I love the hyperaccelerated dragon. The reason is that white cannot play the yugoslav attack (f3, g4, h4). The hyperaccelerated dragon is solid and white have to play clearly. Here are some examples:
And if white tries to play the yugoslav attack, black get a fine position:
Yes and white will win :D The victory wont come to you. You have to work hard for it.
Look at your elo. Over 2000 its normal to play the maroczy but on lower levels nobody plays this variation. If I will reach 2000 elo I´ll change my openings. But now under 2000 all openings are playable. The problem is that everybody knows the english/ yugoslav attack. But not everybody knows the maroczy. So its easy for white to win, when he plays the english attack (f3, g4, h4) I say:
Thats why we have the Yugoslav/ English Attack :D
sorry,neither.I prefer the Paulsen variation.
NEITHER, but I "respect" the Najdorf lightyears above the Dragon.
The Dragon is a joke. If White knows what he's doing, Black is walking a tightrope to what is theoretically a forced draw. It's one of the few openings that's basically been figured out to the end. White has wiggle room to error and/or experiment without getting killed. Black doesn't
The Najdorf just has me outright stumped, and I hate playing it from either side, but I respect it fully. It's riskier than say, 1...e5, but also gives Black a higher percentage of wins (to go along with a higher percentage of losses).
Of the two, both of which I personally hate, I give the nod to the Najdorf by lightyears!
Perhaps it is worth mentioning that the Kan/Taimanov/Paulsen sicilians come with the added bonus of avoiding the 3 Bb5 sicilian(is it called Rossolimo?I don't remember..)
I play the Najdorf, because the starting moves make sense to me. Control of the field b5 supports later the freeing move d5 and the queen can go safely to c7. Sometimes I play e6, sometimes e5. I don't know much theory, that is a problem with the Najdorf. There is a huge amount of theory. I have lost several times due to not having enough knowledge of the opening. Alas, that will happen in more openings.
By the way, I always play the Maroczy bind against the accelerated Dragon.
The reason I avoid playing the e6-Sicilians is the Keres attack.
I rarely play the Sicilian, but on the very rare times i do, i play the dragon. I enjoy the exchange sac on c3, as it leads to some nice play.
Najdorf, the d6 pawn is well protected by the bishop and white's plans for an advantage in the Dragon are just too clear: pry open the h-file and sac, sac, mate! Or target the weak e7 pawn tying black's pieces to its defense and timing a Nd5! hop correctly.
I believe amateur players shouldn't play either of them. It's not clear at all what black's plan should be and often there is chaos on the board. I recommend classical openings: Petroff defence, Ryu Lopez, Caro-Kann and Berlin.
Excuse me!! Najdorf and dragon Sicilians are not classical openings? The Najdorf Sicilian is the second most analyzed opening in the history of chess!!
If someone is so amateur dont bother to figure out what is going on....but of course you have your own criteria about chess strength. In fact now you mentioned i suggest to everyone below 1500 to study Najdorf 6. Be2 Karpov variation in order to understand more clear the Najdorf and then go for others lines 6.Bg5, 6. h3 e.t.c
No, the Sicilian is not a "Classical" opening ("Classical" and "Popular" are NOT the same thing)
The Caro-Kann is not either. They are both what are known as "Modern" openings (not to be confused with "Hyper-Modern").
Classical Openings are ones like your Ruy Lopez, Petroff, Philidor, Latvian, QGD, QGA, Slav, Semi-Slav, etc.
Ok thank you for all of your feedback. I personally only play the najdorf but these variations of the Dragon that were posted are very interesting. The main reason I play the najdorf is because of my idol Kasparov and looking at his games.
The dragodorf is the best. it's a hybrid of Najdorf and Dragon: black plays both a6 and g6.
NEITHER, but I "respect" the Najdorf lightyears above the Dragon.
The Dragon is a joke. If White knows what he's doing, Black is walking a tightrope to what is theoretically a forced draw. It's one of the few openings that's basically been figured out to the end. White has wiggle room to error and/or experiment without getting killed. Black doesn't
The Najdorf just has me outright stumped, and I hate playing it from either side, but I respect it fully. It's riskier than say, 1...e5, but also gives Black a higher percentage of wins (to go along with a higher percentage of losses).
Of the two, both of which I personally hate, I give the nod to the Najdorf by lightyears!
Then what do you play?
I enjoy winning against either of them -
How do you accomplish that, exactly?
I find my experience similar to long island mark. Although I have recently been including the Naj in my games, anybody who plays the sicilian and is under expert most certainly is taking a big risk. Most players under 2000 cannot deal with the onslught coming from white
many old masters considered the sicilian garbage, and if you give two equally skilled patzers the najdorf I would expect the white player to win more often then is the normal allotment for white in say an e4 e5.
Najdorf , is that everything sicilian whith flat castlepawnstructure and kingside castling?
I sometimes play hyperaccelerated dragon, sometimes e6 or d6 sicilian, and actually varies a lot, depending on my mood and opponents move.
As white , the same, it can be pressure in center, castling whatever side, kingside pawn attack, I never know.
I prefer Najdorf over The Dragon... But plays Sveshnikov now...
excellent forum really informative
i normally like taimanov or kan
i would like to look at the paulsen a teammate at my club uses it and he rates it
Sicilian Najdorf or Sicilian Dragon which is your favorite and why?