Unleash The Dragon!
Have you heard?
The roar of the dragon calls out to only the most worthy of players on the 64 squares, but even of those who hear the call - only those with the courage to take it up are able to weild its absolute power.
This mighty beast is not lukewarm, nor does it deal in half-measures. It is polarizing to the board and unyielding to mediocrity.
I speak, of course, of the Hyperaccelerated Dragon, Fianchetto, Pterodactly Defense.
Yield the power of the ancient dinosaur and the primordial dragon and throw in some cheetos (fiancheetos) while you're at it.
If you've played long enough or been daring enough to try new things on the board then you may have seen this pop up on chess.com's very handy little notifyer which tells you what kind of game you're playing:
If you haven't seen this yet over one of your chess.com game's notations then fear not, for I will teach you the ways of the dragon and perhaps you will be considered worthy to wield it.
To play this defense you must be playing with the black pieces. If your opponent is a biscuit then they will play 1.d4 and you can immediately answer with the truly fire-breathing move 1.c5.
This, however, is a pipe dream because your opponent will not be a biscuit. Your opponent will, of course, play 1.e4 because your opponent is a smart, cultured individual. If they do this, you can tempt them into also playing 2.d4 by playing 1.g6 in response to their e4.
It is because they are cultured individuals that they will, of course, take all that beautiful center space you've given them by playing 2.d4 after your fantastic g6 move. When they play 2.d4 you respond with 2.c5 - very nice!
In both of these cases your opponent has begun to rouse the fury of the dragon!!!
This is because once you have played c5 in response to their d4 move, they - being truly cultured individuals - will see your spicy c5 pawn and, of course, gobble it up with dxc5.
In some cases, your opponent will feel inclined to go for a horse ride or have the gut feeling that something terrible this way comes (truly a correct instinct, for we are about to unleash fury upon our foes) and summon the cavalry.
If your opponent choses to do this then they either play knight f3 or knight c3. If they play f3 then rejoice, for your plan to devour the battlefield with your dragon powers retains its fullest capacity.
If they play c3 then you may proceed to shed a tear, for your plans no long have the power they once did.
In any case, you shall bring out the cheetos here and play the truly brilliant and certainly unpredictable move of bishop g7 to begin your wonderful fianchetto plans, however all the while you shall secretly be hoping for that d4 move so that you can uncork the dragon. (Yes the fianchetto is basically just a delay tactic so that your opponent has every opportunity to play d4)
Here is the very uncool c3 variation:
Once your opponent has made the fatal mistake of playing d4 against you and you have responded with c5, they will definitely, certainly, 100%, absolutely play dxc5 without question.
If they do not do this then they suck and you can fold your arms, pout and sulk for the rest of the game whilst muttering under your breath how uncool your opponent is and how they should have taken your very free c5 pawn.
If they, as cultured, brilliant, wonderful individuals, decide to take your c5 pawn then rejoice and be jubilant for you can now put your long awaited plans into action with the utterly genius move of queen a5+ !!!
Truly, you are a master of the dragon, because once they move out of check you can freely recapture the pawn on c5. Once you have done this you may dance appropriately.
There are several ways they can get out of this check such as knight c3 (if they didn't play this scummy move earlier) or pawn c3 or bishop d2, but in all these cases you will simply devour the c5 pawn - for indeed nothing can protect it nor prevent its destiny of going directly into your belly.
If you did not need to put the bishop on g7 earlier then you should put it there now that you have captured the pawn back (that is, if they don't immediately attck your queen) and you have plans to develop your knight to f6 and castle.
You may need to delay your castling depending on what they play and there is also the risk of running into their move pawn e5 which attacks the knight on f6.
If your opponent choses to do this then they either play knight f3 or knight c3. If they play f3 then rejoice, for your plan to devour the battlefield with your dragon powers retains its fullest capacity.
If they play c3 then you may proceed to shed a tear, for your plans no long have the power they once did.
In any case, you shall bring out the cheetos here and play the truly brilliant and certainly unpredictable move of bishop g7 to begin your wonderful fianchetto plans, however all the while you shall secretly be hoping for that d4 move so that you can uncork the dragon. (Yes the fianchetto is basically just a delay tactic so that your opponent has every opportunity to play d4)
Once your opponent has made the fatal mistake of playing d4 against you and you have responded with c5, they will definitely, certainly, 100%, absolutely play dxc5 without question.
If they do not do this then they suck and you can fold your arms, pout and sulk for the rest of the game whilst muttering under your breath how uncool your opponent is and how they should have taken your very free c5 pawn.
If they, as cultured, brilliant, wonderful individuals, decide to take your c5 pawn then rejoice and be jubilant for you can now put your long awaited plans into action with the utterly genius move of queen a5+ !!!
Truly, you are a master of the dragon, because once they move out of check you can freely recapture the pawn on c5. Once you have done this you may dance appropriately.
There are several ways they can get out of this check such as knight c3 (if they didn't play this scummy move earlier) or pawn c3 or bishop d2, but in all these cases you will simply devour the c5 pawn - for indeed nothing can protect it nor prevent its destiny of going directly into your belly.
If you did not need to put the bishop on g7 earlier then you should put it there now that you have captured the pawn back (that is, if they don't immediately attck your queen) and you have plans to develop your knight to f6 and castle.
You may need to delay your castling depending on what they play and there is also the risk of running into their move pawn e5 which attacks the knight on f6.
Another thing to watch out for is some aggressive moves with their knight to g5 and their queen moving out - I've played against many players who immediately attempt to pressure your king side.
However, now that you are a trained, learned, wise dragon master you should easily be able to play against whatever they can bring out. The more you use the power of the dragon dinosaur (and some fiancheetos), the more you will be able to wield it with wisdom.
Of course, if you do not wield it with wisdom and might then you will almost certainly be destroyed by it - but if you do get destroyed by it, don't come crying to me about it. It was not the dragon that failed, but you as the imperfect wielder of its power.
If you can get your fianchetto going and capture that c5 pawn back and maybe even castle then you're not in a bad place and you will get some very fun and interesting games from there - and who knows? Maybe it will be so confusing to play against such an ancient power as the dragon dianosaur that your opponent will just blunder their queen.
Here's an example game I found from an initiate of the Dragon Style TM of an opponent being so confused that they just throw all their pieces in the general direction of the king in hopes that it will be enough... (hint: it isn't enough - the dragon is too strong)
There will also be times where you can play c5 before the d4 move by your opponent and they will still play d4 - in this case you can use your knowledge that you have gained here to handle this position easily.
Sometimes, whilst you are following my truly high tier advice, your opponent will play things that prevent your c5 move and thus your whole recapture sequence, but if this is the case then fret not for you have simply begun a game using the modern defence and that's not a bad place to be either - you'll just have to keep the dragon in a bottle for another game.
Now go forth newly inducted Hyperaccelerated Dragon, Fianchetto, Pterodactly users! Use your newfound abilities and wreak havoc upon the townsfolk!
You will soon earn your dragon dinosaur badge and wear it proudly when others ask the age old question: What's your favourite opening?
Use this power wisely!
Huzzah!
(Also join my Hyperaccelerated Dragon, Fianchetto, Pterodactyl Club >here<)
However, now that you are a trained, learned, wise dragon master you should easily be able to play against whatever they can bring out. The more you use the power of the dragon dinosaur (and some fiancheetos), the more you will be able to wield it with wisdom.
Of course, if you do not wield it with wisdom and might then you will almost certainly be destroyed by it - but if you do get destroyed by it, don't come crying to me about it. It was not the dragon that failed, but you as the imperfect wielder of its power.
If you can get your fianchetto going and capture that c5 pawn back and maybe even castle then you're not in a bad place and you will get some very fun and interesting games from there - and who knows? Maybe it will be so confusing to play against such an ancient power as the dragon dianosaur that your opponent will just blunder their queen.
Here's an example game I found from an initiate of the Dragon Style TM of an opponent being so confused that they just throw all their pieces in the general direction of the king in hopes that it will be enough... (hint: it isn't enough - the dragon is too strong)
There will also be times where you can play c5 before the d4 move by your opponent and they will still play d4 - in this case you can use your knowledge that you have gained here to handle this position easily.
Sometimes, whilst you are following my truly high tier advice, your opponent will play things that prevent your c5 move and thus your whole recapture sequence, but if this is the case then fret not for you have simply begun a game using the modern defence and that's not a bad place to be either - you'll just have to keep the dragon in a bottle for another game.
Now go forth newly inducted Hyperaccelerated Dragon, Fianchetto, Pterodactly users! Use your newfound abilities and wreak havoc upon the townsfolk!
You will soon earn your dragon dinosaur badge and wear it proudly when others ask the age old question: What's your favourite opening?
Use this power wisely!
Huzzah!
(Also join my Hyperaccelerated Dragon, Fianchetto, Pterodactyl Club >here<)
