The bishop steps to b5 before the Sicilian has reached its usual theater of violence. After 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5, White does not open the centre, does not castle long, and does not promise a sacrifice on h7. Instead White places a question on the knight that guards d4 and asks Black to choose a pawn structure before the attack has even begun.
The Nyezhmetdinov-Rossolimo Attack is one of the most important anti-Sicilians because it refuses the main Sicilian bargain. In the Open Sicilian, White spends a tempo on d4, accepts the exchange of c-pawn for d-pawn, and plays for development and space against Black’s half-open c-file. In the Rossolimo, White keeps the centre closed for one more move and makes the c6-knight the subject of the game.
That small delay changes the vocabulary. The opening is not quiet in the sense of harmless; it is quiet in the sense of withholding. White may exchange on c6 and damage Black’s queenside pawns. White may retreat the bishop and keep the tension. White may build with c3, d3, O-O, and Re1, playing for a later central break rather than immediate contact. Black, meanwhile, must decide whether the bishop check is a nuisance to be chased away, a trade to be welcomed, or the beginning of a long structural concession.
Origins
The line carries two names because its history has two centers of gravity. Nicolas Rossolimo, the Kyiv-born master who later represented France and the United States, gave the system much of its international visibility in the middle of the twentieth century. Rashid Nezhmetdinov, the Soviet attacking player whose games still read like warnings against routine development, also helped attach the bishop check to practical, imaginative chess. The database spelling “Nyezhmetdinov” preserves one transliteration; chess history usually writes “Nezhmetdinov.”
The idea itself is older than its modern reputation. Once Black plays 2…Nc6, the move 3.Bb5 is almost inevitable as a strategic possibility. The bishop attacks the defender of d4, prepares to exchange for a structural target, and keeps White from entering an enormous theory field on Black’s preferred terms. For decades that made it a specialist weapon: useful, slightly inconvenient, but not yet central to elite Sicilian preparation.
Its status changed as theory deepened. The Najdorf, Dragon, Classical Sicilian, and Sveshnikov demanded increasingly exact preparation from White. The Rossolimo offered a different kind of pressure. Instead of memorizing a forcing line to move twenty-five, White could ask Black to solve an early structural problem and then play chess in a position where the plans were concrete but not exhausted.
That is why the opening belongs to the same anti-Sicilian family as the Moscow Variation after 2…d6 3.Bb5+, but the two should not be confused. In the Moscow, Black’s d-pawn has already moved and the check is aimed at a different structure. In the Rossolimo, the c6-knight is the hook. The whole opening is built around what happens to that knight, and what Black has to give in order to make the question disappear.
Main ideas
White’s most direct idea is Bxc6. The exchange may look modest, but it changes the board permanently. If Black recaptures with the b-pawn after …bxc6, Black gains the bishop pair and central influence, yet accepts doubled c-pawns and a long-term target on c5 or c6. If Black recaptures with the d-pawn in related structures, the centre changes in another direction: Black may get smoother development, but the d-file and dark squares demand care.
The second idea is restraint. White does not have to exchange. In many lines the bishop returns to a4, c4, or e2, and the point of Bb5 has already been made. Black may have spent a tempo on …a6 or …Bd7, may have committed to …g6, or may have chosen …e6 before knowing whether the bishop will leave the board. The Rossolimo often wins small decisions, not material.
White’s central plan usually rests on d3 or c3. With d3, White keeps the e4-pawn stable, develops calmly, and waits for the right moment to play e5, Re1, or Nbd2-c4. With c3, White hints at a later d4, but without giving Black the clean Open Sicilian exchange. In both cases, the opening is less about refutation than about making Black’s normal counterplay arrive one tempo late.
Black’s compensation is real. The bishop pair can matter, especially if Black keeps the centre fluid. The half-open b-file after …bxc6 can support queenside play. The move …g6 gives the dark-squared bishop a natural diagonal, while …e6 builds a compact centre and prepares …Nge7 or …Bd6. White’s bishop check is not a magic cure for the Sicilian. It is a way of changing the kind of accuracy Black must show.
Black answers the check
The four named branches around this line show how varied Black’s answers can be. The Brooklyn Retreat Defense is the most literal act of avoidance: Black steps back with the knight rather than accepts the usual structural debate. It is rare, but it has a recognizable point. Black refuses to let White exchange on c6 under favorable terms and asks whether the bishop has achieved enough after provoking a retreat.
The San Francisco Gambit belongs to a sharper tradition. Black allows material or structural imbalance in exchange for rapid development and central play. It is not the main professional answer to the Rossolimo, but it illustrates a practical truth of the opening: if White spends too much time admiring Black’s damaged pawns, Black’s pieces may become active before the targets can be attacked.
The Fianchetto Variation, reached when Black answers with …g6, is the most natural Sicilian-looking response. Black develops the bishop to g7 and argues that the long diagonal compensates for any concession on c6. White often chooses between immediate exchange, quiet castling, or a setup with c3 and d4. The resulting positions can resemble an Accelerated Dragon with one crucial difference: White has already forced Black to think about the c6-knight.
The Gurgenidze Variation also belongs to the fianchetto complex, but its practical character is more specific. Black often accepts a slightly unusual move order to preserve dynamic chances and avoid the most routine Rossolimo structures. For White, the question is whether to play against the pawns, against the dark squares, or against Black’s king before the bishop on g7 becomes the best minor piece on the board.
Modern era
The Rossolimo became fully respectable at the highest level because it solved a modern problem: how to play 1.e4 against the Sicilian without spending one’s whole preparation budget on the Open Sicilian. Magnus Carlsen, Viswanathan Anand, Vladimir Kramnik, Fabiano Caruana, and many others have used it not as an escape hatch, but as a first-choice weapon against 2…Nc6.
Anand-Gelfand, Moscow 2012, game 12 of the World Championship match, is a useful marker. Anand chose the Rossolimo with 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.d3, entering a structure in which Black accepted doubled c-pawns but kept central resources. The game was drawn quickly, but the opening choice mattered. In the final classical game of a tied world championship match, Anand did not choose a romantic sideline. He chose a line that limited Black’s preparation, fixed a pawn structure, and forced Gelfand to prove that the bishop pair and central breaks were enough.
That is the modern Rossolimo in one game: not a promise of advantage, but a controlled narrowing of the battlefield. White avoids the deepest Sicilian files, but Black avoids passivity. The debate moves from mating attacks to pawn quality, piece scope, and whether the side with the structural weakness can make it dynamic before it becomes a target.
Engines have also changed the opening’s reputation. They are less sentimental about the bishop pair and more precise about which doubled-pawn structures are playable. Positions once dismissed as damaged for Black may now be held comfortably with accurate …d5 or …e5 breaks. At the same time, engines have shown White many quiet improvements: small rook lifts, delayed central breaks, and knight routes to c4 or e4 that keep pressure without forcing the issue too soon.
How to study it
Start with the structures after Bxc6. Do not memorize the Rossolimo as a single line; classify positions by Black’s recapture, pawn breaks, and bishop plan. If Black has pawns on c6 and c5, ask whether White should attack them with b3, Ba3, Nbd2-c4, or a central break. If Black has kept the bishop pair without obvious targets, ask whether White’s development is fast enough to justify the exchange.
Then study the move-order choices. Against 3…g6, learn when Bxc6 is urgent and when castling first is more flexible. Against 3…e6, understand why 4.Bxc6 and 4.O-O lead to different kinds of games. Against direct bishop challenges such as …a6 or …Bd7, decide whether the bishop belongs on c4, a4, or off the board.
Build a small model-game file rather than a giant database dump. Include Anand-Gelfand, Moscow 2012, for the …e6 and Bxc6 structure. Add modern Carlsen or Caruana games in the fianchetto lines to see how White keeps pressure without rushing. Add at least one game where Black equalizes cleanly with …d5, because the opening cannot be played well unless you know what success looks like for the other side.
For White, the Rossolimo is a discipline in delayed contact. For Black, it is a test of whether flexibility can survive a direct question. The line begins with a bishop check, but the real subject is patience: who can wait without drifting, and who can make the first structural concession useful.
— Editor’s desk, 20 May 2026