The Hidden Dragon: Part 3

Here is the first example of the Hidden Dragon in action.  This example can be found in great detail in the book Pirc Alert! by Lev Alburt and Alex Chernin.  We begin by playing the Pirc defense and not the Sicilian Dragon, but we end up in a Sicilian Dragon line that is favorable for Black.

We are waiting to see what White will play.  We have already played 1. e4...d6 2.  d4...Nf6  3.  Nc3...g6  4.  f4...Bg7  5. Nf3

Whenever White chooses to attack with f4 we should be on the look out for a chance to reveal The Hidden Dragon.  The Sicilian Dragon commits to c5 on move one.  We have reserved the option to play c5 or e5 by moving d6 earlier.  We wait to see what White will play to decide if it is better to play e5 and attack kingside, or to play a timely c5 and Enter the Dragon on our terms.  With f4 we have a possible opportunity coming to attack with c5.  First we finish our fianchetto that g6 made a space for and then we wait.

 

 

 

 

If White places his Bishop on d3, or a Bishop on e3, or a Queen on d2 then we will not release the Dragon, we will stay in the Pirc.  But in our example White played Nf3 so we will now release the Dragon with c5!

Notice that the e4 pawn is only defended by the Knight on c3 (Bishop on d3 would have added protection to this pawn).  This Knight can be pinned to the King (Queen on d2 would have stopped this pin).  Our fianchetto Bishop is X-ray attacking the Knight on c3.  Our Knight on f6 is attacking e4. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IF White plays dxc5 then we attack with Qa5!

Worst case scenario White defends the tactical attack against e4 successfully with either Bd3 or Qd2, either way we respond with Qxc5 resulting in a favorable line of the Sicilian Dragon for us!  However what if they don't see the tactical trap?  Then our Knight on f6 will capture the e4 pawn revealing a Bishop attack on c3 combined with a Knight and Queen also attacking c3. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It gets ugly for White fast!