Here we can start talking about the dragon variation. First, since I am really busy currently, a youtube video to present a lot of the main ideas/theory in the most critical line, the yugoslav attack (some lines go thirty moves deep, but don't let that scare you! it is a fun way to play!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lx_80EZeLiA

Really, the plans in the dragon are fairly simple, but the complexity of it is really in the tactics, so I think we can spend a lot of this forum doing game analysis, and finding common tactical ideas. If anyone is interested in in the accelerated dragon, let me know, one of my good friends is a 2000 ish rated player who plays the accelerated dragon as black and

There are two ways the dragon can be handled, with opposite side castling or with same side castling

If we have same side castling, which is less common, white's plan is generally to control the center, with a rook on the d file and a knight on d5, and if the knight is exchanged, recapture with exd5, and then A) create a kingside attack with the f pawn and B) use the open e file to pressure the the weak pawn on e7, while black's plans are a little more positional, with the idea of getting a knight on c4 in a lot of games, and use the open c file to their advantage, possibly with an exchange sacrifice on the c file to double white's pawns and have an endgame advantage, and, after exd5, simplify the position to weaken white's attacking chances, as well as get play on the queenside, possibly opening the a file to infiltrate the white camp.

If there is opposite side castling, the plan is simple, create an attack on the opponents king at all costs, with pawn storms and exchange sacrifices, and even rook for 4-5 pawn sacrifices mentioned in the video, it is really all about attacking chess

Sicilian help

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