How to play against main line Bg5 in the Najdorf sicilian

How to play against the adams attack in the Najdorf Sicilian

[@peterbodziony9768]

Another great video Robert! But honestly - I wouldn’t mind seeing even more on the subject - Bg5 in Sicilian is just so complicated… it is literally what caused me to stop playing the Sicilian.

[@robertplunkettschesslab]

I certainly have more material on it. It's an incredibly complex line.

[@MrSupernova111]

Pretty cool! I was looking at the database and black also has 6... Nbd7 instead of 6...e6. I've been playing chess for years but never dedicated any reasonable amount of time learning theory. Thanks for covering this variation in your video! Cheers!

[@robertplunkettschesslab]

I have a few follow up videos on this as well. The theory has a lot of possibilities.

[@MrSupernova111]

@@robertplunkettschesslab . Great! Thanks!

[@siraf1234]

Instead of Bxg5 or Nc5 the database would suggest that ..0-0 is best. Anish Giri's Najdorf course also recommends it, although me personally I think if you play the Najdorf you should play Qb6 or h6 Qb6 instead of the three piece system

[@robertplunkettschesslab]

I didn't know about that move. It looks good. I never considered it because it looked like it was walking into a monster kingside attack. It looks good. I'll have to make another video now to cover it. LOL. Thank you. I've got some research to do.

[@siraf1234]

​​​@@robertplunkettschesslabYes I'm a bit biased because I've checked the Giri analysis, but the quick summary is that f6 does not kill black and after the main line with Rg1 b4 Nce2 e5 f6 exd4 fxe7 Re8 Nxd4 Ne5 is fine for black after both Qb3 Bg4 and Qf4 Qc5 etc. Good luck on the analysis

[@ZaichenkovChess]

Hello Rebert, thank you for your video! I have one question about it - wHy No Qb6 PoIsOn PaWN?

[@robertplunkettschesslab]

It would need it's own video or possibly videos.

[@mementomori5505]

Hi there, it seems 16…h5 17.a3 leaves black with many problems, making the whole 13…Nc5 line unplayable.

[@robertplunkettschesslab]

Leela chess zero had some interesting games in that line and it seems like one of the best tries for white these days but I wouldn't go so far as to say it's unplayable, the positions are still very unclear and black seems to be okay. I will probably have to do a deep dive into some of the more modern lines like 17.a3 in another video and I may end up having to reveal some serious opening novelties..... LOL.

[@mementomori5505]

@@robertplunkettschesslab I would definitely be interested in that! My mainline runs 17.a3 Qb6 18.Kb1 Rb8 (18…b4 19.axb4 Qxb4 20.Rh7 Rb8 21.Bb5+ Belka - Rosenberg 2013) 19.Bh3 b4 20.Nd5 exd5 21.exd5 bxa3 22.b3 I haven’t been able to find any favorable deviations for black As 17…Rb8 18.Re1 seems very uncomfortable for black as there’s no good way to stop Nd5.

[@robertplunkettschesslab]

@@mementomori5505 I have to do more work on it but I looked at this position after the Leela chess zero games I saw and I thought the exact same thing you did so I immediately wondered if 17....Na4 was worth a try. I think it is because it is the only move that cleanly prevents the Nd5 plan. I still haven't worked it all out with the engines yet so I need to do some work on it but my instincts and general principles seem to point to that as a starting point. Of coarse Na4 could be the completely wrong path. I need to look at these lines a lot more deeply.