Sicilian Defence, Dragon Variation

In chess, one of the main variations of the Sicilian Defense, the Dragon variation begins

1.e4 c5:2.Nf3 d6:3.d4 cxd4:4.Nxd4 Nf6 :5.Nc3 g6

In this variation, Black fianchettoes a Bishop on the h8-a1 diagonal. The origin of the name "Dragon" is unclear, but is most often said to come from the resemblance of Black's kingside pawn structure to the constellation Draco. The Dragon Variation is one of the sharpest variations of the Sicilian Defense, and one of the sharpest of all chess openings.

The Yugoslav Attack

Considered to be the main line that gives maximum chances for both sides is the Yugoslav Attack (also known as the Rauzer system or the St George Attack) which continues 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nc6 and now there are fundamentally two distinct branches with 9.0-0-0 leading to more positional play while 9.Bc4 leads to highly tactical double edged positions. The point of 7.f3 (the move that defines the Yugoslav) is to safeguard e4 and to stop Black from playing ...Nf6-g4 harassing white's dark squared bishop. Note that Black cannot play 6.Be3 Ng4?? immediately because of 7.Bb5+ winning a piece.

The Yugoslav exemplifies the spirit of the Dragon with race-to-mate pawn storms on opposite sides of the board. White tries to break open the Black kingside and deliver mate down the h-file, while black seeks counterplay on the queenside with sacrificial attacks. Typical White strategies are exchanging dark squared Bishops by Be3-h6, sacrificing a pawn and sometimes an exchange on h5, exploiting pressure on the a2-g8 diagonal, and the weakness of the d5 square.

Black will typically counterattack on the queenside, using his queenside pawns, rooks, and dark squared bishop. He sometimes plays h5 (the Soltis Variation) to defend against White's kingside attack. Other typical themes for Black are exchanging White's light-square Bishop by Nc6-e5-c4, pressure on the c-file, sacrificing the exchange on c3, advancing the b-pawn and pressure on long diagonal. Black will generally omit ...a6, because White will generally win a pawn attack due to a point of attack (the pawn on g6). Black can sometimes obtain an acceptable endgame even after sacrificing the exchange because of White's h-pawn sacrifice and doubled pawns.

Yugoslav attack with 9.0-0-0

After years of believing White's best play and chance for advantage lay in the main line with 9.Bc4, this older main line made a major comeback. White omits Bc4 in order to speed up the attack. It used to be thought that allowing 9... d5!? here allows Black to equalize easily but further analysis and play have proved that things are not so clear cut. A brilliancy found for White one day is soon enough overturned by some new resource for Black. A case in point is the following line where the evaluation of a major line was turned upside down overnight because of an ingenious queen sacrifice played by IGM Mikhail Golubev, an expert on the Dragon Variation:

after 9.0-0-0 d5!? play continued 10.Kb1!? Nxd4 11.e5