Sicilian Snyder Variation

Anybody ever used this or played against it: 1.e4 c5 2.b3!? - I played against it today and it seemed (to me at least) like a very solid and interesting way to face the sicilian, white achieved a decent advantage in the game (although it's just a 3-0 blitz) but ultimately blundered in a probably winning position:

[Event "ICC"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2008.03.25"]
[White "*GALILEI"]
[Black "*CMSSacrifice"]
[Result "*"]
[WhiteElo "0"]
[BlackElo "0"]
[TimeControl "120+12"]

1. e4 c5 2. b3 Nf6 3. d3 e6 4. Bb2 d5 5. exd5 Nxd5
6. Qg4 Nf6 7. Qa4+ Bd7 8. Qf4 Be7 9. Nf3 Bc6 10. Ne5 Nbd7
11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. Nd2 Nd5 13. Qf3 N7f6 14. Ne4 Nxe4 15. Qxe4 Bf6
16. Bxf6 Qxf6 17. Be2 O-O 18. O-O Qe7 19. c4 Nf6 20. Qxc6 Rfc8
21. Qa4 Rd8 22. Rad1 Nd7 23. Bf3 Nb6 24. Qc6 Rac8 25. Qe4 Rd4
26. Qe3 Rcd8 27. Be2 a5 28. Rfe1 a4 29. Qg3 axb3 30. axb3 Nd7
31. Ra1 Nf6 32. Red1 Qd6 33. Qf3 Ng4 34. h3 Qh2+ 35. Kf1 Qh1#

Originally posted by cmsMaster
Anybody ever used this or played against it: 1.e4 c5 2.b3!?

it makes a lot of sense... people get caught up in the line that soandso plays but there are other good stuff for sure...
i believe in lev alburts(complete black repitoire) book he says that this is way better than 2.b4 (wing) but doesnt go into it much.. it would be interesting to look what he says as his ideas are an early ..g6, i dont know if thats still good..

Originally posted by cmsMaster
Anybody ever used this or played against it: 1.e4 c5 2.b3!? - I played against it today and it seemed (to me at least) like a very solid and interesting way to face the sicilian, white achieved a decent advantage in the game (although it's just a 3-0 blitz) but ultimately blundered in a probably winning position:

[Event "ICC"]
[Site "Internet Chess Clu ...[text shortened]... 30. axb3 Nd7
31. Ra1 Nf6 32. Red1 Qd6 33. Qf3 Ng4 34. h3 Qh2+ 35. Kf1 Qh1#

Mamedyarov has played this move twice recently, a win against Van Wely and a loss against, I think, Kramnik.

Originally posted by !~TONY~!
Mamedyarov has played this move twice recently, a win against Van Wely and a loss against, I think, Kramnik.

.... and a loss against Anand

Originally posted by elady
.... and a loss against Anand

Maybe it was Anand, and not Kramnik. I think that's it.

Originally posted by !~TONY~!
Maybe it was Anand, and not Kramnik. I think that's it.

yeap thats right ....
searching on databases i found this game :

[Event "Canadian Open"]
[Site "Ottawa CAN"]
[Date "2007.07.13"]
[EventDate "2007.07.07"]
[Round "8"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "Lawrence Day"]
[Black "Barry Thorvardson"]
[ECO "B20"]
[WhiteElo "2266"]
[BlackElo "2075"]
[PlyCount "89"]

1. e4 c5 2. b3 a6 3. Bb2 b5 4. a4 bxa4 5. Rxa4 Bb7 6. Nc3 e6
7. e5 Bc6 8. Ra2 Qg5 9. Nf3 Bxf3 10. Qxf3 Qxe5+ 11. Ne4 Qd5
12. Bc4 Qc6 13. Nd6+ Bxd6 14. Bxg7 Qxf3 15. gxf3 f6 16. Bxh8
Kf7 17. Rg1 Bf8 18. Rxg8 Kxg8 19. Bxf6 Kf7 20. Bc3 d5 21. Bd3
d4 22. Be4 Ra7 23. Ba5 Nd7 24. Bxh7 Bd6 25. h3 Ra8 26. Bd3 Ne5
27. Be4 Rh8 28. f4 Rh4 29. Bd8 Rxf4 30. d3 c4 31. bxc4 Nxc4
32. Bg5 Rxe4+ 33. dxe4 a5 34. Bd2 Kg6 35. Ra4 Nxd2 36. Kxd2
Bb4+ 37. Kd3 e5 38. Ra1 Kg5 39. Kc4 Bc3 40. Ra3 Bb4 41. Rg3+
Kh4 42. Kd5 a4 43. Kxe5 Bc3 44. Rxc3 dxc3 45. Kd4 1-0

L.Day playing the Snyder variation, good game, isnt it ?

dunno...black's a bit aggressive with 8.... Qg5

personally, i think that was to much, especially playing a player so much stronger than you...that type of blatant aggression only turns into a tactical Knightmare...yes pun intended. misspelling too. 🙁