Accelerated Dragon

I've been sidestepping a lot of opening theory against 1. e4 by play the Scandinavian (2. ... Nf6), but am interested in trying a Sicilian, and more specifically, the Accelerated Dragon.  I understand that this is a more positional system, but don't really have a firm grasp on how you play against the Maroczy Bind and 6. Nc3 lines (I guess this means the opening in general).  So, could people please explain how to play against each?

Thanks in advance,

A Young Ambitious Player

I recommend studying Vladimir Kramnik's games...

Does anybody know anything?

I am sure they do...

I am not sure why no Sicilian enthusiasts have decided to share what you requested. I am under the impression that the accelerated dragon is a newer line than many other Sicilian lines. It is quite possible due to this and other factors that it isn't as played as other Sicilian lines. It is a more positional line. Many players prefer a sharp fight, where they can gain the initiative and have control.I think it makes them feel safer.

Here is another factor to consider:

I hope that this was somewhat helpful. If you can avoid particular pitfalls, I think the Dragon is a good defense. If Kramnik used it to get him to the highest level, it is certainly really good.

Thank you for your help

I have actually been interested in learning the Dragon somewhat. I have a proposal, what if we played each other unrated and experimented, not only trying to learn the position, but how it is retorted? Imagine how well you would learn that way, as opposed to just listening to ametuers, tell you what they think, instead of discovering what you think first hand?

Also, a kind premium member might be willing to start a thematic tourney for it. I know it is a well liked defense by certain players. They are probably more advanced players. As you can see by the video, if someone of Fischer's level can absolutely cut it to pieces, then you have to be a really good player overall to be effective with it, especially if you have never used it before. This could be a big reason why you aren't getting much in the way of replies.

I have someone in mind you could maybe send a polite, quaint inquiry to, who is usually really helpful to younger, humble players wanting to learn. He is a positional styled International Master whose screen name here is, Pfren. He is who I saw state that Vladimir Kramnik was a foremost authority on the Dragon at one time. That is why I recommended studying his games.

Pfren could probably help you learn the basis better for the Dragon than I can. It could be crucial to not only your ability to use it properly, but for you to understand the strategic themes and ideas behind it, first. If you memorize the opening lines, but you aren't sure how to play the middle game, you won't have a chance in the end game against stronger players. In other words, you have to be able to walk, before you can run.

BTW, I don't mind helping. I find it a pleasure. Sharing is one of the best ways to learn.

YES. I like this idea... thank you.  I am going to need you to send me the challenges though because chess.com says that you only accept challenges from players with an online rating of 1300+.

For every time you mentioned me being a 1300, I laughed at your unintelligence.  I'm flippin UNRATED on online chess, thus an automatic 1200.  So already, about half of what you said is meaningless.  Also, White will face trouble if he tries to play something similar to a Yugoslav Attack against the Accelerated Dragon with Black knowing what he's doing (do your homework, you are 2300, right??) Thus, there is no need to worry about knowing inside and out how to play the Dragon.  Finally, who said anything about memorizing a bunch of lines?  I'm just going to study the main variations, that is really all that is necessary...

EDIT: I just won my first online game

Oh believe me, I know about the dragon.  Also, I want to play the accelerated because I like playing against the positional Maroczy.  The only reason why you are posting like this and attacking me is because you have a high rating.  But in truth, you really know nothing about me (accept for my poor 3 min rating, but that doesn't really mean anything if I don't care enough to take it seriously) and therefore thinking I hardly know anything about the dragon is illogical. 

And yes, I am questioning your intelligence.

Well yes, I do want try the sicilian.  Just because I know about openings doesn't mean that I play them.  I just really don't like many of the lines after 1. ... c5. The positional lines from the Accelerated Dragon are interesting and I had never really taken the time to play or study it.  Therefore, trying out a Sicilian is very realistic indeed, and so is me liking to play against the Maroczy.

Joey your posts come across as somewhat patronizing.

1)When I first started playing chess seriously in tournaments the first defense I learned against 1.e4 was the accelerated dragon.  I'm a class A now, very close to breaking 2000 and still using that defense exlusively.  I score very well with it compared to my other openings.  I did learn alot through some painful losses, but that's par for the course.     

2)  Your assertion that its hard for black to avoid going into mainline dragon lines isn't true.  It's easy

1. e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Bc4 and here if black chooses Qa5 he can avoid ANY transpositions into normal dragon lines.

What did you do to help?  You told me I was dumb for being a 1300 (wrong) who wants to play the accelerated dragon.  Then you said it was simply illogical for Black to play this opening because he would need to know the Yugoslav Attack (wrong).  When I show that I know the Yugoslav (which isn't even necessary) and I like playing the Maroczy, you again question me.  FYI, the sicilian is usually a very tactical, counterattacking opening.  So one can infer that I want to play the "positional maroczy" because of its "positional" nature, so very different from its other sicilian cousins, and that I probably don't enjoy playing crazy, tactical games as much (which is in other sicilians).

I'm only 15 BTW.

Joseph, it's not easy to summarize a whole opening in a few sentences. A good way to learn strategies is to look for annotated games. Try searching on chess.com and on the web, and you'll probably find some good pointers and some example games.

I can give you some basic ideas though ;

- against the Maroczy, Black usually tries to block the dark squares, and tries to keep the Bf1 bad

- against the various Nc3 variations, ...d5 is often a key freeing move

Now you need to look for games and start asking more specific questions.

So a guy starts a thread with "I want to TRY a Sicilian, specifically the Accelerated Dragon. I don't really have a good grasp on how to play against the Maroczy lines, or 6.Nc3 stuff". Implying he has yet to play this opening.

It is suggested that he may want to learn the Dragon first, and that the Maroczy may present a problem. Upon reading this, the guy claims "Yeah but I already know all about the Dragon, and also, I like playing against the Maroczy in particular, so shut up". 

You remind me of a 10 year old kid in my mum's class who was, in his own words, ready to go to medical school because he "knew biology and chemistry".

Might sound a little harsh but seriously, dude. Anyway, if you do want some information on the Maroczy Bind, I remember there was an interesting thread recently in which some different systems vs. the Maroczy were looked at. I dug the link out for you, there's some contributions to it from an IM in there as well.

http://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-openings/maroczy-bind-or-switching-to-another-variation-of-the-sicilian

Are you serious?  I have absolutely not played against the Maroczy prior to the time I started this.  But since there weren't any responses, I took matters into my own hands and can now say that I enjoy playing against the Maroczy.

Thanks for the link but please don't quote things that I didn't say.  This is very misleading.  And no, when joey said I needed to learn the dragon, I told him this wasn't necessary.  Then he made me feel inferior by questioning if I knew anything whatsoever about the dragon and accelerated dragon.  What do you want me to say? No, I'm an idiot who doesn't know why I even want to play an opening that I started a post about.  Also, many good players know the line I referred to in the Dragon, it is well known, I am absolutely no expert.  Do I want to try a sicilian? Yea, because I don't play it.

You started this thread two days ago, I don't how many long time control Accelerated Dragon games against the Maroczy Bind you have managed to fit in since then, but you have gone from not playing against it to enjoying playing against it? Surely you are still pretty new to it. I know I've been playing Hyp-Acc-Dragon for around 3 months and don't feel experienced and confident I can deal with anything thrown at me yet. And from a newcomer to the Sicilian to someone who "knows about the Dragon" as well. I rather feel I'm the one being misled here!

Anyway, I'm not here to spark an argument. Don't take posts on here which you feel are condescending to heart, trust me, I've been there plenty of times and it's not worth it.

Anyway, it's no good starting to play an opening if you don't have good reasons as to why, so questioning that is the first step. Plenty of people DO come on here wanting to learn the Dragon because it sounds cool, honestly. Fortunately, you're not one of those. So that's cool. Now you can start to learn some ideas. Good luck.

That's an interesting idea; I had never thought of Qa5 as abandoning the idea of d5.  Does this mean that in the other branch black can play d5 in one move at some point?    Well, if I had it to do over again, I might learn 1...e5 instead as my first defence.  Maybe I would have improved more quickly in that scenario.  But I don't think that whether you choose to learn the dragon or the accelerated dragon first is a big deal.  Some of the benefits of playing the accelerated for a lower level player are

1) The marcozy bind is played very infrequently

2) Black has alot of tricks available in both major branches of the classical (5.Nc3)  and their opponents will frequently flub the move orders giving black a little free material and/or a good game.

3)  Less theoretical knowledge is needed then the dragon, allowing the player to dedicate more time to other areas of the game.

4) Alot of positional ideas are learned.

If I were to argue for the dragon instead it might be that you are exposed to situations where you have to calculate alot and be very tactically alert. 

Wow, you played a lot of Maroczys in 2 days? Nice. I'll try to build a 1.d4 and 1.e4 repertoire and play all the lines in 2 days, this inspired me.