Nyezhmetdinov-Rossolimo Attack

The Nyezhmetdinov-Rossolimo Attack, usually called simply the Rossolimo, answers 2...Nc6 with 3. Bb5 instead of 3. d4. The bishop targets the knight that watches d4 and e5, and White delays the central opening that defines the Open Sicilian. It is the main alternative to 3. d4 at this point and is popular at the highest level, largely because it avoids the Sveshnikov, 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5, and the other well-analyzed open lines with ...Nc6.

White develops the kingside first and castles quickly. With the light-squared bishop already outside the pawn chain, d3 becomes a natural plan, while the alternative is to build toward d4 with c3 and Re1. Bxc6 is a recurring decision: White gives up the bishop whenever the recapture leaves Black with doubled pawns, either immediately or after Black spends a tempo provoking it.

The most common reply is 3...g6, the Fianchetto Variation, where the bishop on g7 makes d4 harder to achieve. After 4. O-O Bg7 5. Re1 Nf6 White can choose between 6. c3 with d4 to follow and the advance 6. e5. With 4. Bxc6 dxc6 Black accepts a damaged queenside but gains central access for the queen and bishop, as in 5. O-O Bg7 6. d3 Nf6; 4. c3 is another option. The Gurgenidze Variation, 4. O-O Bg7 5. Re1 e5 6. b4, strikes at the c5-pawn after Black has fixed the center with ...e5.

3...e6 frees the f8-bishop, but its chief purpose is ...Nge7, so that a capture on c6 can be met by a knight recapture. After 4. O-O Nge7 5. Re1 a6 6. Bf1 the e7-knight backs up the break 6...d5 7. exd5 Nxd5; White can instead play 4. Bxc6 before ...Nge7 is possible. 3...d6 aims for ...Bd7 and transposes to a sideline of the Moscow Variation, 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nc6, with a typical continuation 4. O-O Bd7 5. Re1 a6 6. Bf1. Less common tries include 3...Qb6, which allows a queen recapture on c6; 3...Nf6, met by 4. Nc3; 3...Nd4 4. Nxd4 cxd4; and Evgeny Egorov's gambit 3...g5. 3...Na5 4. b4 is the San Francisco Gambit, and 3...Nb8, the Brooklyn Retreat Defense, is a joke line.

The earliest recorded game with 3. Bb5 is Bird–Horwitz, 1851. The name honors Nicolas Rossolimo, who adopted it in 1948, and Rashid Nezhmetdinov, who played it from 1956. In the Lichess database White scores slightly better than Black and draws are uncommon, while the engine rates the position as roughly balanced.