Originally posted by Big Orange Country
[b]The KIA hasn't been popular since Fisher used it...
the Closed Sicilian hasn't been popular since Spassky...
I don't believe either of these statements are true, especially at the amateur level. GM Morozevich led the vanguard of recent masters playing the KIA, and the Closed Sicilian has had more than one renaissance since the 1980's, especially when White players were scoring well with 6. Be3.
Taking a step back, the popularity or lack thereof for any particular opening would not automatically be a factor for me. Following fashion in chess is letting other people influence your play in a manner that doesn't really help.
As a humorous aside, I live in Florida in the US, and below the Master level by far the most popular answer to 1. e4 c5 is the Closed Sicilian. In local tournaments it is the
de facto "main line", with the Open Sicilian being an interesting sideline that people rarely get to play.
Perhaps I should say that we should pay attention to fashion so we'll know what we need to prepare
against.