Download PGN of April ’23 Dragon Sicilian games

>> Previous Update >>

Yugoslav Attack 9.0-0-0 d5 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.Bc4 Bb7 [B76]

In Roebers, E - Pijpers, A we kick off the month’s action with something rare and new to the site in the still trendy 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 Nc6 8.Qd2 0-0 9.0-0-0 d5 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.Bc4 line. Yes, up til now we’ve pretty much assumed the 11...e6 bolstering the centre and leaving White’s light-squared bishop biting on granite. Solid for sure but nevertheless we’ve seen White slink their knight into c5 and Black struggle to get activity. However, with the immediate 11...Bb7 Black connects major pieces along the back rank and so threatens to take on e4:

Simple maths though shows that White can ‘win’ a pawn though through 12.exd5 cxd5 13.Nxd5 Nxd5 14.Bxd5 Bxd5 15.Qxd5 when intriguingly we reach exactly the same position as in the main line ‘pawn grab’ variation only with neither side retaining their light-squared bishops.

In the notes to the game I offer the pros and cons of that to both sides whilst trying to decide whether Black gets enough compensation for the pawn. That’s from an objective point of view though whilst in the game 15...Rb8 16.b3 Qc7 17.Qc5 Qb7 18.Bd4 Rfc8 19.Qg5? Qc7 20.c4 e5 21.Bb2 a5 22.Rd3 Qb6 23.Qh4 a4 24.Rhd1 axb3 25.axb3 Ra8 26.Qe4 h5 27.Kb1 Qf2 28.R3d2 Qb6 29.Qc2 Rcb8 30.c5?! Qa5 from a practical point of view Black evidently did judging by how quickly White capitulated! Nevertheless we await further outings!

Yugoslav 9.0-0-0 d5 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.Bh6 Bxh6 12.Qxh6 e5 13.Bc4 [B76]

Remaining fashionable is 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 Nc6 8.Qd2 0-0 9.0-0-0 d5 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.Bh6 Bxh6 12.Qxh6 e5 but whilst we’ve previously checked out each of 13 exd5, 13 g4, 13 h4 and 13 Qg5, in the GM clash Bernadskiy,V- Pranav, V we get our first taste of 13.Bc4:

Taking advantage of the d-file pin, White piles the pressure on the centre but I like the reply of 13...d4 Yes although White has a good diagonal for his light-squared bishop, the pawn on d4 will be a thorn and the attacked white knight will have to move at some point. The white steed is probably required on the queenside to offer some cover there and in fact 14.Na4 immediately occurred with 14...Rb8 15.h4 following. Here 15...Nh5!? is interesting but Black opted for the solid 15...Qe7 which after 16.Qg5 Rb4 17.Bb3 Kg7! prompted White to try and de-stabilise Black’s centre through 18.f4?! However some clever responses in 18...Rb5! 19.h5 h6! 20.Qh4 gxh5! 21.f5 Rg8 22.g4 Kf8 left the black king safe and the second player having all the play.

Yugoslav 9.0-0-0 d5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Bd4 e5 13.Bc5 Be6 14.Ne4 Re8 15.h4 h5 [B76]

Wow yes I’ve had another Dragon encounter with Cumming, R - Ward, C being inspired by a game I annotated here last month. So we’re talking 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 Nc6 8.Qd2 0-0 9.0-0-0 d5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Bd4 e5 13.Bc5 Be6 14.Ne4 Re8 15.h4 where instead of the standard 15...h6, Black deploys 15...h5 to prevent a further advance of White’s h-pawn. Rather than the immediate 16 g4 Nf4 of Lobanov-Tan though my talented young FM opponent bashed out 16.Bc4 when I sunk into deep thought. In that annotation I had investigated 16...Nf4 when of course the queens could come off but whilst I still consider that to be satisfactory, I decided I wanted a little more excitement and hence 16...Qc7 17.g4 Rad8 18.gxh5 Nf4 19.Bd6 Qc8 20.h6 Bxc4 21.hxg7 occurred:

Some crazy complications in an action-packed tense game that I was very relieved to end up on top in!

Yugoslav 9.0-0-0 d5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Bd4 e5 13.Bc5 Be6 14.Ne4 Re8 15.h4 Qc7?! [B76]

Although I admire novel ideas and after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.0-0-0 d5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Bd4 e5 13.Bc5 Be6 14.Ne4 Re8 15.h4 I tried something different in the above game, alas I’m not as enamoured by the rare 15...Qc7?! as seen in this month’s Alonso, S - Izquierdo, D.

The obvious problem is that this allows 16.h5 and with the f8 king escape route covered by the c5-bishop, White of course has a simple plan of prising open the h-file, aligning queen and rook there and delivering mate on h7.

The game saw 16...f5 17.Ng5 e4 18.Nxe6 Rxe6 19.Bc4 leaving the black king in a bit of a crossfire with 19...Qe5 20.Bd4 Qxd4 21.Qxd4 Bxd4 22.Rxd4 exf3 23.gxf3 Kg7 24.Rxd5! cxd5 25.Bxd5 probably just a winning endgame.

Yugoslav Attack 9.g4 Be6 10.Nxe6 fxe6 11.Be2!? [B76]

When I check the Dragon games played around the World each month, it is always a delight to see Super GM tussles even if they don’t always live up to their billing. Well Yu Yangyi - Erigaisi, A certainly peaked my interest as although the game itself was far from a thriller, it contained a potentially important novelty.

So 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.g4 Be6 10.Nxe6 fxe6 is of course standard but now rather than heading down 11 0-0-0 Ne5 12 Be2 Qc8 etc. White kicked off with the rare 11.Be2!?:

Here an attempt to transpose via 11...Ne5 would walk into 12 g5 followed by 13 f4 and so instead Black responded thematically with the central break i.e. 11...d5 when 12.exd5 Nxd5 13.Nxd5 exd5 14.0-0-0 e6 led to an interesting imbalance. Black has reasonable minor pieces and a solid centre but White has the bishop pair and fewer pawn islands. After 15.Kb1 Qc7 16.h4 Ne5 17.f4 Nc4 18.Bxc4 Qxc4 19.h5 White had a handy initiative targeting the tender g6-point with 19...Rac8 20.hxg6 hxg6 21.Qh2 Kf7 22.f5 Rh8 23.fxe6+ Kxe6 24.Qd2 leaving the black king a tad nervous. Nevertheless although 24...Rxh1 25.Rxh1 d4 26.Bg5 Rf8 27.Qe1+ Kf7 looked worrying, Black should really have held the resulting endgame after 28.Qe4?! Qc6 29.Rf1+ Kg8 30.Rxf8+ Kxf8 31.Qf4+ Kg8 32.Qb8+ Kf7.

Yugoslav Attack 9.Bc4 Nd7 10.h4 h5 [B77]

I love the fact I title this variation like it’s old hat when the reality is that there has only ever been one human encounter with it! There has however been a few Super computer tussles with this bizarre line of 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.Bc4 Nd7 10.h4 h5 including the recent Berserk 20230311 - Stockfish dev-20230308-39da50 where in fact it is Black that goes berserk!

Certainly moving away the so often key defender from f6 is provocative but then playing ...h5 too seems to be taking the mickey. However, it is worth noting that after 11 g4 hxg4 12 h5 Black has the resource 12...Nde5 13 Be2 Nxd4 14 Bxd4 gxf3 and if 15 Bxe5 then 15...dxe5! Relatively speaking quite calm but the same couldn’t be said of 11.0-0-0 Qa5 12.Kb1 Qb4 13.Nd5 Qxc4 14.b3 Qxd4 15.Bxd4 Nxd4 16.Nxe7+ Kh7 17.Nd5 Nc5 when Black had two bishops and a knight for a queen and a pawn. Black then went on sacrifice more via 18.c3 Nb5 19.a4 a6! (Who saw that coming?) 20.axb5 axb5 21.Qg5 Be6 22.Nf6+ Bxf6 23.Qxf6 Bxb3 24.Qxd6 Rfc8!? when it ultimately transpired that with the open a-file to boot, two minor pieces were a match for the queen. Do I really buy that? To be honest it’s total bonkers and I’m not really sure. Grab some popcorn sit back, enjoy the show and make up your own mind!

Bye for now! Chris

>> Previous Update >>

To get in touch with me subscribers can email me at Support@ChessPublishing.com.