Download PGN of June ’22 Dragon Sicilian games

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Yugoslav 9.0-0-0 d5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Bd4 Bxd4 13.Qxd4 Qb6 14.Na4 Qc7 15.Nc5 Rd8 [B76]

I suppose 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 Bxd4 13.Qxd4 Qb6 14.Na4 Qc7 15.Nc5 Rd8 it was inevitable that someone would ask the question about 16.c4 and that time was in Samunenkov, I - Jia, H:

Black was probably familiar with the theme of catching out the white king on the c-file and consequently responded with 16...Bf5. Having now done some analysis on the position, subscribers will see in the notes that I consider 16...e5! and only if 17 Qd2 then 17...Bf5! to be most accurate but the game continuation of 17.cxd5 Rxd5 18.Qe3 Qa5 19.Rxd5 cxd5 20.g4 d4!? certainly led to a fun middlegame with plenty of amusing tactics ahead after 21.Qxe7 Be6 22.Ba6 Qxa2. Definitely worth a viewing!

Yugoslav 9.0-0-0 d5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Bd4 Bxd4 13.Qxd4 Qb6 14.Na4 Qc7 15.Bc4 [B76]

Following 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 Qc7 15.Bc4 just when we would have expected 15...Rd8 and then possibly 16 Nc5 Bf5 17 Bb3 Nf4, it appears as though Black gets a little confused, instead deploying 15...Nf4? immediately in Guo, A - Wen, T:

Black’s plan was probably to complete the development via ...Be6 but after 16 g3! he doesn’t get time for that with 16...Ne6 17 Qe3! leaving Black’s remaining bishop looking rather sad and obstructing the compatriot rooks.

Black tried hard to get active but 17...Qa5 18.b3 Rb8 19.a3 Re8 20.h4 h5 21.Qe4 Qc7 22.Rhg1 Rb5 23.Bxb5 cxb5 24.Nb2 Bb7 25.Qe3 Rc8 26.Rd2 Qa5?! 27.b4! Qc7 28.Qxa7 was a hopeless cause.

Yugoslav 9.0-0-0 d5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Bd4 e5 13.Bc5 Re8 14.Bc4 Qh4 [B76]

We know that after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 d6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 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 it is 13...Re8 that has been rather trendy recently and although I think I’ve proven the immediate pawn grab on d5 to be fine for Black, we’ve tended to focus on 14 Ne4. The game Christiansen, J - Clarke, B offers one reason why White may have been avoiding 14 Bc4 and I’m talking the fascinating 14...Qh4!?:

Of course there is nothing wrong with 14...Be6 transposing to standard territory but the text hits the bishop on c4 whilst (important to note!) bringing ...Bh6 into play. Do obviously read my notes to this game but it seems to me that 15.Bxd5 cxd5 is critical with White having a few options. In the game the Englishman’s queen was immediately put the question through 16.g3 when there are a range of squares available to her majesty. We consequently saw 16...Qh5 17.Nxd5 Bb7 18.g4 Qh3 19.Qe2 Rad8 20.Qe4 Kh8 21.c4 f5 22.gxf5 gxf5 23.Qc2 Rc8 with a fascinating middlegame. Black definitely has compensation for the pawn but alas the game went White’s way due to a later Black inaccuracy.

Rare to date but definitely a line with potential!

Yugoslav 9.0-0-0 d5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Bd4 e5 13.Bc5 Re8 14.Ne4 Qc7 15.Bc4 Be6 16.h4 [B76]

A little shorter than I would have liked but nevertheless the recent game Kovacevic, A - Stankovic, M throws up quite a few topics of interest. We’re talking 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 Re8, yes the ‘in’ variation where Black temporarily delays developing his light squared bishop although 14.Ne4 Qc7 15.Bc4 Be6 sees it emerge on its usual post anyway. The point though is that via this order now after 16.h4 Black is not obliged to advance his h-pawn to deal with White’s h-pawn threat to advance (e.g. 16...h6 planning to meet 17 h5 with 17...g5) and indeed chose 16...Rad8 bringing discovered attacks into play:

Although we have reached a typical piece configuration, actually this specific position is quite rare. Black is fine after 17 h5 Nf4 (or 17...Nb6) and hence White opted for 17.Qf2 Nf4 18.Bxe6 Nxe6 with 19.Rxd8 Rxd8 20.Be3 f5 21.Ng5 Nxg5 22.hxg5 e4 starting to look exciting. Indeed after 23.fxe4? Black missed a golden opportunity in the form of 23...Bxb2+!! with instead 23...Qa5 24.a3 Qe5 and a premature end leaving the audience rather unsatisfied!

Yugoslav Attack 9.g4 Be6 10.Nxe6 fxe6 11.0-0-0 Ne5 12.Be2 Qc8 [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.g4 Be6 10.Nxe6 fxe6 11.0-0-0 Ne5 12.Be2 Qc8 we experience a new move to the site in Heimann, An - Buss, Ra in the form of 13.Bd4:

Maybe not the most Earth shattering inclusion but amongst other things White is simply threatening to take on e5 and his big point is 13...Nc6 14.Bg1 (yep he’s not looking for a repetition!).

So the obvious question to ask then is whether White's dark-squared bishop is better off on g1 than e3 and the instinctive response would presumably be 'No'. I mean it potentially gets in the way of the rooks and doesn't have the option of travelling to h6 to exchange off the Dragon bishop. However, the main advantage is not being on e3 means that should a black knight make it to c4 (not impossible to imagine!) or g4 then as it would no longer have the bishop in its sights, White would not be compelled to concede his light-squared bishop.

The game continued 14...Ne5 15.h4 Nfd7 16.f4 Nc4 17.Qd3 b5! 18.Bd4 when it was only through the inaccuracy 18...Bxd4?! and then 19.Qxd4 Rxf4 20.Nxb5 Nce5 21.Qe3 Rf7 22.h5 Nf8 23.Kb1 Qb7 24.Nd4 Rb8 25.b3 Qb6 26.g5 Nc6 27.hxg6 that Black’s position was starting to look rather fragile.

Yugoslav Attack 9.0-0-0 Bd7 10.h4 Rc8 11.h5 [B76]

And we end this month’s update with Urazayev, A - Djokic, M and fun, fun, fun!

Yes, we’re talking 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 Bd7 and the interesting fascination I have with 10.h4 (as opposed to the main line of 10 g4) and whether or not White is really threatening 11 h4-h5. The good news is that we finally get to experience 10...Rc8 11.h5 Nxh5 12.g4 Ng3!? in a practical game:

Furthermore one which after 13.Rh3 Nxf1 14.Rxf1 Ne5 15.Bh6?! Nc4! 16.Qd3 Qb6 works out really well for Black. The notes contain plenty of discussions regards move orders and whether Black should block with 10...h5 himself but the bottom line is that 17.Nb3 Nxb2! 18.Kxb2 Rxc3 19.Qxc3 Bxc3+ 20.Kxc3 Rc8+ 21.Kb2 a5 would no doubt have left Black regretting absolutely nothing!

Best wishes everyone. Chris

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