‘Back in the day’ there was a NM, Stuart Rundlett, who favored what he called the “quiet variation.” He said, “Be careful with the Najdorf because at any moment the quiet variation can quickly get loud.”
As previously in this ongoing series I let the Stockfish program at lichess.com do its thing as I sat there watching it do its thing:
1.e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Nc3 a6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nf6 6. g3 e5 7. Nde2 Be7 8. Bg2 b5 9. Nd5 Nbd7 10. Nec3 Nb6 11. Nxf6+ Bxf6 12. O-O Be6 13. b3 O-O 14. Bd2 Qd7 15. a4 bxa4 16. Nxa4 Nxa4 17. Rxa4 Rfc8 18. Re1 Bd8 19. Be3 Qc6 20. c4 Rcb8 21. Qd3 Bb6 22. Bxb6 Qxb6 23. Ra3 Qb4 24. Rea1 a5 25. Bf3 Bd7 26. Bd1 Bc6 27. Kg2 Qc5 28. R3a2 g6 29. f3 f5 30. exf5 e4 31. fxe4 gxf5 32. Bf3 fxe4 33. Bxe4 Rxb3 34. Qe2 Kh8 35. Bxc6 Qxc6+ 36. Kg1 Rab8 37. Rxa5 Rb1+ 38. Rxb1 Rxb1+ 39. Kf2 Qb6+ 40. c5 Qxa5 41. Qe8+ Kg7 42. Qe7+ Kg8 43. Qg5+ Kf7 44. Qf5+ Kg7 45. Qd7+ Kf6 46. Qxd6+ Kg7 47. Qd4+ Kg8 48. Qg4+ Kf7 49. Qf3+ Kg7 50. Qg4+ Kf6 51. Qf4+ Kg7 52. Qg5+ Kf7 53. Qf4+ Kg8 54. Qg4+ 1/2-1/2
It should come as no surprise that Maxime, MY MAN, Vachier Lagrave,
reigning king of the Najdorf, figures in both of the games in which a human player most closely followed the ‘Fish:
Anish Giri (2782) vs Maxime Vachier Lagrave (2789)
Event: GCT Blitz YourNextMove
Site: Leuven BEL Date: 06/15/2018
Round: 2.5
ECO: B91 Sicilian, Najdorf, Zagreb (fianchetto) variation
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.g3 e5 7.Nde2 Be7 8.Bg2 b5 9.Nd5 Nbd7 10.Nec3 Nb6 11.Nxf6+ Bxf6 12.O-O O-O 13.b3 b4 14.Nd5 Nxd5 15.Qxd5 Be6 16.Qd3 Qc7 17.Bd2 a5 18.a3 bxa3 19.Rxa3 Rfc8 20.c4 Bd8 21.Rfa1 Qc5 22.b4 Qc6 23.bxa5 Bxc4 24.Qe3 Qb5 25.Qe1 Ra6 26.Qb1 Qxb1+ 27.Rxb1 Rca8 28.Rc1 Bb5 29.Rb1 Bc4 30.Rc1 Bb5 31.Bh3 Kf8 32.Rc8 Ke8 33.Rxa8 Rxa8 34.Bb4 Bc7 35.Ra1 Ra7 36.Bg4 g6 37.h4 h5 38.Bh3 Bd3 39.f3 Bb6+ 40.Kg2 Bc5 41.Bxc5 dxc5 42.Kf2 Bb5 43.Bf1 c4 44.Ke3 Kd7 45.Kd2 Kc6 46.Kc3 Kc5 47.Be2 Ra6 48.Rd1 Rxa5 49.Rd5+ Kb6 50.Bxc4 Ra3+ 51.Kb2 Bxc4 52.Kxa3 Bxd5 53.exd5 Kc5 54.Kb3 Kxd5 55.Kc3 f5 56.Kd3 e4+ 57.Ke3 Ke5 0-1
https://www.365chess.com/game.php?back=1&gid=4119495&m=27
Maxime Vachier Lagrave (2778) vs Radoslaw Wojtaszek (2749)
Event: 2nd Du Te Cup 2018
Site: Shenzhen CHN Date: 11/06/2018
Round: 3.1
ECO: B91 Sicilian, Najdorf, Zagreb (fianchetto) variation
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.g3 e5 7.Nde2 Be7 8.Bg2 O-O 9.O-O b5 10.Nd5 Nbd7 11.Nec3 Nb6 12.Nxf6+ Bxf6 13.b3 Be6 14.Ba3 Qc7 15.Qd3 Rfc8 16.Bb4 a5 17.Nxb5 Qxc2 18.Qxc2 Rxc2 19.Bxd6 Nc8 20.Rfc1 Rxc1+ 21.Rxc1 Nxd6 22.Nxd6 a4 23.Nc4 Rb8 24.Rc3 axb3 25.axb3 Be7 26.Bf1 g6 27.Rc1 Rxb3 28.Nxe5 Bf6 29.Nd3 Bd4 30.Be2 Rc3 31.Rb1 g5 32.Ne1 h6 33.Kg2 Rb3 34.Rd1 Bb6 35.Nd3 Ra3 36.Rb1 Ba7 37.Nb4 Rb3 38.Rxb3 Bxb3 39.Bg4 Kg7 40.h4 Bd4 41.Nc6 Bc5 42.Bf5 Kf6 43.f4 Be3 44.fxg5+ hxg5 45.h5 Kg7 46.g4 Bc4 47.Kf3 Bc1 48.Ne5 Bb5 49.Kf2 Bf4 50.Nf3 Bd3 51.Ke1 Be3 52.Kd1 Bf4 53.Ne1 Bb1 54.Ke2 Kh6 55.Nf3 Kg7 56.Nd4 Be5 57.Nc6 Bf4 58.Nb4 Kh6 59.Nd5 Bc2 60.Nc3 Kg7 61.Nb5 Bc1 62.Nd4 Bb1 63.Kf3 Bd3 64.Bd7 Ba6 65.Nf5+ Kf8 66.Bc6 Bf4 67.Bd5 Bc8 68.Nd4 Kg7 69.h6+ Kxh6 70.Bxf7 Kg7 71.Be6 Ba6 72.Bd5 Kf6 73.Ne6 Bd6 ½-½
https://www.365chess.com/game.php?back=1&gid=4152789&m=27
Armchair Warrior 