Grand Prix Attack

The Grand Prix Attack arises after 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4, with White backing e4 using the f-pawn instead of preparing d4. Some sources file it under the Closed Sicilian. The name also covers the immediate 2. f4, sometimes called the McDonnell Attack after an 1834 match game between McDonnell and La Bourdonnais. That move order allows 2...d5 3. exd5 Nf6, the Tal Gambit, which Jeremy Silman and others consider Black's best reply, and it has made 2. f4 less popular. Playing 2. Nc3 first makes ...d5 harder to arrange, so modern players usually reach the Grand Prix this way.

The f-pawn controls e5 and prepares Nf3, after which White aims at the kingside with pieces and pawns. The light-squared bishop usually goes to c4 or b5, and d3 follows to free the dark-squared bishop. The queen can travel via e1 to h4. Black's c5-pawn supports expansion on the queenside, while a fianchetto of the king's bishop strengthens the kingside. Black can also hit the center at once with 3...d5.

The three main replies are 3...e6, 3...g6 and 3...d6. The first two are about equally common, each seen in roughly a third of games. The rarer 3...d6 is the line where White scores best. The modern main line is 3...g6 4. Nf3 Bg7, when White chooses between two plans. The positional 5. Bb5 threatens Bxc6 to double Black's pawns. The more aggressive 5. Bc4 points the bishop at the kingside. After 5. Bc4 e6 6. f5, the Schofman Variation, White pushes the f-pawn into the e6-g6 chain, where it can be captured, to open lines toward the black king.

The position is among the more frequently reached named openings in online play, and results are close to even: White wins slightly more often than Black, and draws are rare. The engine assesses the position as roughly balanced. The play is double-edged, with White's kingside initiative set against Black's chances in the center and on the queenside.