Sunday
I'd like to show here an online game of mine where I experimented on a new way to play the opening. This is to illustrate that Black in the Accelerated Dragon do indeed can sometimes afford to be creative.In my experience most White players don't choose to play the Maroczy Bind because the resulting positions require tedious positional play -which is almost a bad thing for 1.e4 players who are more looking to play aggressive tactical positions (a good news for Black!). Another reason is that current theory shows that Black can hold the position and can even win! That's why in my next blog post I want to show some analysis and games on the Maroczy Bind and hopefully convince you that there is nothing to fear as Black. Therefore I'd like to remind you from here to subscribe to my blog so you won't miss out the chance to be notified as early as possible.
Experience has also shown me that quite a number of White players blindly choose an early Nxc6 like the game I am showing below.
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How to view games using Chess Viewer Deluxe
I hope you have enjoyed this article. I am very open for comments and suggestions so I can make your visit here more enjoyable each time.
So what do you think? To be a dragoneer is cool yeah? :-)
Saturday
The Accelerated Dragon has a tricky move order that often bust unsuspecting 1.e4 players who treat it as a regular Classical Dragon. Belonging to the 3 main Dragon Relatives, its move order is as follows:- e4 c5
- Nf3 Nc6
- d4 cxd4
- Nxd4 g6 (see diagram on the right)
The move order has developed a knight on c6 instead of a pawn on d6. This is one of the main reason why most players play the Accelerated Dragon because it allows the black pawn thrust to d5 in one go. It means that if White blindly make his opening moves for a Yugoslav Attack formation in auto-pilot mode, Black in effect will be a tempo up after the thematic pawn thrust ...d5. To better comprehend the idea let's compare positions between the Classical Dragon and the Accelerated Dragon where in both cases White goes for a Yugoslav Attack set-up:
We start the comparison by looking at the Classical Dragon scenario first with the following moves:- e4 c5
- Nf3 d6
- d4 cxd4
- Nxd4 Nf6
- Nc3 g6
- Be3 Bg7
- f3 O-O
- Qd2 Nc6
- O-O-O d5 (see diagram on the right)
Current theory suggest this pawn thrust to d5 for Black. If we look at the current position, we notice that White has already castled on the queenside when Black moved his pawn to d5.
Now, let's look at some games which tackled this position so as to see how Black is coping:
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Having viewed the games at this point, we saw that it's not entirely bad results for Black. But surely results can be so much better if the pawn thrust to d5 by Black can come earlier before White has castled on the queenside. Black can only do this if he has saved a tempo from not moving his d-pawn twice (to d6 and again on d5). Thus the Accelerated Dragon move-order was invented for Black, particularly against the Yugoslav Attack move order.
So let us now examine the resulting position via Accelerated Dragon move-order as per introduction above:- e4 c5
- Nf3 Nc6
- d4 cxd4
- Nxd4 g6
- Nc3 Bg7
- Be3 Nf6
- f3 O-O
- Qd2 d5 (see diagram on the right)
Now in this position, where the ...d5 pawn-push was executed by Black, we immediately notice that White hasn't castled yet. In effect, Black is playing the position a tempo up compared to the Classical Dragon above, and should be better for him.
A search in the database shows that this position can only occur in games below 2600 elo rating. Which I can interpret as a proof that there are no stronger players above 2600 elo rating who are willing to have this position as White. Thus we only have the following games to view which are particular to the position that we are now examining:
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A 62% chance of winning says a lot for Black in this Accelerated Dragon variation 8...d5. So there isn't much to say really than learning this variation as Black is valuable. And that’s what I actually did, I have spent time to study and analyse the position and eventually formed an opening repertoire based on 8...d5 pawn break in the Accelerated Dragon. Along the way too, I have discovered a few moves which I think are much stronger than the moves recommended by popular opening books. Do you think you can too? Well, let me know so we can start fortifying Black’s chances.
eBook in Action (click image to enlarge)
- moves are appropriately annotated/commented
- computer checked analysis
- repertoire based for the Black side!
Of all the defenses against 1.e4, the Sicilian Defense has always been top-scorer since the last past decades. A search of 100,000 games from international competition shows that the Sicilian Defense yielded Black 30.3% wins and 34.9% draws. Quite an impressive result for the second player especially against high-level opponents who know how to optimise and exploit their opening initiatives.
The Sicilian Defence, 1.e4 c5, yields more win for Black than others. source: gameknot.com
As one of the mainline variation of the Sicilian Defence, the Dragon Variation is a sharp and reliable defence opening. I personally like the Dragon Variation as Black because it is rich in tactical themes and most of the position gives you promising end game prospects (because in the Sicilian, Black has more center pawns than White). It is also much easier to learn than the Sicilian Najdorf Variation because the plans and strategies are more direct and straight forward. Owing to the resulting sharp and unbalance positions, Black optimizes his chance to play for a win in the complications. Experience has shown that most White players get caught-out from these complications where a minute tempo is very crucial for survival.
With other Dragon Systems, Black can confuse his opponent by adopting crafty move orders to trick him into a transposition where Black is favourable. Good examples of this tricky move orders are the Accelerated Dragon and the Hyper Accelerated Dragon where both aims to side-step the theoretical richness of the Yugoslav Attack.
Need more convincing to play the Dragon? Have a look at the following games and see how you can win with Black using this opening.
Enter the Dragon
The Classical Dragon starts with the following moves.
1. e4 c5
2. Nf3 d6
3. d4 cxd4
4. Nxd4 Nf6
5. Nc3 g6
In this variation, Black fianchettoes a Bishop on g7 square. The name "Dragon" was first coined by Russian Chess Master and amateur astronomer Fedor Dus-Chotimirsky who noted the resemblance of Black's kingside pawn structure to the constellation Draco. Though I can't see it myself, I do believe that The Dragon Variation is one of the sharpest variations of the Sicilian Defence, making it one of the sharpest of all chess openings.
Dragon Relatives
If you are new to Dragon theory it is worth noting that there are about 3 other Dragon opening systems and they are the following:
1. Accelerated Dragon - this opening system features an early ...g6 on the 4th move from Black. An important difference between this line and the Classical Dragon is that Black avoids playing ...d7-d6, so that he can later play ...d7-d5 in one move if possible. Black also avoids the Yugoslav attack, but since White has not been forced to play Nc3 yet, 5.c4 (Maróczy Bind) is possible. Generally, this opening features a more positional style of play, unlike many of the other Sicilian variations. The opening move order for Accelerated Dragon is as follows:
1. e4 c5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. d4 cxd4
4. Nxd4 g6
2. Hyper Accelerated Dragon - is just a move-order difference of the Accelerated Dragon. Here ...g6 is done earlier on the 2nd move. The idea is just to avoid the possible 3.Bb5 Rossolimo Attack by White, a serious sideline that also boast a lot of theory. As a consequence White at his disposal can steer the game to 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 , which attempts to disrupt Black's normal development. The opening move order for Hyper Accelerated Dragon is as follows:
3. Dragondorf - also called the Dragadorf, is a hybrid Dragon with the Sicilian Najdorf defence. In this system Black plays both ...g6 and ...a6. Theory in this line is still relatively new thus it is yet to be proven if it can widthstand the test of time.
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. d4 cxd4
4. Nxd4 g6
2. Hyper Accelerated Dragon - is just a move-order difference of the Accelerated Dragon. Here ...g6 is done earlier on the 2nd move. The idea is just to avoid the possible 3.Bb5 Rossolimo Attack by White, a serious sideline that also boast a lot of theory. As a consequence White at his disposal can steer the game to 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 , which attempts to disrupt Black's normal development. The opening move order for Hyper Accelerated Dragon is as follows:
1. e4 c5
2. Nf3 g6
3. Dragondorf - also called the Dragadorf, is a hybrid Dragon with the Sicilian Najdorf defence. In this system Black plays both ...g6 and ...a6. Theory in this line is still relatively new thus it is yet to be proven if it can widthstand the test of time.
The move order is as follows:
1.e4 c5
2. Nf3 d6
3. d4 cxd4
4. Nxd4 Nf6
5. Nc3 g6
6. Be3 a6
Wednesday
Hi there, chess fans.
Please bear with me while I try to improve features and add more contents to this blog. Ofcourse the intention is to make your reading here a more interesting and pleasant experience.
I have two goals for this stage of improvement and setting up. These are the following:
As a final note, I encourage you now to bookmark this blog of mine so you will be kept posted of the developments especially of official launch of this blog.
Thank you very much for the understanding and support.
~ chessmagic5
Please bear with me while I try to improve features and add more contents to this blog. Ofcourse the intention is to make your reading here a more interesting and pleasant experience.
I have two goals for this stage of improvement and setting up. These are the following:
- To write bulk topics and post them all in one wave. I am intending to write atleast 10 articles before I will start prompting new readers like yourself to visit again this blog. These articles I intend to include related repertoire ebooks to make the learning of the systems more suiting and easier.
- To modify the current theme and/or page layout. Basically I want the blog to be as presentable as it can be.
As a final note, I encourage you now to bookmark this blog of mine so you will be kept posted of the developments especially of official launch of this blog.
Thank you very much for the understanding and support.
~ chessmagic5
Tuesday
Welcome to MyChessPet.com!
This blog is about chess, in particular about the Sicilian Dragon defence and the related defences such as Accelerated Dragon and Hyper Accelerated Dragon.
This blog hopes to be an important resource to learn the systems and discover novelties to keep the Sicilian Dragon always as dangerous against all 1.e4 attacking systems. The blog also aims to provide readers with tools such as chess repertoire ebook and annotated games to help them learn to play the Sicilian Dragon and the related systems.
You can email me thru chessmagic5@chess.com if you are:
1. a strong dragoneer and would like to join me as author
2. an enthusiast who wants to share related chess ideas
3. a learner who wants to ask related questions
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