Download PGN of February ’25 Dragon Sicilian games
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Classical Dragon 6.Be2 Bg7 7.0-0 0-0 8.Re1 Nc6 9.Nb3 a6 10.Bf1 Bg4!? [B70]
Of course the Classical variation remains an option to White although after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be2 Bg7 7.0-0 0-0 I myself have never been a fan of the 8.Re1 Nc6 9.Nb3 a6 10.Bf1 system where ultimately White seeks action for his rook along the e-file following a future Nd5 and ensuing trade on that square. Regular subscribers will know that I have provided several satisfactory ways for Black to combat White’s system but perhaps an even better one appeared in the recent game Diaz Perez, M - Perez Marimon, J commencing with the move 10...Bg4!?:
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Although 10...b5 would have been consistent with Black’s previous move, I rather like this. The point is that the options for the white queen look awkward whilst a trade of light-squared bishops would favour Black, in particular because of the future control of the c4-square. Most important though is that White would rather not be moving his f-pawn due to the undesirable early exposure of the a7-g1 diagonal.
Now following 11.f3 Be6 12.Bg5 Qc7 13.Qd2 Rac8 14.Bh6?! Bxh6 15.Qxh6 Ne5 16.Qd2 b5 17.f4 Qa7+ 18.Qd4 Qxd4+ 19.Nxd4 Nc4 20.Bxc4 Rxc4 Black had reached a very favourable and relatively easy to play endgame.
Dragon 6.Be3 a6 7.f3 e5 8.Nb3 Be6 9 Qd2 h5 [B72]
Yes and in Ohanyan, E - Dau Khuong Duy can you believe we’re back for more of 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 a6 7.f3 e5 8.Nb3 Be6 although unlike last month’s prioritised 9 g4?!, here we see White more prudently respond with 9.Qd2 and then Black instantly reply with 9...h5 as if to say ‘you missed your chance’!
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Although this new system is Classified under the Dragon jurisdiction with ‘B72’, it may certainly cross people’s minds that it’s more reminiscent of a Najdorf. However given that after 10.Be2 Nbd7 11.Nd5 Bxd5 12.exd5 h4 13.0-0-0 Bg7 Black’s dark-squared bishop has occupied its usual Dragon post, I have few concerns and based on results, this relatively new Black idea should definitely turn heads.
To be fair the young Vietnamese talent is a prominent advocate of this line and in 14.Kb1 h3?! 15.g4 b5 16.g5 Nh5 he certainly shows that he’s not afraid to speculate to accumulate. Following 17.Na5?! Nf4! 18.Rhg1 Nb6 19.Nc6 Qc7 20.Bxf4 exf4 21.Rg4 Be5 22.c3 0-0 23.Rh4 Rfe8 24.Rxh3 Rac8 25.Bf1 Nxd5 26.Nxe5 Rxe5 whilst the game could have turned either way at any stage, here it’s fair to say that Black was comfortably on top.
Hungarian Dragon 6.Be3 Nc6 7.f3 h5 8.Bc4 Bd7 9.Qd2 Nxd4 10.Qxd4 Bg7 11.0-0-0 0-0 12.Qd3 b5 [B72]
It’s pretty clear now that the ‘Hungarian Dragon’ is here to stay with Citak, S - Klukin, K merely adding to the list of impressive Black results.
Following 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Nc6 7.f3 h5 we’ve seen how White has sought out alternatives to the main line of 7 Qd2 Nxd4 8 Bxd4 Bh6 and in fact 8.Bc4 Bd7 9.Qd2 Nxd4 10.Qxd4 Bg7 11.0-0-0 0-0 12.Qd3 b5 has crossed our path before:
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The move certainly deflects away from White’s e4-e5 (with a view to taking on g6) plan but still the question is whether or not Black gets enough compensation for the pawn after 13.Nxb5 Bxb5 14.Bxb5 Qa5 and my view is that he does.
Here play continued with 15.Bc4 Nd7 16.f4 Rab8 17.Bb3 Nc5 when 18.Bxc5 Qxc5 19.Kb1 a5 20.a4 Rb4 and left an opposite-coloured bishop scenario with Black doing the main attacking. White then was naturally keen to get the queens off and in 21.Rhe1 Rd4 22.Qe2 Rb8 23.Rxd4 Qxd4 24.c3 Qb6 25.Qb5 Qc7 26.Qc4 Qxc4 27.Bxc4 Bxc3 he had been able to achieve that at the cost of his extra pawn. To be fair the smart money would probably have been on a draw but given White’s queenside pawn majority was so ineffective compared to Black’s equivalent, the 2nd player was well justified in pressing and ultimately he did so to great effect.
Yugoslav 9.0-0-0 Nxd4 10.Bxd4 Be6 11.Kb1 Qc7 12.g4 Rfc8 13.h4 Qa5 14.a3 Rab8 15.h5 b5 16.h6 [B76]
I still believe that after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Nc6 7.f3 Bg7 8.Qd2 0-0 9.0-0-0 Nxd4 10.Bxd4 Be6 11.Kb1 Qc7 it is the variation 12 h4 Rfc8 13 h5 Qa5 14 hxg6 that is the acid test but the game Vetoshko, V - Walek, P serves as a reminder that White definitely has other options besides, here in the form of 12.g4 Rfc8 13.h4 Qa5 14.a3 Rab8 15.h5 b5 16.h6:
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Previously on the site (and we’re talking a long time back!) I advocated the sharp 16...b4!?, but just as deployed here, actually 16...Bh8 is more common in practice. Deviations are possible but the bottom line is that after 17.g5 b4 18.Nb5 Qa4 19.Rh2 b3 20.c4! Black’s tactical combination of 20...Rxb5? 21.cxb5 Nxe4 22.fxe4 Rc2 sadly didn’t work with 23.Qe3! Rxh2 24.Bxh8 Kxh8 25.Qc3+ a bit of a downer!
Yugoslav Attack 9.0-0-0 d5 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.Bc4 Be6 [B76]
Following 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.Nxc6 bxc6 whilst the still slightly offbeat 11.Bc4 continues to look a bit odd after 11...e6, I might suggest that it should not be under-estimated by Dragon players. However Black in attempting something different in Elias Reyes, J - Perez Marimon, J led us to 11...Be6 12.exd5 Nxd5 13.Nxd5 cxd5 14.Bxd5 Rb8 15.Bb3! and the key question of whether Black has enough compensation for the pawn.
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The annotation to this game takes a look at different variants of this pawn sacrifice but regards this one, the jury is out although leaning towards White. Black really needs to preserve the queens and after 15...Qc8 16.Kb1 a5 17.Bd4 Rd8 18.Qe3 he didn’t do that and in 18...Qd7?! 19.Bxe6 Bxd4 20.Bxd7 Bxe3 21.c4 had to suffer a fairly grim opposite-coloured bishop scenario.
Yugoslav 9.0-0-0 d5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Bd4 Bxd4 13.Qxd4 Qb6 14.Na4 Qc7 15.h4 [B76]
It’s pretty clear that 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, the Black system 12...Bxd4 13.Qxd4 Qb6 14.Na4 Qc7 continues to stand the test of time, but the game Remizov, Y - Zemlyanskii, I gave us the opportunity to take a look at 15.h4 and in particular discuss the concept of a swift h-file assault compared to standard developing.
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That said although after 15...Rd8 the game annotations investigate 16 h5, the encounter itself saw 16.Bc4 Bf5 17.Bb3 when a familiar theme in the form of 17...Qg3! makes a reappearance on the site. This is a handy gap for the queen to occupy, an active spot and nicely hindering White's g2-g4 thrust. There was more potential for excitement but it’s probably fair to say that 18.Rdg1 Rd6 19.Nc3 Nxc3 20.Qxc3 Rad8 21.Qe3 R8d7 22.Qg5 Qxg5+ 23.hxg5 Be6 24.Bxe6 Rxe6 was a bit of an anti-climax with a draw ultimately not unsurprising.
Back real soon! Chris
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