Instructive Games in the Sicilian Dragon

Hey All,
Has anyone considered using the Chinese Dragon? Has everyone heard of it? Who all uses it?

KingOnPoint

Originally posted by KingOnPoint
Hey All,
Has anyone considered using the Chinese Dragon? Has everyone heard of it? Who all uses it?

KingOnPoint

I've heard of it, as well as 10...Qa5. But 10...Rc8 seems to be the most popular and ATM is probably considered strongest. Another question is who thinks it's best to play h5 after h4 and stop the pawn, and who allows that h pawn to run down the board and counter it by gaining time on the queenside?

Originally posted by XanthosNZ
For balance:
Don't do what XanthosNZ does.
Game 1503325
Game 1867225
Game 2142207

And something I've been toying with recently:
Game 1594573

Tebb uses the Dragon as black as well, right? His play in these games is pretty amazing though, losing to Tebb isn't exactly something to be ashamed of.

BTW:The b5 idea is interesting, but I'll probably stick to Rc8 until I'm more proficient with the Dragon.

Originally posted by !~TONY~!
This game is in progress, and I think I am near losing, but it's been a battle and a half:

Game 2194399

Here are some random games I pulled from my database, and the first of them was blitz, but they are better than nothing I suppose:

[Event "ICC tourney 281541 (5 0)"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2006.07.25"]
[Round "6"]
[White ...[text shortened]... e3+ 35. Kd1 f3 0-1

Wow, impressive game against Tebb. I'll comment on it more later when I've got some time to actually look through it, but it looks like a pretty well played game from both sides.

Originally posted by cmsMaster
I've heard of it, as well as 10...Qa5. But 10...Rc8 seems to be the most popular and ATM is probably considered strongest. Another question is who thinks it's best to play h5 after h4 and stop the pawn, and who allows that h pawn to run down the board and counter it by gaining time on the queenside?

I usually let the h pawn sac itself.

I stop the h-pawn every time, another interesting line that I have immense success with is meeting g4 (instead of h4) with b5! So:

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6
5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. Bc4 Bd7 10. O-O-O Ne5 11. Bb3 Rc8 12. g4 b5!

This isn't a pawn sack, since the f3 pawn will be hanging, and if white lets black take this pawn, black has much better structure and his e4 and g4 pawns are loose.

13. g5 b4 14. Nd5?

The most common move in this position from my experience, but a mistake, since the bishop runs into some problems.

Nxd5 15. Bxd5 e6!

Not a common move in the dragon, since black has to worry about the d6 pawn since the bishop moved off the a3-f8 diagonal, but in this case it's best and really strong.

16. Bb3 a5

Threatening to win a piece and forcing some kind of bad concession from white such as a3 or a4, after which black can either play a4 and b3, exploiting the pin on the c-pawn or just take on a3 and really screw up whites kingside.

😀 Good ole' Dragon!

woot my dragon game is virtually done

Originally posted by KingOnPoint
Hey All,
Has anyone considered using the Chinese Dragon? Has everyone heard of it? Who all uses it?

KingOnPoint

Yes, I think every (serious) Sicilian Dragon player has heard of it. Tony tells me that (IHO) the so called "Old Line" is best (10...Rc8). But on the top levels it seems that the new "Chinese Dragon" is actually now more popular. Any insight from strong Dragon players on the positives and negatives between these two variations?

The Chinese Dragon certainly cuts down on alot of these, and it's probably a more straightforward move, simply looking to either ram the b-pawn down white's throat or sack it to open up the file, but I prefer Rc8 because it has more theory and is more complicated! I like the fact that I will probably know more about a complicated system than my opponent. Objectively I don't think anything is wrong with either move, it's just more of a preference thing. I just think that intuitively ..Rc8 "looks" like the move, so that's just my choice! Normally in these crazy openings people find some new move and all the experts in the variation start playing this new move just to play something new, even though it might not actually be better than the older established moves. Look at Alexander Shabalov and his sick record with 2. Na3!? against the Sicilian.

Originally posted by !~TONY~!
This game is in progress, and I think I am near losing, but it's been a battle and a half:

Game 2194399

Here are some random games I pulled from my database, and the first of them was blitz, but they are better than nothing I suppose:

[Event "ICC tourney 281541 (5 0)"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2006.07.25"]
[Round "6"]
[White e3+ 35. Kd1 f3 0-1

Ok Tony, this game's so well played for both sides that it's hard to find the errors that gave Tebb the advantage. I do have one question though. What is the reasoning behind 29...Rxd4 instead of the more obvious looking 29...Rc4?

BTW:I'm well aware that you're much better than me. So any analysis I have will probably be refuted by you anyway. 😛

I think you mean Rb4, since my rook is already on c4. The main points behind me sacking the exchange were this:

1. I am already up a pawn, and I thought the h-pawn was in the bag, since his rook couldn't stay on h1 forever, so I wouldn't actually be down anything if I did it.

2. Taking the queens off with my airy kingside is a bonus.

3. I have 3 connected passed pawns on the kingside ready to cause some serious problems for him if I could get them rolling.

4. My bishop is actually a pretty strong piece. It eyes a bunch of squares near where my passed pawns are heading, can hit the rook on h1, and is probably better at hindering his passed pawns than a knight would be.

5. After Rb4? a3 pretty much forces Rxd4 anyway.

6. If I move my rook anywhere else, my a-pawn hangs and I was worried about this, although Tebb said he might not have even grabbed it.

Basically, I thought the endgame was extremely promising for me, which might have either been optimistic, or I just got outplayed quite badly. Looking back on it, I think ..b4 might have been an error, since it didn't actually do anything but get his majority going. We should analyze this game in depth when it's over.

Originally posted by !~TONY~!
I think you mean Rb4, since my rook is already on c4. The main points behind me sacking the exchange were this:

1. I am already up a pawn, and I thought the h-pawn was in the bag, since his rook couldn't stay on h1 forever, so I wouldn't actually be down anything if I did it.

2. Taking the queens off with my airy kingside is a bonus.

3. I have 3 do anything but get his majority going. We should analyze this game in depth when it's over.

My apolgies for the error, I meant Rc5. Hm, yeah, you're reasoning is what I thought. You may be right about being able to keep the advantage, and maybe there was an inaccurate move at another point during the game. After it's over we'll look more in depth at this move, because this seems to be a major move in this game.

BTW: I'm looking at 29...Rc5 30.Qxa5 Ra8 right now, which seems pretty close, but I think you still maintain the advantage.

Originally posted by cmsMaster
I've decided to once again start playing the Sicilian Dragon, and I know there are many RHPers that use this opening avidly (unlike me 🙁 ). So if you have some instructive or entertaining Dragon games (Especially in the Yugoslav) I'd be interested in seeing them.

If you are serious about putting the time in to improve your game then I would recommend studying the finished games of no1marauder at this site.

He's a Najdorf expert and also has found a way to exploit Black's position in the Dragon.

Originally posted by arrakis
If you are serious about putting the time in to improve your game then I would recommend studying the finished games of no1marauder at this site.

He's a Najdorf expert and also has found a way to exploit White's advantage in the Dragon.

Too late, I just spent $25 on a Dragon book. I'm not switching now 🙂. Plus the Dragon suits my style very well.