[1][2] Today, the Alapin is considered to be one of the most solid and respectable Anti-Sicilians, and it is championed by grandmasters such as Evgeny Sveshnikov, Eduardas Rozentalis, Sergei Tiviakov, Duško Pavasovič, and Dražen Sermek.

It has been played by World Champions Viswanathan Anand, Garry Kasparov, Anatoly Karpov, Veselin Topalov, and Vladimir Kramnik, and Deep Blue played the Alapin Variation against Kasparov in their 1996 match.

Magnus Carlsen played it in his championship tiebreaker against Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa in the 2023 Fide World Cup.

This leads to a favorable version of the French for Black, since the bishop is no longer hemmed in by the pawn chain.

Alternatively, White can transpose to a sort of Tarrasch French with 3.d4 d5 4.Nd2, or try to demonstrate a slight advantage with 3.d4 d5 4.exd5 exd5 5.Be3.