Notice how quickly Kasparov is able to mobilize a kingside attack.

After 9. ...Bg7

I'm still in favour of that move, but... I like to be realistic. I don't think the position after the customary 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Bg3 Bg7 is in Black's favour, maybe it's = maybe with a slight White advantage as with all good openings. Were it we would see more often at top level, and White would stop playing 6.Be3.

It seems that the most popular way to play it today is not as at Kasparov's time but with 10.h3 Ne5 11.Nf5 Bxf5 12.exf5 Nbc6 13.Nd5 e6 14.fxe6 fxe6 15.Ne3 O-O reaching this position:

click for larger view

White has the bishop pair, and a clear dominance of light squares. On the other hand, his activity on the king side has been slowed down, especially because also White will prefer to castle kingside (Bg7 is too powerful). And Black has a central pawn majority.

I'm willing to play such unbalanced position, just make sure you are as well before committing to 6...Ng4.

Last note: I wouldn't rely on winning as in Svidler vs Topalov, 2005, I found in the kibitzing area a reported comment by Svidler that proves that Topalov's 15...Nf3 is unsound:

<Q. His moves – 14...Qa5, 15...Nf3 – it was a novelty on the high level, but I suppose all of that was analyzed?

Svidler: Let me begin with the fact I had not expected 6...Ng4. I was not ready at all. Of course, after 14...Qa5 one could play 15.Qd2. But I decided that if I do not play 15.c3, then I am a chicken roughly speaking. Of course when he played 14...Qa5, I understood what was going on, because the move is senseless without playing 15...Nf3 subsequently. I calculated till the endgame and thought I was not afraid of this kind of endgame at all. While he was thinking about 15...Nf3, I checked my calculations once more and found no mistakes. I thought that this ending was better for White although it was dangerous. No annotator argued about it. Neither did Topalov. But although White is better, it is difficult to play. This is not that kind of advantage that allows you to play almost thoughtlessly. You have to think, to do your best. And it seems I have made a wrong decision from the very beginning>

Unbalanced and tough. I like it.

I'm under no illusion of an easy win= i want us to have to work very hard for a win, that's all. I'm ready to put the time in here.

I think older games are still worth having a look at, especially if in doing so refutations are found (as Marco found in one of the games I was investigating)

That means there is a bunch of MFOs who didn't want any part of an open Sicilian, which is what we managed to get.

This is good news for us-- should be a morale builder, given that we all seemed enthusiastic about playing some open Sicilian line with black-

Now all we have to do is deliver the tactical goods.

<The Wrecking Crew>.