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1.e4 c5

1.e4 c5

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Is

2. b3!?

good for white, or merely inconvenient for black?

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In general it is good for black.

2. .. d6 3. Bb2 Nf6

And in my opinion the position of black is better than white.

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That would be a newbies response. The main Sicilians, the Grand Prix Attack or even the Alapin Variation are mainly played.

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Originally posted by z00t
That would be a newbies response. The main Sicilians, the Grand Prix Attack or even the Alapin Variation are mainly played.
no, the newb response is 2. Bc4 3. Qh5.

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The Sicilian Defense is not good. I hate it. 😠

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Originally posted by Mathurine
Is

[b]2. b3!?

good for white, or merely inconvenient for black?[/b]
If a move is inconvenient for black it cannot be bad for white. In practical terms it seems to score better for black than white (at least on my database), but that may just mean that the best lines haven't been worked out yet. My normal defence to 1. e4 is the Sicilian and that form of the closed Sicilian is probably the one I'm least pleased to see.

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Originally posted by Mathurine
Is

[b]2. b3!?

good for white, or merely inconvenient for black?[/b]
It's a very unusual but by no means totally bad anti-Sicilian. I have played it occasionally OTB myself with reasonable results, including a draw against a strong IM. I've sometimes played it as a sort of hybrid King's Gambit with 1.e4 c5 2.b3 Nc6 3.Bb2 e5 4.f4!?
1.e4 c5 2.b3 d6 3.Bb2 Nf6 4.Bb5+ followed by Qe2 should be OK for white.
Also well worth a try is 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.b3!?, which is almost quite respectable!

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Although 2 b3 is very likely not the "best" response (whatever that means), since it aids in the development of a piece without creating a positional weakness, then it is certainly quite playable.

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IMO, whenever you avoid the main line Sicilian, Black gets at least an equal game. In fact, in the Najdorf, I'm not even sure White has a lasting advantage in the main line. On the other hand, there are so many possible responses from White that I can't be confident in such a claim.

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2.b3 is totally playable, but not very forcing, so I don't see a reason for black to fear it in the least. It can have the effect of annoying a player who has pet sicilian lines though.

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Originally posted by wargamer66
2.b3 is totally playable, but not very forcing, so I don't see a reason for black to fear it in the least. It can have the effect of annoying a player who has pet sicilian lines though.
true as that is, there are better anti-Sicilians, e.g. the Closed Sicilian and the Grand Prix Attack...and the Smith-Morra Gambit (blech!)

to quote one master's annotations of a Morra game...
Morra-?
1. e4 e6? (1. ...c5 wins a pawn)

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I heard that is called the Snyder Variation. Robert Snyder, the NM who popularized enough for it to be named after him, claims its playable. he wrote a book on it I think.

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Originally posted by chesskid001
I heard that is called the Snyder Variation. Robert Snyder, the NM who popularized enough for it to be named after him, claims its playable. he wrote a book on it I think.
You are correct. Here's the Amazon.com link for his book published in 1984.
http://www.amazon.com/Sicilian-B3-Robert-M-Snyder/dp/0941426149

Here's a profile for NM Snyder
http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A195H6XSSVSZG/ref=tag_tdp_c_t_c_img/102-1673118-5820942

In his short book "The Offbeat Sicilian" (1987), IM John Grefe wrote a chapter on this variation.

IM Andrew Martin annotated a couple of games for Chessville (including one played by GM Nigel Short) with this variation at
http://www.chessville.com/instruction/Openings/Martin/Mar04a.htm
and
http://www.chessville.com/instruction/Openings/Martin/Mar04b.htm
The analysis of the games is fairly heavy, so anyone with an interest in the variation would probably benefit from reading the articles.