Another totally off topic post about chess: the Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation.

This is my 3rd post about chess and my 30th off-topic post.

People who don't play chess don't know what they're missing. There's no better exercise for the brain, and there's no better way to waste time. Chess is a gift from 6th century India. Why not take advantage of it?

In a previous post about chess I wrote about my favorite ending in which the player with two bishops has a small advantage over the player with one bishop and one knight.

This post is about my favorite opening which also is the favorite opening of many grandmasters. It's called the Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation.

I play only on the black side of this opening. The white side requires the chess player to be a fan of violent attacks against the king. I prefer the black side of the Najdorf because it requires the chess player to be a fan of squeezing out a win from a small advantage in the endgame after successfully defending against violent attacks in the middle game.

Here are the moves in descriptive notation.

1. P-K4 P-QB4
2. N-KB3 P-Q3
3. P-Q4 PxP
4. NxP N-KB3
5. N-QB3 P-QR3

Black's 5th move, P-QR3, is what makes this opening the Najdorf Variation.

As black I try to make opening moves which threaten white's king pawn, not that I would ever want to grab a pawn early in the game which would make this dangerous opening even more unsafe for my king. My goal is to gain a bit of time when white has to defend that pawn.

Black has to expect piece sacrifices when white attacks the black king because white often has excellent opportunities to do this in the Najdorf. I try to make moves which discourage these sacrifices because I prefer a more peaceful game.

If with the black pieces I survive the opening and if I survive the middle game, this opening often results in a slightly superior position for black in the endgame which is my favorite part of chess. I have quite a few books about endgames. My favorite is Capablanca's Best Chess Endings by Irving Chernev. Capablanca was from Cuba and he was the world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. He was famous for his skills in the endgame. The book helped me understand how he made moves in the middle game to give him enough small advantages to win the endgame. Studying this one book improved my game tremendously.

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At http://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-openings/sicilian-defense---which-is-the-best I wrote the following comments about the Najdorf:
Najdorf is called the Cadillac of chess openings for a good reason. I suggest play the Najdorf and learn by losing then figuring out why you lost. Expect to lose constantly for a long time but it's worth it.

White often wins by sacrificing one or more pieces. I try to avoid the violence by making moves that discourage those sacrifices.

If Black survives the middle game (usually with both defensive and offensive moves) Black often has enough of an endgame advantage to squeeze out a win.

An interesting thing about the black side of the Najdorf: It often pays to postpone castling. Then you can avoid castling into a king side attack by not castling at all or castling on the queen side.

In the najdorf I learned black should play P-K3 when white's 6th move is B-QB4 or B-KN5. For all other 6th moves by white, black should play P-K4.

When black plays 6..... P-K4, if white's knight retreats to KB3 I develop black's queen bishop to QN2. If white's knight retreats to QN3 I develop black's queen bishop to K3.

I love the black side of the Najdorf (and I love descriptive notation).

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Please see http://darwinkilledgod.blogspot.com/search/label/chess to read my other posts about chess.