Wing gambit vs Sicilian

Does it work? Worth looking into?

1.e4 c5 2.b4

1.e4 c5 2.Nf4 d6/e6/Nc6 3.b4

Which is better? Anyone use/have theory, or is it a waste of time?

waste of time. black plays his precious d5 move easily early and activly. smith morra gambit is better if your looking for a gambit against it.

I'm looking for a good surprise line lol as an alternative to the open Sicilian

After 3. Nf6 i'm not a fan of the continuations in the Morra...i'm open to other suggestions

keep the game closed. use a closed sicilian. black hates it. it also gives a chance for strong kingside attacks.

I agree with everyone. The Morra is good. The Wing Gambit is good. And Sicilian players sink lower into their chairs when White plays 2.Nc3.

I'm pretty sure the deferred wing gambit is better. Keres wrote a book on the wing gambit that may be worth looking into though. a3 planning b4 is interesting; I believe there is a book on it.

If you really want to nail sicilian players, buy experts versus the sicilian and be a man in the open sicilian 😛

Morra is rather boring though there are a lot of traps. A LOT. There's a reason the mainline starts like 3 or 4 moves in. A lot of natural moves lose.

Grand Prix is also fun, though best deferred because of the tal gambit.

I personally play the alapin though.

It's like Deja Vu all over again:
http://www.chessville.com/reviews/ChallengingSicilianWith2a3.htm

I know there are way more, but the first one I think of is 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Nc3 d6 5. Bc4 Nf6 {a very tempting move for Open Sicilian players!} 6. e5! dxe5? and now 7. Bxf7+ Game over 1-0 .

And so black needs to prep that knight move, but it turns out that the natural ways of prepping fail a lot. It is very fun!

I found gold if you want to play the wing!

http://www.labatechess.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=21_52_54&products_id=322&osCsid=e21dc79f89e752f4d5543136b4ac8a2c

Look at the table of contents and all the illustrative games. And only $6! And material on the deferred too!

If you don't buy it I will. The only problem is the gambit sucks.

In my youth I won many a fantastic game using the Wing Gambit. In OTB chess it is great.

Originally posted by Fat Lady
The Wing Gambit is good. And Sicilian players sink lower into their chairs when White plays 2.Nc3.

or 2.c3

Originally posted by yofidawg
Does it work? Worth looking into?

1.e4 c5 2.b4

1.e4 c5 2.Nf4 d6/e6/Nc6 3.b4

Which is better? Anyone use/have theory, or is it a waste of time?

The Wing Gambit is probably insufficient after 1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 3.a3 d5. In my distant youth I did try to resurrect it with 3.c4!? but not entirely convincingly. It may be a little bit better after 2.Nf3 e6, but probably best of all against the O'Kelly variation (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 a6 3.b4!?) since Nf3 is a much more useful move for white in the Wing Gambit than a6 is for black.

Originally posted by Fat Lady
In my youth I won many a fantastic game using the Wing Gambit. In OTB chess it is great.

Originally posted by Korch
or 2.c3

It does not mean that these systems are so harmless as many Sicilian players are thinking - in hands of skilled player who have good experience in playing of these systems, they can be dangerous. Especially against players who lacks experience to play against them.

The Grand Prix Attack is better for white, but without doubt the Morra is the king of anti-Sicilians😛