Play the Abarca Anti-Sicilian like FM Supercampeon64 -Trappy Pet Sideline Series

Introducing the Trappy Pet Sideline Series

This is the first installment of my Trappy Pet Sideline Series where we will be covering high-performing sidelines that are loaded with traps for the unsuspecting opponent. I'm on the lookout for tricky sidelines where a given champion of the line has results that are +10 better than his average. Let's call it the +10 Club. This line fits the bill. In over 600 games in the main line FM Supercampeon64 has a 71% win rate compared to his 60% average with White. GM Igor Smirnov has said this is the "single variation you gotta know to crush the Sicilian defense."

The Trap

With the Ne5, Bc4, and Qe2 setup, there's sneaky pressure on the Kingside structure. The trap is sprung on the f7 soft spot if Black plays the natural Nbd7 on moves 5-8. The trap success rate appears high (following the main line in Supercampeon64’s games):

4% on move 5 (Bxf7 mate)
20% on move 6 (Nxf7)
4% on move 7 (Nxf7)
40% on move 8 (Nxf7)

In particular, on move 8 it seems like Black thinks it’s finally safe to play Nbd7 but it’s still a trap.

The Study - Play the Abarca Anti-Sicilian like FM Supercampeon64

The below study is the latest installment of my "Play like..." Interactive Lesson series which can be best enjoyed with the Lichess Tools browser extension installed. The idea of the study is to learn FM Supercampeon64's treatment of the Abarca Anti-Sicilian with a spaced-repetition philosophy.

The study includes many of the 1300+ blitz games that FM Supercampeon64 has played in these lines up to move 20, which were downloaded, merged, and then I separated out the lines. In each chapter, I present a FM Supercampeon64 main line up to a certain point (typically when there's 10 or so games left in a particular line). After that, you are playing through his games in that line up to move 20. As you play through the games, you should be naturally internalizing the middle game plans.

Here is the study:

LichessTools

To get the most out of this study you should add the LichessTools browser extension. LichessTools allows you to play through all the games/variations in an interactive lesson chapter (rather than just the single main line). So if you decline to add LiChess Tools then you are only playing 10% of the study. Available here:

https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/langlhlcknngldkeliapahbhbcmlcbcj

The Line's Name

The line lacks an official name so perhaps in a cheeky way I'm taking the liberty of naming it after IM Nicolas Abarca Gonzalez (Niclox) who has had crushing results with it online. Sadly, he's not a suitable exponent for our purposes because he closed his lichess accounts and he lacks sufficient games with the other site. Nonetheless, we have a good exponent in FM Supercampeon64 who plays it much the same way.

Cheers,

Dsoul20