Monday, January 5, 2009

the Sicilian Dragon

I just bought "Play the Sicilian Dragon" by Edward Dearing, and though I' not very far into it, it seems pretty good. Anyway, I have found/developed a few lines/ideas, of which two are interesting, in this 10. g4 variation.

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. g4 Rc8 11. Bb3 Ne5. We now a few options:

12. O-O-O:
This just simply transposing into the sideline in MCO after 12. ... b5. There is also the option of attempting the exchange sacrifice (12. ... Rc4) that occurs in the next line. Black has good chances.

12. h4:
This is the interesting line, it goes 12. ... Rc4 13. Bxc4 Nxc4 13. Qc1 Qb6 Black has a reasonable game since white's king-side pawns are weak and vulnerable to attack (for example: 14. ... Nxe3 15. Qxe3 Nxg416. fxg4 Bxd4, and white won a pawn and the new g-pawn will likely drop too), white's rooks (especially his queen rook; look at how it's currently buried!) will be harder to mobilize since he never caslted, also leaving his king prone to attack, black still have a bishop pair, he has a nice knight at c4, his pawn structure is better, and finally he pieces seem to have more potential.

12. g5:
The king-side attack seems to fade away, and help give the Dragon Bishop more life after 12. ... Nh5. Black seems to have good chances, once again.

12. Bh6
I saw an interesting queen sacrifice, though I doubt it is worth anything. 12. ... Qb6 13. O-O-O Qxd4!!?? The game ("Olsson R - Jiretorn Eva Cup Rilton Stockholm (Sweden) 1994" is the information I get, yet I can't seem to find the game online) coutinued: 14. Qxd4 Bxh6+ 15. Kb1 Nxf3 16. Qf2 Bxg4 17. h3 Bh5 18. Rd3 Ne5 19. Nd5 Nxd3 20. Nxe7+ Kg7 21. cxd3 Rc7 22. Rf1 Bg5 23. h4 Rxe7 24. hxg5 Ne8 25. Qxa7 Kg2 26. Qf2 Nc7 27. Qf6 Rd7 28. Rf2 Ne8 29. Qd4 30. Nc7 30. Qf6 Ne8 31. Qf4 Ng7 32. a3 Ne8 33. Bc4 Nc7 34. Bb3 Na6 35. d4 Nc7 36. a4 d5 37. exd5 Nxd5 38. Qe5 Ne7 39. Qf6 Nf5 40. d5 Rd6 41. Qe5 Rfd8 42. Bc4 h6 43. Qf4 hxg5 44. Qxg5 f6 45. Qf4 Kg7 46. b3 g5 47. Qd2 Ne7 48. Qc3 Bf7 49. Rg2 Nxg5 50. Rxg5+ Bg6+ 51. Rxg6+ Kxg6 52. Qg3+ The game then ended in a draw.

Any analysis/ideas? Crafty, after 6 minutes, gives me the line: 14. Qxd4 Bxh6+ 15. Kb1 Nxf3 16. Qf2 Bxg4 17. Ka1 Ne5 18. Rd4 Bf3 19. Re1 Kh8 20. h3 a5 21. Qh4 Qh4 Ng8 22. Nb5 Rfd8 giving a score of +2.17, which means it's better for white. I'd appreciate some ideas on this line, and all the other lines/ideas.

I hope I didn't make any typos when typing out all that notation...

Caro Kann

dsad

Najdorf

dasd

the Slav

dssda

a modern/pirc

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