Chess openings: Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4 (B93)

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Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4 (B93)
1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 f4

Number of games in database: 3478
Years covered: 1949 to 2023
Overall record:
   White wins 37.4%
   Black wins 30.4%
   Draws 32.2%

Popularity graph, by decade

Explore this opening | Search for sacrifices in this opening.

PRACTITIONERS

With the White Pieces

With the Black Pieces

Andrei Sokolov		35 games
Judit Polgar		33 games
Gyula Sax		32 games

Lev Polugaevsky		30 games
Lubomir Ftacnik		22 games
Ljubomir Ljubojevic		22 games

NOTABLE GAMES [what is this?]

White Wins

Black Wins

Tal vs M Pasman, 1953

Anand vs Kasparov, 1991

Ivanchuk vs Kasparov, 1994

Polgar vs Kasparov, 1996

Anand vs Kasparov, 1992

Short vs Kasparov, 1989

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page 1 of 140; games 1-25 of 3,478

Game Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening
1. Geller vs Taimanov ½-½ 73 1949 USSR Championship B93 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4

2. R Nezhmetdinov vs Aronin 1-0 30 1950 RSFSR Championship B93 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4

3. R Nezhmetdinov vs V Soloviev ½-½ 33 1950 URS-ch sf Gorky B93 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4

4. J Pogats vs C Kottnauer ½-½ 41 1950 Przepiorka Memorial B93 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4

5. Averbakh vs C Kottnauer 0-1 102 1950 Przepiorka Memorial B93 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4

6. C Kottnauer vs Szabados 1-0 32 1950 Amsterdam B93 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4

7. Foltys vs Reshevsky 0-1 40 1950 Amsterdam B93 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4

8. Pilnik vs Szabados 1-0 71 1950 Amsterdam B93 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4

9. Suetin vs Aronin 0-1 41 1950 USSR Championship B93 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4

10. R Toran Albero vs H Corral 1-0 26 1951 Punta del Este 1951/52 B93 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4

11. C J Corte vs C F Juarez 1-0 39 1951 Buenos Aires B93 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4

12. R Shocron vs O Garibaldi ½-½ 41 1951 Buenos Aires B93 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4

13. W Estrada Degrandi vs J Mangini 1-0 49 1951 Punta del Este 1951/52 B93 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4

14. Gligoric vs Pirc 1-0 28 1951 Bad Pyrmont Zonal B93 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4

15. H Kramer vs E Paoli 1-0 71 1951 Bad Pyrmont Zonal B93 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4

16. J de Moura vs E Paoli 1-0 27 1951 Bad Pyrmont Zonal B93 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4

17. Gligoric vs E Kuebart 1-0 63 1951 Bad Pyrmont Zonal B93 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4

18. J de Moura vs Gligoric 0-1 24 1951 Bad Pyrmont Zonal B93 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4

19. J de Moura vs A Pomar Salamanca ½-½ 22 1951 Madrid B93 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4

20. J Sanz Aguado vs R Toran Albero ½-½ 28 1951 Madrid B93 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4

21. Gligoric vs Stahlberg 1-0 31 1951 Staunton Memorial B93 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4

22. C H Alexander vs P Trifunovic ½-½ 26 1951 Staunton Memorial B93 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4

23. E German vs W de Oliveira 1-0 27 1951 Brazilian Championship B93 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4

24. L Rellstab vs E Romani ½-½ 34 1951 Reggio Emilia B93 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4

25. E Paoli vs E Romani ½-½ 44 1951 Reggio Emilia B93 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4

page 1 of 140; games 1-25 of 3,478

REFINE SEARCH: White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)

Jul-23-03		dicoAMS: i'm unable to go through the games please help.

Oct-11-04		AdrianP: What's the current state of theory in the 6. f4 Najdorf - it doesn't seem to be played much at top level anymore. What's the recommended mainline: 6...e5 7. Nf3 Nbd7 ...?

Oct-12-04		acirce: <AdrianP> I think it had an upsurge when Nunn and Gallagher recommended it in <Beating the Sicilian>.. And yes, that would be the main line. 6..e5 7.Nf3 Nbd7 8.a4 Be7 9.Bd3 0-0 10.0-0 something like that. The pawn-grabbing 10..exf4 11.Bxf4 Qb6+ 12.Kh1 Qxb2 is dangerous but interesting.

Oct-12-04		AdrianP: Thanks <acirce> that's v. helpful. I noticed that Leko ventured an outing with this against Kasparov Leko vs Kasparov, 1999 but the game ended in a draw, but am surprised to see pretty much nothing else at top-level in the last 5 years.

Oct-12-04		Dick Brain: The line <acirce> gives as the main line is the main line given by NCO, and it is a fairly recent treatment (not worrying about Bc4 for White). There are many other contunuations that are still used, but that is the popular one when Black wants to steer into Boleslavsky hole positions. 6...e6 going to the Scheveningen is a very common move and 6...Qc7 intending ...g6 later is pretty popular. Also, I don't think either 6...g6 or 6...Nbd7 have been refuted. IIRC 6. f4 got somewhat popular in the 1970's when some English players had some successes with it. Maybe <acrice> is right that 6. f4 had another surge in the 90's in some quarters, but not in these parts: I haven't seen anyone around here take it up. Still, you would or course be smart to have a little something prepared for somebody who has studied Beating the Sicilian.

Oct-12-04		AdrianP: Thanks <Dick Brain>, helpful as well. <Still, you would of course be smart to have a little something prepared for somebody who has studied Beating the Sicilian.> Is there any particular line you recommend?

Oct-13-04		Dick Brain: <AdrianP> Look at Browne's games with the B93 Sicilian here on chessgames.com for several good ideas on how to combat this as Black.

Oct-26-04		AdrianP: <Dick Brain> Thanks. As a token of gratitude here's a Velimorovic Attack Classic from Christiansens Rocking the Ramparts for your collection...! Nunn vs C W Pritchett, 1986 Christiansen gives two more Velimorovic Attack Classics namely Szmetan v Garcia, Malaga 1976 and Boto v Bostic, Bosnia 2001 but I cannot find these either on this database or on my Megabase.

Aug-03-05		farrooj: What's wrong with 6..e5 7Nf3 Be6, followed by Nc6 and d5?

Aug-03-05		Willem Wallekers: <farrooj: What's wrong with 6..e5 7Nf3 Be6?> 8. f5 & 9.Bc4

Aug-03-05		russep: I think that this variation favours white from the time 6.f4 is played. It seems solid for white and hard for black especially if white plays a4, and all of blacks counterplay must be in the centre.

Feb-05-06		BaranDuin: <acirce:The pawn-grabbing 10..exf4 11.Bxf4 Qb6+ 12.Kh1 Qxb2 is dangerous but interesting.> Isn't 12. Qd4 better? Black can't take on b2 (Rfb1 traps the queen) and after ...Qxd4 13. Nxd4 Ne5 14. Bd5 White seems to have a space advantage.

Sep-17-08		hicetnunc: I've just played this line by accident in a blitz game - do you guys think it's viable for black ? : 6.f4 Qc7 7.Nf3 g6 8.e5 dxe5 8.fxe5 Ng4 9.Nd5 Qa5+ (not in chessgames.com database but it creates weaknesses) 10.b4 Qd8 11.h3 e6 12.Nc3 Qc7 13.hxg4 Qc3+ 14.Bd2 Qc7

Oct-15-10		GilesFarnaby: <AdrianP: What's the current state of theory in the 6. f4 Najdorf - it doesn't seem to be played much at top level anymore. What's the recommended mainline: 6...e5 7. Nf3 Nbd7 ...?> You´re right about it not being very popular, ´tho it has kind of resurrected this year at GM (not super-GM generally) level, with goods results for white, you maybe want to look up at World Cup games. Statistically the best way to respond to an early Najdorf f4 is with the classicals e6 or e5. If the f4 is played in lieu of the traditional f3 beggining the English Attack the main line has been simplifying with exf4, but an early open game in Najdorf generally satisfies White´s better diagonals, so I would rather advice you taking the initiative with Ng4, a very good line for Black in rapid games(amongst other things because of the surprise factor), in long games it has a poor record due to the fact that the weaknesses that it created in white´s position are utterly defensible with some care and strategic instinct; in blitz/rapid games playing the Ng4 line usually means going ahead in the clock, and we know how important is that! click for larger view See for example this game, where black doesn´t fully allow the board to be completely opened (otherwise white´s bishops will roll over black knights´ impotence: [Event "EU-chT (Men)"] [Site "Debrecen"] [Date "1992.??.??"] [Round "9"] [White "Brunner, Lucas"] [Black "Kuczynski, Robert"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2500"] [BlackElo "2500"] [PlyCount "68"] [EventDate "1992.11.??"] [EventType "team"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "HUN"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "1999.07.01"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. f4 Ng4 9. Bd2 Qb6 10. Qf3 exf4 11. Qxf4 Nd7 12. Be2 Nge5 13. O-O-O Rc8 14. Be3 Qc7 15. Nd4 b5 16. Kb1 Nf6 17. a3 Be7 18. Nf5 Bxf5 19. exf5 O-O 20. Bd4 Rfe8 21. g4 Qc6 22. g5 Nd5 23. Nxd5 Qxd5 24. h4 Qc6 25. Bc3 a5 26. f6 Bf8 27. fxg7 Bxg7 28. Rhf1 b4 29. axb4 axb4 30. Qxb4 Rb8 31. Qd4 Rec8 32. Rf3 Qb7 33. Rdf1 Rxc3 34. Qxc3 Nxf3 0-1 I have spoken about the pawn-storming possibilities of f4 here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVi_... <dicoAMS: i'm unable to go through the games please help.> Maybe you want to take a look at my free video tutorial from the very beggining: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxdQ... Anyway, any questions you have I´ll be attentive in case I can help/cooperate with something

Feb-10-15		cbpatzer: GM Petrov has analysis of 6.f4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ylz... and also a live blitz game https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HK4...

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