Sicilian Defense, Najdorf Variation
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| Moves | 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ECO | B90–B99 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Named after | Miguel Najdorf | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parent | Open Sicilian | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Najdorf Variation (/ˈnaɪdɔːrf/) of the Sicilian Defence is one of the most respected 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. Many players have lived by the Najdorf (notably Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov, although Kasparov would often transpose into 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 8.Nf5 and the knight on f5 is difficult to dislodge without concessions.
Black's plan is usually to start a minority attack on the queenside and exert pressure on White's e4-pawn. This is often carried out by means of ...b5, ...Bb7, and placing a knight on c5, or c4 via b6.
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 real advantage. Nowadays, White players almost universally respond with the move: 7. f4. White threatens 8. e5 winning a piece, but Black has several options:
Historically speaking, this was the usual reply until the mid-1960s, when the rejoinder 7.Bc4 put the move "out of business". Recently however, ideas have been found by some Dutch players who call this variation De Verbeterde List ("The Improved Strategem"). The idea for Black is to postpone ...e6 in order to retain more dynamic options (for example, to play e7–e5 in one move). The idea was tested by Petrosian, Belov, and others, but received popular attention and developed rapidly after use by Dutch player Lody Kuling in 2007. The most important developments include:
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