The thing to know about Sicilians are that there is a lot of book knowledge about all the main lines. That said most of the main lines seem to require more book knowledge than the Najdorf. Scheveningen, Dragon and Svesnikov seem to require more and extensive book knowledge.

In my opinion the only way to get ahead of the line is to go through a lot of games that feature that line. Perhaps New in Chess has a line that matches that need. Hard to say. But you might want to start there.

One other thing I've found that's probably worth mentioning here: A good way to learn how to beat any opening is to start playing it. I used to hate facing the French, because I had no idea what to do against it. I started playing it, and now I understand several main lines quite well. I'm switching back to e5 as a response to e4 for now, because I tend to prefer those games, but it's nice to know the French well enough to play it now and then from both sides without getting intimidated.

If the Sicilian becomes too intimidating for me, I might just start playing that for a while. For that matter, the King's Gambit kinda scares me as black. It might be time to dive into that one from white's side just to see what makes it tick.

--Fromper

It is really both, not one or the other.

Playing a lot of games certainly helps. Being in a good chess server is a real plus. That said, having fun is also important. Keeping up with it is critical to making real progress.

Well, I used 1e4 from when my rating was low 1500s until I hit about 2000, but I've been using 1Nf3 lately just to try to get out of book and force the opponent to think about the opening moves. I haven't played 1e4 in a few years, but the Najdorf seemed to be the biggest pain as I lost to a few players that I didn't think I should have lost to. For now, 1Nf3 has taken care of that, but I'd like to develop some opening flexibility.

As for the Dragon, yeah there's a lot of theory and traps. I play the black side and white has to play very carefully to avoid them. Also since I know the lines and ideas so well, I love to play the white side of it as well, and had very good results. If I notice that someone plays the Dragon, I'd probably spring 1e4 on them instead of 1Nf3 (Just like I'd spring 1d4 against the King's Indian or the Dutch).

Anyhow, thanks for the advice guys, it's much appreciated.

well, against Najdorf after ...a6
I play Rg1. I recommend this. Always gets me into very good positions. If thats a little too odd, then h3 is also playable. I have this line in an Old Najdorf book by Spassky so must should be looked at. Be3 and Be2 lines etc, i play against them as Black sometimes and i have no trouble at all really, the same goes for Bg5 line.

Another interesting line to play is Qf3... and follow by sac bishope for two pawns on a and b. This is strong for white on queenside. and b3ac2 can f5nd 5t hard to play against this. Look them up. I know the 'model' games for them, will post later, have no time right now.