The Alapin is the most popular way to meet the Sicilian without learning the Najdorf, the Dragon and the Scheveningen. With 2.c3 White prepares d2-d4 and builds a classical pawn centre. There is far less theory here and the ideas repeat from game to game. Play through both main replies on the board.
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After 1.e4 c5 White has a choice: open the centre with 3.d4 and dive into the vast theory of the Open Sicilian, or prepare d2-d4 in advance. The second option is the Alapin: the c3 pawn supports the future d4 pawn, so that after ...cxd4 White recaptures with a pawn rather than a knight.
The difference is fundamental. In the Open Sicilian Black trades a flank pawn for a central one and gets the half-open c-file - the main source of counterplay. In the Alapin White keeps the d4+e4 centre and plays a classical position where ordinary rules apply.
The cost is time. The c3 pawn takes the natural square away from the b1 knight, so Black gets to hit the centre before White has finished building it. Hence the two main replies.
The first is the immediate 2...d5. Black opens the centre before White can put a pawn on d4. After 3.exd5 Qxd5 the queen comes out early, but White cannot chase it with Nc3 - the square is occupied by a pawn. That is the compensation for the lost tempo.
The second is 2...Nf6, attacking e4. White pushes 3.e5 Nd5 and the knight lands on an excellent square, because the usual c2-c4 is no longer available. A pawn centre appears and Black starts undermining it with ...d6 and ...e6.
Both replies tend to produce positions with an isolated d4 pawn for White. Anyone who understands isolated-pawn play is at home in the Alapin - from either side of the board.
White players who are not willing to keep the Najdorf, the Dragon, the Scheveningen and a dozen more systems in memory. The Alapin has few ideas and they repeat: build the centre, finish development, trade the opponent's active pieces and reach a better endgame.
That does not make it toothless. Strong grandmasters play the Alapin precisely because it asks Black an awkward question on move two - and never asks what they memorised on move eighteen.
Black players should know it too: if you play the Sicilian, you will meet 2.c3 more often than any single system of the Open Sicilian.
These are the main named variations. Click any one of them and it loads straight onto the board above, where you can play it out move by move. The trainer itself holds more lines than this: it also covers main-line continuations and transpositions that have no name of their own.
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The Alapin Variation is 2.c3 - White builds a centre and sidesteps Sicilian theory; its ECO code is B22. The moves are 1.e4 c5 2.c3. Its main branches: Main line 2...d5 and Tabiya after 2...d5.
No. Grandmasters play it, including at world championship level. The point is not to avoid a fight but to fight on your own ground instead of inside somebody else's theory.
Both are sound. 2...d5 simplifies faster and suits players who like clarity; 2...Nf6 keeps more pieces on and leads to a richer fight against the pawn centre.
It is playable, but the knight on d5 comes under fire: White gains tempi with d2-d4 and Nf3 while Black decides where to retreat. Taking with the queen is objectively safer.
The Smith-Morra also avoids theory, but there White sacrifices a pawn for the initiative. The Alapin risks no material at all: White simply builds a centre and plays positionally.
Semyon Alapin, a Russian player and theoretician of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Several opening systems carry his name, but this one proved the most durable.
Want the tactics that decide these positions? Start with the 12 most common opening traps and tactics for beginners. If you are just starting out, read the rules of chess and how to set up the board.
Pairings are computed by bbpPairings, an open-source engine implementing the Dutch system by FIDE rules: score groups, floats on an odd field, colour alternation. Free to use.
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