Sicilian Defense: Grand Prix Attack

The Grand Prix Attack is an anti-Sicilian in which White plays an early f4: 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4. Nowadays players usually reach it this way, with 2.Nc3 first, rather than with the immediate 2.f4, the McDonnell Attack.

Origins

The older name for 2.f4, the McDonnell Attack, comes from the 14th match game between Alexander McDonnell and Charles Louis Mahé de La Bourdonnais, played in London in 1834 and won by Black.

According to Jeremy Silman and others, Black's best answer to the immediate 2.f4 is 2...d5 3.exd5 Nf6, the Tal Gambit, which made 2.f4 less popular. White can decline that gambit with 3.Nc3, called the "Toilet Variation" after its reputed place of invention. A less common reply to 2.f4 is 2...e6, as La Bourdonnais played against McDonnell. Players now usually enter the Grand Prix with 2.Nc3 first and f4 a move later.

Main lines

The modern main line runs 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7. White then chooses between two plans:

• 5.Bb5, the positional approach, threatening to double Black's pawns with Bxc6.
• 5.Bc4, the more aggressive approach, aiming for a kingside attack. After 5...e6 6.f5 White reaches the Schofman Variation.

The numbers

On Lichess White wins 50.3% of the 3.9 million games and Black 45.1%. White's share hardly moves with rating: 49.2% against 47.7% under 1400, and 49.3% against 44.4% from 2200 up. Masters over the board are another story: in 4,305 games Black won 36.4%, White 27.8%, and 35.8% were drawn.