Attacking in the Alapin Sicilian

So I did a previous blog on attacking in the Hyper-Accelerated Dragon:

http://blog.chess.com/-waller-/attacking-in-the-hyper-accelerated-sicilian

which followed quite a nice game I had as Black in that variation, along with the ideas there. Check it out. Anyway, onto today's subject.

The Alapin is actually a White setup, chosen by players (like me) who like to avoid the Open Sicilian theory, characterised by the move 1.e4 c5 2.c3. Actually, I like to enter the open Najdorf or Dragon and play 6.f4 lines in both, but ... my knowledge of those lines is actually non-existent, and I'm playing in my first OTB tournament since taking up chess a bit more seriously 3 years ago, in a week and a half's time. So ... I've been trialling out the Alapin variation for the past week or so, with the intent of using it in the tournament against Sicilian players. Here are some of the good points about the Alapin:

 - It's way less theoretical than the main line Open Sicilian stuff, which I simply don't have the time or inclination to dig into at the moment! You get to play chess.

 - It can lead to White getting a good position to go for a kingside attack, with a pawn wedge on e5, and a queen-bishop battery on the b1-h7 diagonal.

 - It doesn't hand Black opening equality by any means; not a comfotable ride for the Black player!

Actually I've been playing some nice games with it too. Here are a couple of attacking games I played, in both Black tried 2...e6 which I think is pretty innocuous and I got great positions! The other lines are slightly tougher, but have a look at these anyway.

So I was pretty safe throughout that game really; the next game is against a better opponent, and is a lot more dangerous and sharp! (Read also: more fun and satisfying to win!)

So I hope you enjoyed these games. Maybe try out the Alapin yourself, it's a nice attacking weapon in these circumstances. Thanks for reading!