At the time I was scheduled to play the Austrian International Master Wittman, I had been in Hungary for over a month; I was in the middle of my third international tournament; and – I HAD YET TO WIN A SINGLE GAME WITH BLACK AGAINST 1.e4!!

As readers of my previous columns know, I had come to Hungary with two defenses to e4: the "solid" Accelerated Dragon, and for spice, the Larsen variation of the Philidor Defense.

The result was I was tortured to death by Maroczy Binds against the former, and Larsen's analysis was refuted in the latter.

Even worse, I had not been able to attack my opponent's king in a single one of these dreary king-pawn defenses.

I once had a student who fancied himself an attacking player. "What defense against e4 lends itself to attacking?" he asked me one day. I said, "The Sicilian Dragon is perfect, full of opposite side attacks!" He said, "Opposite side attacks! Then I'm going to be attacked!" I said, "Black doesn't get a free ride, if you want to attack, you have to take some risks ...”

My student didn't take up the Dragon, and dropped me as his teacher, but my own words did come back to me.

I simply could not play one more Accelerated Dragon – I was seeing Maroczy's grinning death mask in my dreams.

The day before I played Wittman, a king-pawn player, I decided that madness was my only option.

By this time, I was well aware my European opponents were thoroughly booked up. They knew their lines, and they had their laptops and databases – but I had insanity on my side...

And so, with a quick one-day's look at the entire labyrinth of the Sicilian Dragon, one of the sharpest openings known to man, I decided to play it as Black.

Clearly, playing such an opening with absolutely NO serious preparation is so far beyond rationality as to enter a bizarre Zen calm – after all, nothing can hurt me, as I am attacking!

The following game is the very first Dragon of my life.

Wittman - Taylor

1.e4 c5

2.Nf3 d6

3.d4 cxd4

4.Nd4 Nf6

5.Nc3 g6

6.Be3 Bg7

7.f3 0-0

8.Qd2 Nc6

9.0-0-0

My opponent plays the currently fashionable line, allowing the gambit 9... d5, for which he was undoubtedly databased to his ears.

9...Bd7

I'm sorry, I don't know any better!

10.Kb1 Rc8!

I may have no idea of what I'm doing, BUT I have observed that: 1. The kings are on opposite sides. 2. I have a half open file leading to his king. 3. If I put a rook on said file, I am smiling at his king, one could even say, ATTACKING his king – and so with mad snarl, I say, FORWARD!

11.Nb3 a6

12.Na4 b5

Bishops, smishops! My pawn gains time, and advances towards his king – who cares about the two Bs?

13.Nb6 Rb8

14.Nxd7 Qxd7

15.Bh6 Rfc8

Two rooks are attacking his king!

16.Bxg7 Kxg7

17.h4

So he's attacking me, do I care?  Not in the slightest!

The point is, for the first time I was happy as Black vs. e4 – and happiness improves one's game immeasurably!

17...Ne5

18.Bd3 Nc4

19.Qe1 e5

As a new Dragon player, I felt quite free to throw in ideas from other openings – This is a Sveshnikov theme, but it makes sense, no? The white squared B whose foe my opponent took such pains to capture is now a dead piece!

20.g3 Qa7

21.Rh2 a5

Not only am I happy, I'm also better! How did this happen, playing an opening I knew nothing about? I don't know, but my rook-pawn can see his king! FORWARD!

22.Nc1 a4

23.Bxc4 bxc4

24.c3 a3

So much better to be the hammer than the nail!

25.b4 cxb3

26.axb3 Rc6

27.Ka2 Rbc8

28.c4 Rb8

29.Qc3 h5

And now there is only one attack on the board, and that is Black's ...

30.Rhd2 Qc5

31.Rc2 Rcb6

32.Re2 Qc8

33.Red2 Qh3

34.Rg1?!

White should take on d6, let the kingside go, and pray! Instead he tries to defend everything, but every student of cavalry attacks knows such defenses always fail in the end to the whirlwind of combined attacks on all fronts.

34…Nd7

35.Nd3 Rxb3!

Black gladly gives two rooks for the Queen; for once a general rule applies: if the Q is attacking the K, the Q is superior, while if the 2Rs' King is safe, the rooks are better – here White's K is emphatically NOT safe.

36.Qxb3 Rxb3

37.Kxb3 Nb6

38.Ra2 Nxc4!!

Just like magic! The Queen and N cooperate just like they're supposed to, and the a-pawn gets another life!

39.Nb4 Qe6

40.Nd5 Qc8

41.Rgg2 Qc5

42.Rgc2 Qb5+

43.Nb4 Ne3

44.Rc3 Nf1

45.f4 Qb6

46.fxe5 dxe5

47.Rf3 Qg1

48.Raf2 Nxg3

49.Rxf7+ Kh6

50.Rf8 Nf5

More deadly magic – not even “protected squares” can stop the rude interruption of my knight!

51.Ra2 Nd4+

52.Kxa3 Qe3+

53.Ka4 Qb3+

54.Ka5 Qc4

55.Ka4

White commits hari-kari just when I was hoping for 55.Rb8 Qa2+!! and Black's latently passed h-pawn will win the ensuing ending!

55…Qb5+

56.Ka3 Qa5+, 0-1.

Black wins absolutely everything!!

What can you learn from this game? It's good to play insanely complicated openings you know nothing about vs. strong opposition? Well … yes!

If the alternative is slow boring death, I say ATTACK! And if you're an attacking player, then you mustn't be afraid of your opponent, of the “book”, even your own lack of knowledge.

Go for the king – and win!

I was now mentally prepared (or mentally unbalanced!) enough to believe I could beat a Grandmaster – after all, if I could win with the Dragon with no preparation, who could stop me?

And so, in the very next tournament, I defeated a Grandmaster for the first time in twenty years … like a horror movie monster, I was BACK!