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By Andrew Martin
Part 1 | Part 2
I have just finished my latest book which is called, STARTING OUT: THE SICILIAN DRAGON. Quite a challenge! I thought about the book for some time before even writing a single word. To start with the Dragon seemed ridiculous; here was more an opening one should finish with! To reduce the theoretical content appeared impossible. In the end I settled for a balanced overview and, curiously it has ended up as probably my best ever book. Here you have, without propaganda, the Dragon as it stands today in full and honest view. What is playable, what not and why. A book that will be as useful to master players as it would be to the player who wants to start from scratch. I will not tell you all the conclusions, but there is a lot of new stuff. Here are a few games to whet the appetite.
W Hartston – H Westerinen [B79]
Havana, 1966
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6
This is the Accelerated Dragon move-order, which I do not cover in the book. The ideas and variations are quite different, although occasionally, as here, they transpose back into the Dragon proper.
5.Be3 Bg7 6.Nc3 Nf6 7.Bc4 0–0 8.Bb3 d6 9.f3 Bd7!
Hey Presto, the Yugoslav Attack! 9...Bd7 is Black’s best move and has replaced all others. Black develops his last minor piece and prepares to operate on the c-file with his major pieces. Deploying the major pieces is actually Black’s next task. There’s plenty of choice, but if he gets it wrong he can be obliterated.
10.Qd2 Qa5 11.h4
White launches an attack before castling. There’s nothing that Black can do about this. He must prepare his queenside counterplay and trust in the resilience of his King position.
11...Rfc8!
Sometimes the King needs an escape square on f8 and can even protect e7 if need be. Perhaps the Rook on a8 will go to b8.
12.h5 Nxh5 13.0–0–0 Ne5
This is the next key moment. Black centralizes the Knight and will more often than not follow up with ...Nc4, taking away White’s Bishop pair.
14.Bh6 Nd3+!?
A remarkable move. We are not ready to get involved in heavy theory; suffice it to say that 14...Nc4 had been played many times before this game and had been found wanting.
15.Qxd3
The point is that after 15.cxd3 Bxd4 Black is quite safe. Future games would test the incredible 15.Kb1 Nxb2!? with very sharp play.
15...Bxh6+ 16.Kb1 Rxc3!
The Exchange sacrifice is a key resource for Black and we will see it cropping up time and again throughout this book. What does Black achieve?
1) He demolishes White’s pawn structure.
2) He weakens White’s King position.
3) There is the distinct possibility of rounding up White’s isolated pawns on the queenside.
4) He takes away the potential threat of Nd5. The Black Knight will go to f6, protecting h7 against possible checkmate.
5) He can now start to think about his own attack rather than submissively defending and hoping for the best.
6) Endgames can be quite favorable. White’s Rooks struggle to make an impression against Black’s watertight pawn structure.
All in all not bad value!
17.Qxc3
Hartston thinks that it’s sensible to get the Queen’s off; surely the extra Exchange will begin to be more and more influential. There MUST be a way to get the Rooks in. It doesn’t work out that way; observe how Westerinen calmly takes over the position. (17.bxc3 Rc8 18.Nf5 Bg5 19.f4 Rxc3 20.Qd4 Bf6 21.Nh6+ Kf8 22.e5 Bg7 23.Nxf7 Rxb3+ 24.axb3 Kxf7 25.Rhe1 Bg4 26.Rd2 Ng3 27.c3 Qa3 28.Rb2 Bf5+, 0–1, Jansa-Vasyukov Havana 1967 was a typical example of White’s attack breaking up in confusion.)
17...Qxc3 18.bxc3 Bg7
I quite like 18...Bf4!, gripping the dark squares.
19.Rhe1 a5! 20.a4
Another concession. Now we see that the Bishop on b3 has been reduced
20...Rc8
An essential follow-up.If Black manages to capture the weakling on c3, the Bishop on g7 starts to play.
21.Kb2 Nf4 22.g3 Ne6!
En route to the beautiful square on c5.
23.Re3 Nc5 24.Ka3 Bh6 25.f4 e5!
Black dominates. He has a Bishop, pawn and a massive initiative, all for a lousy Exchange. Every White pawn is vulnerable and his Rooks are completely tied up.
26.Ne2 Bc6 27.Bd5
Hartston identifies the Bishop on c6 as public enemy number one. If he can get rid of it he can then take on d6 as he pleases. That’s the plan at least.
White could have captured immediately: 27.Rxd6 Bf8!
This is why he didn’t. The King on a3 is looking exposed. 28.Rd1 exf4 (28...Nxe4+ 29.Kb2 Bc5 might be even better.) 29.Nxf4 Nxe4+ 30.Kb2 Bc5 31.Red3 Kg7 32.Rd8 Rxd8 33.Rxd8 Nxg3 and the three kingside passed pawn will surely win the game for Black.
27...Bxa4 28.Rf3
28.Bxb7 Bxc2 29.Rd2 (29.Bxc8 Bxd1) 29...Nxb7 30.Rxc2 Nc5 31.Rd2 Rc6 doesn’t help. Black is still much better.
28...Bxc2 29.Rh1 Bf8 30.fxe5 Bxe4 31.Bxe4 Nxe4 32.exd6 Bxd6+ 33.Ka4
You have to like your position in order to play at your best. Most players who come to me for coaching are simply getting involved in positions that they do not feel comfortable with. The art of chess is to do your thing and prevent the opponent from doing his thing; it can be reduced to that. Not easy though. Hartston has been uncomfortable since 16...Rxc3!. It has shown in his play. White has been defending when he expected to attack. This is why the Dragon is so popular for Black – he gets the chance to dish out a taste of White’s own medicine.
33...Rc4+ 34.Kb5 Rc5+ 35.Kb6 Bc7+ 36.Kxb7 Nd6+ 37.Ka8 a4
Comically making room for ...Ra4 mate. White resigned.
Arizmendi Martinez (2520) – P Etchegaray (2344) [B79]
France, 2003
We come now to what I am sure will turn out to be an emotional subject – the fate of an early ...Qa5 by Black. Let’s head straight to the critical position.
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 g6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 0–0 8.Bb3 d6 9.f3 Bd7 10.Qd2 Qa5
10...Qa5 was very popular in the sixties and seventies and since then has gone up and down the Dragon chart like a yo-yo. It’s a good enough move, connecting Rooks and preparing ...Rfc8 and ...Ne5-c4. Whether it cuts the mustard under the modern theoretical spotlight is another matter entirely. I like 10...Qa5, but I cannot recommend it to you. I think there is a serious problem in one line and I am going to confine myself to that observation. One cannot “start out” with a line that is obviously bad! Why should we play the Dragon? To get exciting games, to try to attack and take the game to White and because interesting, double-edged positions are reached…I think. Black cannot guarantee this any more after 10...Qa5.
11.0–0–0 Rfc8 12.Kb1!
More than a waiting move. White secures his King, prepares Nd5 and forces Black to reveal his hand.
12...Ne5 13.Bg5!
A lot of Dragon specialists are, how can I put it, propaganda specialists. They tend to concentrate on the striking Black wins and the exciting lines. Here, White’s approach is not overly exciting but it is very logical. He still keeps the possibility of starting a kingside attack, but at the same time there are a lot of other ideas, connected with Bxf6 followed by Nd5, or Nd5 at once. These are especially effective with black queen on a5.
13...Nc4
13...Rc5 is played most often and it’s recommended in all the books, but I think White has two good moves against it:
A) 14.h4! White protects the Bishop – results have been fantastic. Black has now tried:
A.1) 14…Rac8!?
15.Bxf6 Bxf6 16.Nd5 Qxd2 17.Rxd2 Kg7 18.h5 Bg5 19.f4 Rxd5 20.Bxd5 Bxf4 (Black has compensation here) 21.Rdd1 Nc4? 22.Rhf1 g5 23.g3 Nd2+ 24.Rxd2 Bxd2 25.Rxf7+ Kh8 26.Rxe7 Bg4 27.h6 and White was winning in Balogh-Rajlich, Budapest 2001.
A.2) 14...Re8 15.h5 Nxh5 16.Bh6 Bxh6 17.Qxh6 Rxc3 18.bxc3 Rc8 19.g4 Nf6 20.g5 Nh5 21.Rxh5!
A classic breakthrough. White’s attack is much stronger thanks to his impressive bishop. 21...gxh5 22.Nf5 Bxf5 23.exf5 Kh8 24.Rh1 Qd8 25.g6 Nxg6 26.Qxh5 Qg8 27.fxg6 fxg6 28.Qh3, 1–0, Movsesian-Bergez, Cappelle la Grande 2002
A.3) 14...b5 15.Bxf6 Bxf6 16.Nd5 Qxd2 17.Rxd2 Kg7 18.h5 g5 (18...Bg5 19.f4 Bh6 20.hxg6 Nxg6 21.g3 e6 22.Rdh2 exd5 23.Rxh6 Rh8 24.Nf5+ was winning in Guseinov-Rajlich, Budapest 2001) 19.h6+ Kf8 (19...Kg6 is scary: 20.g3 or 20.f4 gxf4 21.Nxf4+ Kg5 22.g3) 20.Nxf6 exf6 21.Ne2, ±, Guseinov-Cernousek, Baku 2002. Black’s pawns are in very poor shape.
A.4) 14...h5 15.Bxf6! with a clear advantage for White.
B) 14.Rhe1! is the positional approach, setting up a favorable endgame by force: 14…b5 (14...Rac8 15.f4! Nc4 [15...Neg4 16.Nf3! Rxc3 17.bxc3 Bc6 18.e5 Ne4 19.Rxe4 Bxe4 20.Bxe7 dxe5 21.Ng5 is winning for White, Richardson-Dubinin, corr 1972-6] 16.Bxc4 Rxc4 17.Nb3 Qa6 18.e5±) 15.Bxf6 Bxf6 (15...exf6 16.Nd5! Qxd2 17.Rxd2, ±) 16.Nd5 Qxd2 17.Nxf6+ Kg7 18.Rxd2 Kxf6 19.f4 Nc4 20.Bxc4 bxc4 21.e5+! with a small but lasting edge.˛
These positions are prospectless for Black in terms of winning chances. One does not play the Dragon to suffer in this manner.
Aside from 13…Nc4 and 13…Rc5, Black has also tried:
13...b5?! 14.Nd5 Qxd2 15.Rxd2 Nxd5 16.Bxd5 Nc4 17.Rd3 Rab8 18.Bxe7 a5 19.Bg5 a4 20.Bf4 Rb6 21.Rhd1 a3 22.Bxc4 bxc4 23.Rxa3 c3 24.Rb3, M Golubev-Raeber, Scuol 2001.
13...Qd8 has been frequently played, out of desperation presumably because it doesn’t look very inspiring to be going backwards at this moment. In view of Black’s hesitancy, White should sound the charge: 14.h4! with every chance of success: 14...b5 15.h5 Nc4 16.Bxc4 bxc4 (16...Rxc4 17.hxg6 hxg6 18.Qe2! a6 19.Bh6 Bh8 20.Be3 Rac8 21.g4) 17.hxg6 hxg6 18.Bh6 Bh8 19.Nd5! Nxd5 20.exd5 c3 21.Qf2 Qb6 22.b3 Bf6 23.g4 a5 24.Qh2! a4 25.Be3 Bg7 26.Qh7+ Kf8 27.Ne6+, winning.
Finally, 13...Rab8 is recommended in good old ECO, which in common with most theoretical works on this specific subject, gives very poor coverage: 14.h4 b5 15.Bxf6! Bxf6 16.Nd5 Qxd2 17.Rxd2 Kg7 18.h5! and White’s just better, Am. Rodriguez-Andres Cienfuegos 1975.
14.Bxc4 Rxc4 15.Nb3!
15.Bxf6 brings nothing, here is a recent example: 15...Bxf6 16.Nd5 Qxd2 17.Nxf6+ Kg7! 18.Nh5+ Kh6! (A well-known motif – Black isn’t forced to break the pawn structure.) 19.Rxd2 Kxh5 20.Ne2, 1/2-1/2, Lobron-Cebalo, Wijk aan Zee 2003.
15...Qd8?
After 15...Qd8? we will see Black fall victim to one of the typical traps in this line where he gets wiped out in the center. 15...Qe5 is practically the only move, although I am not sure that the resulting positions are satisfactory for Black at all : 16.Rhe1! Rxc3 (16...Qxh2? 17.Bf4 Qh5 18.Rh1) 17.bxc3 Be6 (17...Rc8 18.Be3 Qb5 19.Qd3 Qc6 20.Bxa7 Ra8 21.Bd4 Qa4 22.Kc1 Bb5 23.Qe3, ±) 18.Be3 Rc8 19.Bd4 Qb5 20.Ka1 Qa4 21.Rb1 Bf8 22.Bxf6 exf6 23.g4. Black is toiling the exchange down.
16.e5!
Of course. The idea is as old as Dragon itself. This was the initial main idea behind the move Be3-g5 (although in different variations).
16...Ne8
16...dxe5 17.Bxf6 Bxf6 18.Qxd7.
17.Nd5!
Hitting at the weak pawn on e7, a familiar motif.
17...f6
17...Bf8 18.Qe2 is also bad for Black.
18.Nxf6+!
Crushing!
18...exf6 19.Qd5+ Kh8 20.exf6!
A zwischenzug that decides the game. Black must lose material and limps to the finishing line.
20…Nxf6 21.Qxc4 Rc8 22.Qf4 Bf5 23.Nd4 Qb6 24.Bh6 Bxh6 25.Qxh6 Qc5 26.Nxf5 Qxc2+ 27.Ka1 Qxf5 28.Rxd6 Qe5 29.Qd2, 1-0. To dismiss one of Black’s main lines in one game and some notes seems reckless. But if I could see a way to play for Black in this line which doesn’t involve suffering then I would give it. I feel that the variation with 10...Qa5 is inadequate.
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