OK in a chess point of view the game has no significance at all, so don't expect much.
I started taking some baby steps towards a new repertoire, and decided to play some different openings in blitz games when I feel like it.
This is the first sicilian I ever played as black. I played the dragon because I love the name and I don't know any other except the najdorf. I actually don't know any sicilian lines after move 5.
Here my opponent played 6.h4, 7.h5, I gave it some thought and took the pawn and man I was scared to death! I could bet I had walked into an opening trap. anyway, this sicilian you guys keep talking about seems fun!
10 min game, and my blitz normally sucks to death. too bad the game is decided by a blunder at the end, but my play was OK I guess.
Looked like a nice game to me. The Sicilian is killing me right now. I've tried it a couple of times recently but I have no solid understanding of it to make it useful. The play on g6, fianchettoing the bishop, caught me a bit off guard. Is that typical to the Sicilian? I play pretty reserved on my king side and almost never move those pawns. It appeared to be a key move later in the game.
Nice game Philidor. 😏
Eric
Hi PP.
A good first time effort.
I winced when I saw the Dragon Bishop chasing the a1 Rook.
Never ever give up that Bishop for the a1 Rook if the other guy
still has his black squared Bishop on the board.
(Infact Dragon die hards will say never give up the Dragon Bishop
for the a1 Rook period).
Here.
White should have played 16.Qf4 and you cannot take the Rook
because Qh6 wins.
I'm sure your sense of danger would have kicked in but it's good
to know these things and that people are looking out for you.
I found this on the RHP database - it's all theory for at least
21 moves!!
This is from u-1400 so beware White's attack down the h-file
is very well known and can be deadly.
(When I played it I delayed 0-0 for a move or two - Bd7 & Nc6
instead. It sometimes threw them off ).
Play out the game I have something Dragon players must see.
(it's good, once seen never forgotten)
Back in this position - White to play.
21. Nf5 is a good try. (White played 21.Nb3)
I first saw this in a magazine call Nightmare from the Brixton and
Streatham Club in the late 70's (I have forgotten the year but never
the idea).
Black cannot play 21...gxf5 22.g5
Best is 21...Bxf5. Then it's a game of chess again.
But the plausible 21...Rg8 is often played (it's why the King
went to h8 because in some lines you need a rook on g8
to hold g7).
If Dragon players dream then it's mates like this that haunt them.
Originally posted by Eric LeFavourThat's what "The Dragon" means - Sicilian with the kingside fianchetto.
Looked like a nice game to me. The Sicilian is killing me right now. I've tried it a couple of times recently but I have no solid understanding of it to make it useful. The play on g6, fianchettoing the bishop, caught me a bit off guard. Is that typical to the Sicilian? I play pretty reserved on my king side and almost never move those pawns. It appeared to be a key move later in the game.
Nice game Philidor. 😏
Eric
Originally posted by greenpawn34The Nf5 move against a fianchetto is referred to as a "Benoni Jump", and is a recurring motif in a variety of openings where black fianchettoes. This is an excellent example of how being aware of a tactical theme can make playing a new opening a little easier.
Hi PP.
A good first time effort.
I winced when I saw the Dragon Bishop chasing the a1 Rook.
Never ever give up that Bishop for the a1 Rook if the other guy
still has his black squared Bishop on the board.
(Infact Dragon die hards will say never give up the Dragon Bishop
for the a1 Rook period).
Here.
[fen]r2q1rk1/pp1bpp1p/3p2p1/3P4/8/ then it's mates like this that haunt them.
Paul
The Benoni Jump.
New to me but I believe you, sounds great.
"How did you get on?"
"I lost to the Benoni Jump."
In the mag/year book I first saw it.
They were reviewing a Tony Miles book on the Dragon and wondered
why Tony had not mentioned this idea.
It was specualted perhaps Tony intended to spring it on someone
so never made readers aware.
(I too speculated that when I got a copy of the book to review).
It happens.
I recall when the first Grand Prix Attack book came out.
A lot of the critical lines were missing because the authors were
still using them to beat up players. I thought that was brilliant.
Originally posted by greenpawn34I read it first in Ken Smith's "The Modern Art of Attack"- it was in a Tal game, who apparently used it more than once to great effect.
The Benoni Jump.
New to me but I believe you, sounds great.
"How did you get on?"
"I lost to the Benoni Jump."
In the mag/year book I first saw it.
They were reviewing a Tony Miles book on the Dragon and wondered
why Tony had not mentioned this idea.
It was specualted perhaps Tony intended to spring it on someone
so never made readers ...[text shortened]... because the authors were
still using them to beat up players. I thought that was brilliant.
Originally posted by greenpawn34I'm gonna have to learn it based solely on the idea that to anyone who doesn't know anything about chess, it sure sounds cool. 😏
It's called the Dragon because, apparently, you can see the
shape of the black pawn formation and the Bishop in the
Draco constellation.
"Yeah, it was a pretty good game. I whipped out the Sicilian Dragon and blew apart the a1-g7 diagonal". LOL 😛
On a side note you guys might enjoy.
My wife says to me "are you going to chess club to get your geek on?" Only to find, when I get home, my wife, sitting there playing on RHP and doing chess puzzles. 🙄
Eric
Nice game, but I have to say you got very lucky. White obviously had no idea what he was doing. The point of sacing on h5 is to play on file. One of the most important part of playing against the dragon is playing Qd2 and Bh6.
Here is how games in the Dragon often turn out:
This is a game I played yesterday on Uchess.
Here is another:
And here is a game I finished yesterday: Game 6755217
In all the games, the Dragon faced the Yogoslav attack and was thwarted. Obviously, this is not with perfect play. However, I find I extremely difficult to play against the Yogoslav attack.
In most open Sicilians, white will castle queenside and black will castle kingside. Both players pawn storm, and the winner of the game is often determined by one move. As Bobby Fisher once said, when you play the open Sicilian its "sack, sack mate."
Anyway, don't be discouraged by this. I'm only saying that to play the dragon, (and most other open sicilians) you have to be aware of these kind of lines. I love the sicilian and always play the dragon or najdorf as black against 1.e4. But to play it well, you will have to learn quite a lot of theory.
Originally posted by clandarkfireI agree that Qd2 and Bh6 is the usual plan, but white did eliminate the dragon bishop with Bh6 supported by the rook from h1 rather than the queen. As it was a blitz game it is at least possible that white was trying something different in order to confuse rather than because he thought it was sound.
Nice game, but I have to say you got very lucky. White obviously had no idea what he was doing. The point of sacing on h5 is to play on file. One of the most important part of playing against the dragon is playing Qd2 and Bh6.
Originally posted by clandarkfirewell to be fair, back went wrong right in the beginning in both games. in the first one g4 should be answered with b5 (after which h4 is almost suicidal), and in the second one you don't usually really want to exchange the d5-knight off until it's forced, and you definitely don't want to let the h4 advance without blocking with ...h5 and forcing white to sac material.
Nice game, but I have to say you got very lucky. White obviously had no idea what he was doing. The point of sacing on h5 is to play on file. One of the most important part of playing against the dragon is playing Qd2 and Bh6.
Here is how games in the Dragon often turn out:
This is a game I played yesterday on Uchess.
[pgn]1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 ...[text shortened]... rf as black against 1.e4. But to play it well, you will have to learn quite a lot of theory.
the problem with going slightly wrong right in the beginning is that black's usually dead without initiative. give white a single tempo anywhere and either you don't have time for the counter attack or time to get pieces into defence. both of which equal to getting mated quickly.
I feel that g5 is the natural move in that position, Nf5 has a good trick (one I've never seen before), but if Black spots it then White has a tricky position to defend. Here's what I came up with:
It's tempting to take the knight on h5 with the rook straight away in that sort of position, but often it's best to leave it there and try and swap it off for a minor piece instead.