discussion about scilion defence

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The Yugoslav attack is considered to be the main line that gives maximum chances for both sides, it continues:

In chess, the Dragon Variation[1] is one of the main lines of the Sicilian Defence and begins with the moves:

6. Be3 Bg7
7. f3

The point of White's last move is to safeguard e4 and to stop Black from playing ...Nf6–g4 harassing White's dark-squared bishop. Note that Black cannot play 6.Be3 Ng4?? immediately because of 7.Bb5+ winning a piece.

7... 0-0
8. Qd2 Nc6

and now there are fundamentally two distinct branches with 9. 0-0-0 leading to more positional play while 9. Bc4 leads to highly tactical double-edged positions.

The Yugoslav attack exemplifies the spirit of the Dragon with race-to-mate pawn storms on opposite sides of the board. White tries to break open the Black kingside and deliver mate down the h-file, while Black seeks counterplay on the queenside with sacrificial attacks. Typical White strategies are exchanging dark-squared bishops by Be3–h6, sacrificing material to open the h-file, and exploiting pressure on the a2–g8 diagonal and the weakness of the d5 square.

Black will typically counterattack on the queenside, using his queenside pawns, rooks, and dark squared bishop. He sometimes plays h5 (the Soltis Variation) to defend against White's kingside attack. Other typical themes for Black are exchanging White's light-square bishop by Nc6–e5–c4, pressure on the c-file, sacrificing the exchange on c3, advancing the b-pawn and pressure on the long diagonal. Black will generally omit ...a6, because White will generally win a straight pawn attack, because Black has given White a hook on g6 to attack. Generally, White will avoid moving the pawns on a2/b2/c2, and so Black's pawn storm will nearly always be slower than White's on the kingside. Black can frequently obtain an acceptable endgame even after sacrificing the exchange because of White's h-pawn sacrifice and doubled pawns.


Yugoslav Attack with 9. 0-0-0

Solid white.svg a b c d e f g h Solid white.svg
8 black rook black king black king black king black king black rook black king black king 8
7 black pawn black pawn black king black king black pawn black pawn black king black pawn 7
6 black king black king black king black king black bishop black bishop black pawn black king 6
5 black king black king black king black king black king black king black king black king 5
4 black king black king black king black king black king black king black king black king 4
3 black king black king black king black king black king white pawn black king black king 3
2 white pawn white pawn white pawn black king black king black king white pawn white pawn 2
1 black king white king black king white queen black king white bishop black king white rook 1
Solid white.svg a b c d e f g h Solid white.svg

Position after 16... Be6!

After years of believing White's best play and chance for advantage lay in the main line with 9. Bc4, this older main line made a major comeback. White omits Bc4 in order to speed up the attack. It used to be thought that allowing 9...d5!? here allows Black to equalize easily but further analysis and play have proved that things are not so clear cut. In fact, recently Black experienced a time of difficulty in the 9...d5 line facing a brilliant idea by Ivanchuk which seemed to give White the advantage. In fact some Black players began experimenting with 9...Bd7 and 9...Nxd4. Fortunately for Black, the 9...d5 line has been doing better in practice. A brilliancy found for White one day is soon enough overturned by some new resource for Black. A case in point is the following line where the evaluation of a major line was turned upside down overnight because of an ingenious queen sacrifice played by GM Mikhail Golubev, an expert on the Dragon Variation: 9. 0-0-0 d5!? 10. Kb1!? Nxd4 11. e5! Nf5! 12. exf6 Bxf6 13. Nxd5 Qxd5! 14. Qxd5 Nxe3 15. Qd3 Nxd1 16. Qxd1 Be6!, where Black has sufficient compensation for the queen.

The Classical Variation

The Classical Variation, 6. Be2, is the oldest White response to the Dragon Variation. It is the second most common White response to the Dragon behind the Yugoslav Attack. After 6... Bg7, White has two main continuations:

  • After 7. Be3 Nc6 8. 0-0 0-0, White's two main responses are 9.Nb3 and 9.Qd2. The knight move is a very common one in the Classical Variation and Qd2 is well met with 9...d5.
  • After 7. 0-0 he has a choice of e3 and g5 for his bishop. If he places it on e3, the game will usually transpose into the lines above. In his book Starting Out: The Sicilian Dragon, Andrew Martin calls Be3 "the traditional way of handling the variation", and describes Bg5 as being "much more dangerous" and "White's best chance to play for a win in the Classical Dragon." As with Be3, after Bg5, White will normally place his knight on b3, avoiding an exchange on d4.

The Harrington–Glek Variation

The Harrington–Glek Variation is another option for White. Named after Grandmaster Igor Glek who has spent serious time evaluating the resulting positions for White. 6. Be3 Bg7 7. Be2 0-0 8. Qd2!? GM John Emms wrote that "Although it's difficult to beat the Yugoslav in terms of sharp, aggressive play, 7.Be2 0-0 8.Qd2!? also contains a fair amount of venom ... White's plans include queenside castling and a kingside attack. And there's a major plus point in that it's much, much less theoretical!"[5]

After the main moves 8... Nc6 9. 0-0-0 we reach a tabiya for the position.

Solid white.svg a b c d e f g h Solid white.svg
8 black rook black king black bishop black queen black king black rook black king black king 8
7 black pawn black pawn black king black king black pawn black pawn black bishop black pawn 7
6 black king black king black knight black pawn black king black knight black pawn black king 6
5 black king black king black king black king black king black king black king black king 5
4 black king black king black king white knight white pawn black king black king black king 4
3 black king black king white knight black king white bishop black king black king black king 3
2 white pawn white pawn white pawn white queen white bishop white pawn white pawn white pawn 2
1 black king black king white king white rook black king black king black king white rook 1
Solid white.svg a b c d e f g h Solid white.svg

Position after 9. 0-0-0

Here Black has tested several options and here they are listed in order of popularity:

  • 9... Nxd4 This move can lead to both positional and attacking chances for both sides. White must keep aware that Black may have opportunities to offer an exchange sacrifice on c3 in order to exploit the unprotected e4 pawn. 10.Bxd4 Be6 11.Kb1! a good preparatory move in many lines of the Sicilian Dragon. White wants to be able to play Nd5 if the situation becomes conducive. White's king is also getting away from the open c-file which is where much of Black's counterplay can develop. 11...Qa5 With this move we reach a position where chances are roughly balanced and play can take on a life of its own.
  • 9... Bd7 This move allows Black to keep all his pieces on the board to mount an attack. 10.h4! h5! Black needs to keep White's pawns from making a breaking capture. 11.f3 Rc8 12.Kb1 Ne5 13.Bg5! Black can now go for broke with 13...b5!? with an interesting position to contest with over the board.
  • 9... Ng4 This move is played to pick up the bishop pair by exploiting the absence of f3 in White's opening. White is usually fine with allowing the trade of bishop for knight considering that his light-square bishop does little in this line in comparison with the f6-knight's defensive abilities and White also will gain the use of f2–f3 to drive Black back after he recaptures with his bishop. 10.Bxg4 Bxg4 11.f3 Bd7 12.Kb1 Ne5 13.b3! Rc8 14.h4 Re8! Again, both sides have good chances.
  • 9... d5!? A pawn sacrifice similar to lines in the more common Yugoslav mainlines. 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Nxd5 cxd5 13.Qxd5 Qc7! giving up two rooks for the queen but keeping attacking chances. 14.Qxa8! Bf5 15.Qxf8+ Kxf8 16.Bd3! Be6 17.Kb1
  • 9... a6 10.Kb1 Nxd4 11.Bxd4 b5 12.h4! h5 13.f3 Be6 14.g4! J.Van der Wiel vs. H. Eidam, Gran Canaria 1996

The Levenfish Variation

The Levenfish Variation, 6. f4, is named after Russian GM Grigory Levenfish who recommended it in the 1937 Russian Chess Yearbook. It is not currently very common in the highest levels in chess. White prepares 7. e5 attacking Black's f6-knight therefore in the pre-computer era 6... Nc6 or 6... Nbd7 were considered mandatory to meet the Levenfish variation. However it transpired that after 6... Bg7 7. e5 Nh5 8. Bb5 Bd7 9. e6 fxe6 10. Nxe6 Bxc3+ 11. bxc3 Qc8 Black might be even better.

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Yup.