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Sicilian Dragon

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27th September 2008, 04:57am
#1
by ChessWhizard
United States
Member Since: Sep 2008
Member Points: 28

Can someone help me understand the theory behind sicilian dragon, and if it has any flaws.

27th September 2008, 05:11am
#2
by Darkcloudy
Gros-Islet Saint Lucia
Member Since: Aug 2008
Member Points: 268

Do you mean the sicilian defence,dragon variation,or accelarated dragon?

27th September 2008, 06:12am
#3
by hicetnunc
Neuilly-sur-Seine France
Member Since: Aug 2007
Member Points: 5380

You might want to search chess.com (and especially articles) for "dragon" - you'll probably find lots of interesting information

27th September 2008, 06:50am
#4
by Escapest_Pawn
MISSOULA,MT United States
Member Since: Feb 2008
Member Points: 1006

The theory is pretty clear.  In most sicilians, black gets a queenside attack and his (in the dragon) fiancettoed bishop supports this powerfully.  Its main weakness was that it was thought to have been discredited (60s and 70s) by the Yugoslav attack, which was then, considered self-working.  The dragonwas then rejuvenated and is now fairly popular.  I have tried re-discrediting it by shaving a move off the Yugoslav (delaying castling, leaving white's king's bishop undeveloped etc) with mixed luck.

27th September 2008, 07:07am
#5
by Am3692
Los Angeles, CA United States
Member Since: Oct 2007
Member Points: 789

The Dragon is a powerful opening if played correctly, but there are weaknesses. This is one of the openings that messing up can be costly. The Yugoslav counter can destroy black, so black needs to be just as aggressive or faster.Typically, the queenside bishop for black is not used for quite a while, as the white spaces would be clogged up.

27th September 2008, 07:19am
#6
by Feldmm1
United States
Member Since: Dec 2007
Member Points: 613
27th September 2008, 08:39am
#7
by ChessWhizard
United States
Member Since: Sep 2008
Member Points: 28

So is there any strong Scicilian variation that avoids both the The Yugoslav and Maróczy Bind, and is hard to mess up. And sorry darkcloudy I meant the accelerated dragon variation.

27th September 2008, 12:14pm
#8
by Escapest_Pawn
MISSOULA,MT United States
Member Since: Feb 2008
Member Points: 1006

Sorry, but the immediate (unexamined) answer is "no", as these are largely white's choices.  Yet neither the Yugoslav or Maroczy are guaranteed wins for white.  They are both strong in the hands of strong and aggressive players, but a mediocre aggressive dragon player against an overly-cautious Yugoslav, and I would back the aggressive dragon.  They are all 3 attacking formations and caution just wastes tempi.

 

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