=
	f4 e5	Nf3 Nbd7	Bd3 Be7	O-O Qb6	+/=
English Attack	f3 e5	Nb3 Be6	Be3 Be7	Qd2 O-O	+/=

References

• Kasparov, Garry, & Keene, Raymond 1989 Batsford chess openings 2. ISBN 0-8050-3409-9.