Every Russian Schoolboy Knows
Revolution Revisited - Part 12: Sicilian with 2.c3
The two games presented in this video illustrate modern developments in the 2...d5 line. As Kasparov points out, in order to avoid a typical isolated pawn scenario Black would like to develop his LSB before playing e7-e6, but the departure of an important defender may cause him some problems with the b7-pawn and/or on the a4-e8 diagonal. Once I decided to follow a Kasparov recommendation to play a sort of Botvinnik Semi-Slav reversed, where instead of trying to win back White's c5-pawn, I went forward with the e-pawn, soon getting it to come to f3, but, as the viewer can see, not a whole lot of good came out of it. The second game showcases the new move 5...Bf5. The energetic play of MVL certainly poses a challenge to that idea.