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| Nov-09-04 |
| Poisonpawns: Study Alexei Fedorov`s games I think he is the best Dragon theorist in the world. |
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| Nov-10-04 |
| SicilianDragon: Cuendillar, I am a bit confused by the way you phrased your question but I will try to answer it. Black usually avoid the bishop swap at g7 because if he can maintain the bishop it is especially useful in defending the weak dark squares around black's king, providing positional pressure along the long diagonal, and aiding in potential attacks when white castles queenside. If he cannot retreat the bishop to h8 (usually this occurs when there is a rook on f8 and bg7-h8 would drop the exchange to Bxf8) it is often advantageous to play Bxh6 so as to not lose any tempo by being forced to play ...Kxg7 after Bxg7 which often puts the king in a vulnerable position (he is often exposed to quick attacks via Qd2-h6+ supported by a rook on h1 or by tactics surrounding a Nf5+ sacrifice). In addition, ...Bxh6 usually forces the replay Qxh6 which often then allows either an advantageous exchange sacrifice on c3 which severely weakens white's queenside (this is especially effective when white has castled queenside). In addition, if white has a minor piece on d4 the removal of the queen to h6 may allow for the advanteous removal of that piece. If black leaves the bishop at g7, the refutation (if there is one) would depend upon the position. Often there is the possibility of an immediate attack with Bxg7 followed by Qh6+ if possible. However, if black is unable to retreat the bishop to h8 (as mentioned before, this most frequently occurs when a black rook is at f8), white may find it more advantageous to wait to exchange the bishops and spend the extra move making a preparatory move that will aid in the forthcoming kingside onslaught. Poisonpawns, while Federov was once regarded as a Dragon expert because he was one of the few "super-GMs" who regularly used the opening, he has not used it recently. Usually the best games to study are those of Dragon players who have stuck by the opening for many years because they tend to have the best feel for the positions whereas a GM who plays it for surprise value or prepares it for a particularly tournament will have knowledge that is based on experience rather than theory and it is the ideas and not the theory that an amateur should seek to extract from grandmaster games. Given how rapidly Dragon theory changes, this is especially true for this opening. For the Dragon, this mostly includes the strong British GMs from the 80s and 90s: Tony Miles (in his early career), William Watson, Jonathan Mestel, and Chris Ward. While Federov may be a stronger player than any of those four (with the arguable exception of Tony Miles), all of these players had/have much more experience with the Dragon and thus their games are more likely to be more instructive. |
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| Nov-11-04 |
| Poisonpawns: Well said siciliandragon, I just met to say he is really the only one at present staying faithfull to the dragon at that level. Shirov vs Fedorov 1999 is very instructive by the way :-) |
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| Dec-26-04 |
| SnipingBishop: Hi, im a dragoneer too! <SicilianDragon> i have both Chris Ward's books and im shocked to hear that his recommended ...Qa5 line is refuted!? can you please give me some explanation and example games if possible? |
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| Dec-26-04 |
| SnipingBishop: Oh yeah BTW i dont get how 2...g6 can avoid 3 c3. Wont White still be able to support his d pawn and establish a strong centre with pawns on e4 and d4? |
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| Feb-08-05 |
| akashic: 2 g6 doesn't avoid c3 but if white were to play it he would have a hard time mantaining his classical centre. |
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| Mar-26-05 |
| Cornwallis: hey eddy dearings new book on the dragon is out great book practically refutes the open sicilian |
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| Mar-26-05 |
| Cornwallis: nice to know that tere are a lot of other dragoneers like me out there |
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Mar-26-05
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| Eric Schiller: <snipingbishop> The 10...Qa5 line is not refuted. That was the title of the article, but a little work finds improvements for Black, already played! As for 2...g6 3.c3, it isn't a big deal for White. You can avoid it with 1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nf3/Nc3 c5, leading to very interesting and often unexplored lines. None of the anti-Sicilian systems are particularly scary these days, so nothing wrong with the traditional move order. Whatever you do, you have learn all the alternative lines.
In the Yugoslav, don't neglect Black's alternatives to 9...Bd7, some of them are fun and White is generally unprepared! |
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May-28-05
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| AdrianP: Here's a blitz game of mine which shows how even a patzer like me can follow the sac, sac, mate formula. Fritz's analysis awarded me three exclamation marks... which is an all-time record for me. AP-RL [B75]
Rated game, 5m + 5s Main Playing Hall, 28.05.2005
[Fritz 8 (60s)]
B75: Sicilian Dragon: Yugoslav Attack, Miscellaneous
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 g6 7.f3 Bg7 8.Qd2 0-0 9.h4 [ 9.Bh6 Nc6 10.Bxg7 Kxg7 11.Bc4 Bd7 12.Bb3 Qc7 13.0-0-0 b5 14.h4 Na5 15.h5 Rh8 16.Nd5 Nxb3+ 17.axb3 Nxd5 18.exd5 Rhc8 19.hxg6 Rh8 20.Qh6+ 1-0 Livensky,E-Nikolaev,A/Kiev 2002/EXT 2003] 9...Qb6N [ 9...Nh5 10.0-0-0 Qc7 11.Nd5 Qd8 12.Ne2 Nd7 13.g4 e6 14.Ndc3 Bxc3 15.Qxc3 Qf6 16.gxh5 Qxf3 17.Bh6 Qxc3 18.Nxc3 Re8 19.Rxd6 Nf6 20.hxg6 hxg6 21.Bg5 Nh5 22.Rg1 b5 23.Be2 Ng7 24.h5 Paramos Dominguez,R-Blas,J/Mondariz 1998/EXT 2002/1-0;
9...b5 10.Bh6 e5 11.Nb3 Bxh6 12.Qxh6 b4 13.Ne2 Qc7 14.Qg5 Ne8 15.Qd2 a5 16.a3 Nc6 17.axb4 Nxb4 18.c3 Nc6 19.h5 Be6 20.Nbc1 Rd8 21.Nd3 Bc4 22.Ng3 d5 23.hxg6 fxg6 24.exd5 Brasch,H-Konieczka,F/Germany 1988/GER-chT/½-½ (42);
9...d5 10.Bh6 Bxh6 11.Qxh6 e5 12.Nb3 d4 13.Nd5 Be6 14.c4 Nc6 15.h5 Bxd5 16.exd5 Nb4 17.Qd2 a5 18.a3 Na6 19.hxg6 fxg6 20.Qxa5 Qxa5+ 21.Nxa5 Nc5 22.b4 Rf7 23.Kd1 e4 24.Kc2 Middelburg,T-Slaa,R/Hengelo 1994/EXT 2001/0-1 (55);
9...d5!? should be examined more closely 10.exd5 Nxd5²] 10.0-0-0 Nc6 [ ¹10...Qa5±] 11.Nf5!  Discovered attack 11...Qc7 [ 11...gxf5 12.Bxb6] 12.Nxg7 Kxg7 13.Bh6+ Kg8 14.Bxf8 Kxf8 15.g4 Be6 16.h5 Ne5 [ 16...Qa5 is no salvation 17.Qh6+ Ke8 18.hxg6 fxg6 19.g5 ] 17.Be2 [ 17.hxg6 keeps an even firmer grip 17...fxg6 18.g5 Nh5 ] 17...gxh5 [ 17...Qc5 does not help much 18.hxg6 fxg6 19.g5 ] 18.g5 [ 18.gxh5?! b5 ] 18...Nfd7 19.Rxh5 Kg7 [ 19...b5 doesn't change anything anymore 20.f4 b4 21.Na4 ( 21.fxe5?! is no comparison 21...bxc3 22.Qxc3 Qxc3 23.bxc3 Nxe5 ) ] 20.Rdh1 [ 20.f4 seems even better 20...Rh8 ] 20...Nf8 21.g6! Demolition of pawn structure 21...fxg6 Blocks the square `8 [ 21...Kxg6 Decoy theme: g6 22.Qh6#] 22.Rxh7+! Demolishes the pawn shield. 22...Nxh7 23.Qh6+ Kf7 [ 23...Kf6 does not solve anything 24.Qh4+ ( ‹24.Qxh7 Qc5 ) 24...Ng5 25.f4 ] 24.Qxh7+ Ke8 25.Qh8+ Kd7 26.Qxa8 b5 [ 26...Qc8 the last chance for counterplay 27.Qxc8+ Kxc8 ] 27.Rh8 Nf7 28.Qe8# (Lag: Av=0.48s, max=1.1s) 1-0 |
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| Oct-08-05 |
| AlexanderMorphy: why isn't the dragon played more often at GM Level? I know that they prefer the Najdorf but i'd expected them to play it more often than 2 games out of 1000! |
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| Oct-09-05 |
| AlexanderMorphy: I don't really like the Yugoslav attack and have lost quite a lot of games with it..but i have been QUITE successful with the dragon and am wondering why it's not played more often at the highest level? |
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| Oct-09-05 |
| bob000: The Yugoslav attack in the hands of a master is truly something to be feared. |
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| Oct-28-05 |
| DanielBryant: After the ...Rc3 sack, if White manages to trade queens, how are the endgames for Black? From my experience, Black nearly has enough compensation for the exchange, but I don't know how this normally plays out. |
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| Oct-28-05 |
| russep: It's usually hard for white to win most game I have seen are draws. Blacks pawn structure is really good in the endgame in the dragon. |
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| Oct-28-05 |
| AlexanderMorphy: well when was the last time the yugoslav attack was seen in a major tournament? |
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| Mar-09-06 |
| Kelvieto: Alot of top Gms know how to play dragon. I am sure you can find Ivanchuk, Topalov, and Aronian games in chessbase database. |
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| Feb-14-07 |
| Supergrandmaster: The Sicilian Dragon is the favorite rebellious defense, leading to brawling, Fischer-styled games. It is highly complicated by black's g7 bishop, whose placement requires extra tempi, but proves to be a powerful long term weapon, especially if white should be arrogant enough to castle long. Let anyone dare say that the dragon is slain -- he will be proven wrong sooner than he thinks! |
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| Aug-18-07 |
| Cactus: Yes, it seems that castling long is inferior. |
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| Dec-22-07 |
| Cactus: What? No it isn't! |
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Dec-22-07
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| WannaBe: <Cactus> LOL... Always nice to answer your own post(s)! |
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| Dec-22-07 |
| Jim Bartle: What are you talking about, wannabe? |
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| Dec-22-07 |
| Jim Bartle: Oh, now I see. |
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| Mar-31-09 |
| haraldols: mmkmkmkmkm |
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| Mar-31-09 |
| MaxxLange: <After the ...Rc3 sack, if White manages to trade queens, how are the endgames for Black?> They're fine. It's usually hard for White to get meaningful open files for his Rooks. |
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