O'Kelly Variation, Yerevan System

The Yerevan System meets the O'Kelly Variation with 3. Nc3, developing the queen's knight before opening the center. With e4 already protected, White can follow up with d4 and Nxd4 without the problems that the ...e5 and ...Bb4 pin create after the immediate 3. d4. The drawback is that White has not used the tempo on c3 or c4, the setups that make 2...a6 look like a lost move. Here the pawn on a6 keeps its usual Sicilian value, and Black can steer the game into familiar Open Sicilian territory.

The most frequent reply is 3...e6, which heads for an ...e6 Sicilian structure once White opens the center. 3...d6 transposes toward a regular Najdorf. The main independent option is 3...b5, which gains queenside space and prepares to bring the light-squared bishop to the long diagonal against e4. Black scores slightly better than White with it in online play. 3...Nc6 is almost as common as 3...b5. The engine assesses the position as roughly balanced, and Lichess results are nearly even.