A New Gambit In The Dragon

So I am playing this guy last week (or maybe week before actually) and he opens up with the dragon as black and I thought to myself "well, he is 40 points lower rated then me (english ones, that is, so quite a major gap) and I know this opening pretty well so should blow him out of the water soon enough" but, horror of horrors, he comes up with this unusual gambit which gets black quite a powerful initiative, so much so that I spent the rest of the game struggling to keep his attack under control and eventually had to conceed a draw when he was able to force a perpetual (which I was actually quite happy to accept by that point of the game as I had visions of losing completely).

There was a 'win' for me but involving the most incredible tactics which are beyond most mortals, and especially so when ones opponent has a raging attack and you have the opportunity to swap queens off - I doubt many players would even consider otherwise in such a situation.

Anyway, back to the gambit - here it is, for all those enthusiasts of new ideas, and I would be interested to see what sort of thing you might attempt to do against it as white. I have ran it through fritz and it goes from a very arrogant assessment of being 1.2 pawns up at the initial winning of the pawn down to as low as 0.29 of a pawn up once blacks attacking starts to unfold.

N.B. it is not a pure dragon, but an accelerated game, for those of you who want to be pedantic and call me up on wrongly naming the opening.



Black now is threatening to play d6, opening up his dark squared bishop into a dangerous attacking position, and double rook and queen on the c file, then move his white bishop and have some very nasty lines for attacking the king. Also worth noting is the constant pressure against g2, for example if you meet d6 with f4 to keep the bishop contained, your white square bishop is now bound to defending this pawn otherwise you will lose your material advantage and things will look quite grim indeed.

For Dragon's neophytes, could you mention the more regular line? thanks!

The regular dragon sees black play d6 much earlier - this prevents whites attacking thrust of e5, but also slows down his development by a tempo (as he would ideally like to get d7 to d5 in a single move, and undermine whites centre before he has had chance to complete his development)

I read your qualification about this being the accelerated version, but that really is the point here. This is a line of the Accelerated Dragon, and the oldest game I could find with it dates back to 1968.

The Accelerated Dragon is very much a different animal from the regular Dragon, and if you try to play an Accelerated Dragon like it's a regular Dragon, that plays right into the other player's game, and it's a recipe to be on the wrong side of a "short games" thread in the forum.

If Black plays 2. ... Nc6 instead of 2. ... d6, then the White player has to be prepared, and by that I mean that he should have a dedicated line to play against the Accelerated Dragon, if he is playing the Open Sicilian.

My first instinct is that I don't like the idea of castling into that attack. Looking at a database, it suggests 11.Bc4, giving you the option of castling the other way (and indirectly protecting the b-pawn. Things might be a bit smoother after that.

Post the whole game.

You cannot leave it there.

I want to see this amazing tactical win. (no hints).

Pawn toss looks OK to me, Blackis going to get a lot of play.
0-0-0 does look you castled into it.

Looked at your line you posted. I am sure someone will have suggestions for improving the line you played but imo-

1) Nxc6 is an attempt to directly refute the opening. If it worked, no one would play the Accelerated since White can force it. I personally enjoy it when White goes down that path.

2) The Nc3 Variations of the Accel are very forcing and easy to memorize- Perfect opening for a low grade player. Systems like the Yugoslav don't work- I think Fischer - Panno 1958 is the best example of that.

3) the Maroczy Bind (5. c4) is by far the most testing vs the Accel. A low grade won't play those positions well.

Well, I didnt realise it was going to be a dragon when he played Nc6 - that is usually the mark of a pelikan player, which I am fairly happy to play against - but after he drew me in with his g6 I had no choice but to play it out as best as possible.

Here is the full game:



And, at this point, he offered me a draw which I decided to take as the endgame looks extremely unfavourable for white with black not only having further advanced pawns but also better placed bishops to prevent my own from making any counter charges - some might say I should have played on, given I might have swindled him through better technique, but from my experience I had to assume he would play the moves correctly in which case I couldnt see anything positive happening for me (I would still be having to play for a draw, so this saves me alot of time)

And, now, here is the missed opportunity (courtest of fritz 12)



And, it seems, that white is able to win from this position - although 99% of the time playing in such a way would lead to a certain loss for white what with my queen being stuck offside on h7 and the black forces all pointing towards my undefended king.

A good little combination with Rfc8+ and then the pin.

Originally posted by Tyrannosauruschex
Well, I didnt realise it was going to be a dragon when he played Nc6 - that is usually the mark of a pelikan player, which I am fairly happy to play against - but after he drew me in with his g6 I had no choice but to play it out as best as possible.

Here is the full game:

[pgn]1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Nxc ...[text shortened]... ive happening for me (I would still be having to play for a draw, so this saves me alot of time)

Rec'd. It's great to see great chess in the "Only Chess" forum! Sometimes a draw is a great sporting result to an exciting game.

It's funny how chess history repeats itself. I have an old copy (1964) of I.A. Horowitz's Chess Openings: Theory and Practice that I bought at a used book store when I was first starting out in 1987, and he gave the Classical Dragon as starting with 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 and then gave the Modern Dragon as 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 with the remark "Black avoids the Maroczy Bind".

Back then the bind was considered to be so strong that players played 2. ... d6 as a finesse to avoid it.

I think the Accelerated Dragon experienced a rebirth in 1987 when Larsen uncorked it against Karpov at the SWIFT tournament, and got a great game but eventually drew.

I think there is a moral to this- even strong players such as yourself can still be surprised in the early moves in the Sicilian, so we all need to be a little more careful when we whip out the first few moves, confident that we feel like we know where we're going!

Paul

Originally posted by Paul Leggett
Rec'd. It's great to see great chess in the "Only Chess" forum! Sometimes a draw is a great sporting result to an exciting game.

It's funny how chess history repeats itself. I have an old copy (1964) of I.A. Horowitz's [b]Chess Openings: Theory and Practice that I bought at a used book store when I was first starting out in 1987, and he gave t ...[text shortened]... out the first few moves, confident that we feel like we know where we're going!

Paul[/b]

Along with the Karpov game, Larsen had some others with Short that were very creative as well. It seems that the Accelerated has become much more popular at the club level than ever. I liked it better when it had more of surprise factor. Maybe it's time for the Dragondorf!

Originally posted by nimzo5
Along with the Karpov game, Larsen had some others with Short that were very creative as well. It seems that the Accelerated has become much more popular at the club level than ever. I liked it better when it had more of surprise factor. Maybe it's time for the Dragondorf!

We obviously sit in the same pew in the Church of Chess!

ha, could be.