From Mark Weeks,
Your Guide to Chess.
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Many players will recognize the diagrammed position as a common example of a Maroczy bind. It occurs after the opening moves 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.c4. It is called a bind because the Pawns on c4 and e4 prevent Black from playing the freeing move ...d5.

Many players, when asked to describe a bind, will immediately reply 'see the Maroczy bind!', the only example they remember having seen. In fact, binds are fairly common in chess. We don't see them often in master games because good players prefer to avoid getting into binds and will even sacrifice a Pawn to steer away from them.

To find good examples of binds, we have to look at the notes of master level games. One excellent source for examples is Robert J. (Bobby) Fischer's 'My 60 Memorable Games'. More than a third of the games contain examples of binds, most often in the notes.

The position in the diagram also occurred in Fischer's book. In Fischer - Reshevsky, New York Match 1961 (game no.26 in Fischer's book), Fischer wrote that 4...g6 allows 'White the chance to get a Maroczy bind (with 5.c4). Apparently Reshevsky had booked up on this for the match. Black's idea is to dispense with an early ...d6 and possibly strive for a later ...d5, thereby saving a tempo.'

In Fischer - Najdorf, Santa Monica 1966 (no.54), instead of 4...g6, Black played 4...e6. Here Fischer wrote, '4... Nf6 obliges 5. Nc3 which precludes the Maroczy bind by c2-c4. Ever since ways of combatting the "Bind" have been found, it has become almost an obsession to abstain from 4...Nf6, although the most that can be said for other moves is that some of them may be as good.' We'll return to the Maroczy bind at the end of this tutorial.