Playing the Najdorf is a theoretical challenge. Below is the base position and Mega 2009 shows that virtually every reasonable move has been played by White in this position, with 6.Be2 being the classic response and most played. But fashion and theory change, and the table shows how White players over 2500 have handled the position the past couple of years. The English Attack has taken over the prime spot. The English Attack, however, still makes up substantially fewer than one-half the games played against the Najdorf. One of the "other" moves remains Fischer's 6.Bc4, which is the subject of the below games.
| | | | . | Move | # games | W's % | . | 6.Be3 | 498 | 55.2% | . | 6.Bg5 | 423 | 52% | . | 6.Be2 | 213 | 53.6% | . | 6.Bc4 | 61 | 50.8% | . | 6.f3 | 52 | 53.8% | . | 6.h3 | 48 | 61.5% | . | 6.g3 | 42 | 45.3% | . | 6.a4 | 29 | 55.2% | . | 6.f4 | 28 | 53.6% |
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A good place to start is with Fischer himself.
And this effort on my part helps demonstrate my affinity for the Najdorf. It's a sensible way to play for a win with Black. This was my last game of an ICCF Master's Promotion tournament, a tournament I was able to win by a 1/2 point because of this game.
