Download PGN of April ’24 Dragon Sicilian games
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Hungarian Dragon 7.f3 h5 8.Qd2 Nxd4 9.Bxd4 Bh6 10.Bb5+ Bd7 11.Qe2 Bc6 12.Rd1 [B72]
So I could never suggest that the game Tang, D - Arenas, D is a thriller but it appears to add further credence to the system. Following 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 g6 6.Be3 Nc6 7.f3 h5 8.Qd2 Nxd4 9.Bxd4 Bh6 10.Bb5+ Bd7 11.Qe2 Bc6 White immediately deployed 12.Rd1 with the clear intention of crashing through the centre:
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However, after 12...Bg7 13.e5 dxe5 14.Qxe5 0-0 15.Bxc6 bxc6 16.0-0 although White has the superior structure due to those queenside isolanis, Black has compensatory factors like the half-open b-file and a diagonal to exploit along b6-g1. Currently of course the white queen is sort of in the firing line too and 16...Ne8 17.Qc5 Qb6 18.Ne4 Bxd4+ 19.Rxd4 Ng7 20.Rd7 Ne6 21.Qxb6 axb6 22.a3 Rfe8 23.Rfd1 Kf8 had seen Black’s pawn structure heal with activation of the rooks up next.
Yugoslav Attack 8.Qd2 h5 9.0-0-0 Bd7 10.Kb1 Rc8 11.Nb3 Qc7 [B75]
Although the game Weidenhoefer, M- Starostits, I isn’t going to win any awards for theoretical content, as far as visual encounters go, it’s right up there!
So 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 Nc6 8.Qd2 h5 9.0-0-0 Bd7 remains an offbeat system and after 10.Kb1 Rc8 I don’t see 11.Nb3 as critical. Certainly in 11...Qc7 White needs to formulate a plan and 12.Qf2 a6 13.Nd5? definitely wasn’t a good one! Following 13...Nxd5 14.exd5 White was presumably dreaming of action along the half-open e-file towards Black’s uncastled king. However, instead 14...Nb4 15.Na1 Bf5! 16.Rd2 Qa5! was more like what nightmares are made of!
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Yes 17.a3 Nxd5 18.Bd4 e5 19.Qe1 0-0 20.Bf2 Be6 21.Rd3 Qxe1+ 22.Bxe1 Rfd8 23.g3 Ne7 24.Bb4 Nc6 25.Be1 Bf5 26.Rc3 e4 27.Rb3 b5 28.f4 d5 29.Bg2 Be6 30.Re3 f5 31.c3 d4 32.cxd4 Bxd4 33.Re2 Bc4 and the contrast in pieces was to say the least, striking!
Dragadorf 7.f3 a6 8.Qd2 h5 9.Bc4 b5 10.Bb3 Nbd7 11.Nc6 [B75]
I suppose one could argue that the game Adarsh, T- Alexakis, D came down to a battle of tactics with a successful one coming out on top of an unsuccessful one. Well, no surprises there!
Okay let’s cut to the chase and we’re talking 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 a6 8.Qd2 h5 9.Bc4 b5 10.Bb3 Nbd7 where White found 11.Nc6 too tempting and after 11...Qc7 deploy a tactic 12.Nxe7 Kxe7 that we have seen in the Dragadorf in the past if under slightly different conditions.
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Unfortunately for the first player although 13.Nd5+ Nxd5 14.Qxd5 saw both f7 and the rook on a8 forked, the latter wasn’t a problem because 14...Ne5!! 15.Qxa8 Nc6 left the white queen trapped. As it happens there was a way for White to make things interesting but 16.Bg5+ f6 17.Bf4 Bb7 18.Qxh8 Bxh8 19.0-0-0 Ne5 wasn’t it!
Yugoslav 9.0-0-0 d5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Bd4 Bxd4 13.Qxd4 Qb6 14.Na4 Qa5 15.b3 Qc7 16.h4 Qg3!? [B76]
Again not the total thriller that neutrals often associate with the Sicilian Dragon but instead Kuybokarov, T - Mamedov, R is definitely of theoretical value.
First of all then, after 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 Bxd4 13.Qxd4 Qb6 14.Na4 we see the experienced Azerbaijani GM opt for 14...Qa5 15.b3 Qc7 rather than the still considered main line of the immediate 14...Qc7. Regular subscribers will know how since the inception of this system just how much we have weighed up the pros and cons of provoking b2-b3 but what was new to the site in this game was that after 16.h4, Black threw a spanner in the works through 16...Qg3!?:
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Previously on the site we had seen outings for both 16...h5 and 16...Bf5 where in both cases White was striving for g2-g4 but this black queen invasion clearly puts paid to that idea. Following 17.h5 Bf5 18.hxg6 Bxg6 19.Qh4 Qxh4 20.Rxh4 Ne3 21.Re1 Nxc2 22.Rxe7 Rfe8 the isolani count was four to zero in White’s favour but that was more than counterbalanced by Black’s piece activity.
Yugoslav Attack 8.Bc4 Nc6 9.Bb3 Bd7 10.h4 Rc8 11.h5 [B76]
On to the game Ibarra Jerez, JC - Mikaelyan , A and you might want to buckle up because you’re in for a ride!
To start with the opening variation is quite rare as after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0-0 White deploys the sneaky 8.Bc4 Nc6 9.Bb3 Bd7 10.h4 move order that as I’ve discussed on the site before, cuts across a couple of Black’s systems. So then followed 10...Rc8 11.h5 Nxh5 12.g4 with 12...Nf4!? a perfectly valid alternative to simply retreating to f6.
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Then 13.Qd2 Nxd4 14.Bxd4 Bxd4 15.Qxd4 e5 16.Qxd6 Qg5 saw Black offer up a piece which was accepted through 17.Qxd7 Rcd8 18.Qb5 Ng2+ 19.Kf1 Rd2 20.Ne2 Qe3 21.Bxf7+ Rxf7 22.Qe8+ Rf8 23.Qe6+ Rf7 24.Qe8+ Rf8 leaving us all believing a draw via perpetual was imminent but spoiler alert; it wasn’t!
Yugoslav Attack 9.Bc4 Bd7 10.0-0-0 Rc8 11.Nxc6 bxc6 [B78]
In the good old days 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.Bc4 Bd7 10.0-0-0 Rc8, the response 10 Bb3 was just automatic but we now know that there is the odd subtlety behind 11 Be2 and regulars will recall how 11.Nxc6 shot to prominence on this site in the high profile encounter Vidit-Erigaisi. In that instance Black recaptured with the bishop but in Bellia, F - Duncan, C we see 11...bxc6:
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Regards this chosen recapture, the two pros are clear. First of all Black has a half-open b-file and secondly the newly arrived pawn on c6 tenders excellent control of the d5-square. The cons are that there is no action on the c-file and so Black has effectively wasted time with his light-squared bishop and queenside rook to no gain whilst White isn't required to expend a tempi on retreating his bishop.
Although 12.Bh6 Qa5 13.Bxg7 Kxg7 followed, in fact it wasn’t checkmate that Black needed to be so concerned about as 14.Rhe1 Rfd8 15.e5! initiated a more positional approach which after 15...dxe5 16.Qe3 Bf5? 17.Rxd8 Rxd8 18.Qxe5 Qxe5 19.Rxe5 Kf8 20.Ra5 Ra8 21.Na4 had led to a horrendous ending for Black. This game comes as a lesson to us all and is certainly not a system to be dismissed.
Hope everyone is okay. Back soon, Chris
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