The Monthly Dragon - And now for something completely different - The Anti Anti-Sicilian Basics

by Arne Kaehler
2/13/2024 – Month by month, we learn how to master, and tame the powerful Dragon, with Dragon expert Chris Ward. But do you know what's really annoying? When nobody wants to accept the Dragon against you! Chris heard all of your cries for help, and made a special episode of the basics, ideas, plans, traps, and more for plenty of Anti-Sicilians, and other openings, which try to dodge our beloved Sicilian Dragon. A "Must Watch" episode for everyone, who experienced something similar. (And we know, you have ...) | Photo: John Upham
In this first part, the emphasis is on themes and ideas whereas Part 2 and 3 focus on theoretical knowledge!

The Monthly Dragon

with GM Chris Ward

The British Grandmaster Chris Ward is always delighted if he can play his favourite opening as Black: the Sicilian Dragon.

Ward's knowledge about this strong opening is covered in several of his books, his blog on chesspublishing, and his three, greatly popular FritzTrainers in our ChessBase shop.

In this first part, the emphasis is on themes and ideas whereas Part 2 and 3 focus on theoretical knowledge!

With the new ChessBase series "The Monthly Dragon", the passionate Salsa dancer is showing us the newest tactics, plans, and development of this fascinating opening.

Lucky for us, the dragon is an opening, played by some of the best players in the world. This means, Chris probably won't run out of fuel for new content.

Full analysis by Chris Ward

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MoveNResultEloPlayers
1.e41,165,57054%2421---
1.d4946,47455%2434---
1.Nf3281,31256%2441---
1.c4181,93756%2442---
1.g319,68856%2427---
1.b314,23654%2427---
1.f45,88648%2377---
1.Nc33,79651%2384---
1.b41,75348%2380---
1.a31,19754%2403---
1.e31,06848%2408---
1.d394850%2378---
1.g466246%2361---
1.h444653%2374---
1.c342651%2425---
1.h327956%2416---
1.a410860%2468---
1.f39147%2431---
1.Nh38966%2508---
1.Na34262%2482---
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 2.Nc3 Nc6 2...d6 (my recommendation for Dragon players then is to delay this in favour of developing the queen's knight; a luxury that isn't available to a Najdorf player who typically develops that knight on d7 in a that chosen variant) 3.f4 Nc6 4.Nf3 g6 5.Bc4 Bg7 6.0-0 Nf6 7.d3 0-0 8.Qe1 is standard play for White in the 'Grand Prix Attack' where passive Black play is punished e.g. Bd7 9.Qh4 Rc8 10.f5 a6 11.fxg6 hxg6 12.Ng5 b5 13.Rxf6 and mate on h7 is up soon! 3.f4 After 3.Bb5 I'd recommend Nd4 and upon Again I'd really suggest staying well away from the likes of 3...a6?! 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.d3 d6 6.f4 g6 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.0-0 Nf6 9.Qe1 0-0 10.Qh4 Bd7 11.f5 Qc7 12.Bh6 Rab8 13.Ng5 Rxb2 14.fxg6 fxg6 15.Bxg7 Kxg7 16.Rxf6 with here White's simple and smooth attacking plan reaping big rewards! This sort of thing is like food and drink to club players! 4.Bc4 either g6 or 4...e6 to blunt White's light-squared bishop. 3.g3 is what we commonly call the 'Closed Sicilian' with White plumping for a kingside fianchetto of his own. g6 (Overwhemingly the most popular choice even by non Dragon playing Sicilian players) 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.d3 when Black has available a few different set-ups e6 5...d6 6.f4 e6 6...Rb8 7.Nf3 b5 being a nice swift queenside expansion plan where the decision on where to deploy the king's knight is put off til later. 7.Nf3 Nge7 8.0-0 0-0 when 9.g4 highlights another key point behind developing the knight on e7 rather than f6 is that (aside from being on the right track for the key d4-square), Black has the handy reply f5 to thwart White's kingside ambitions. 6.Be3 or the potential transposition 6.Nge2 d6 7.Be3 Nd4 when taking this knight with his own drops a piece to a simple fork whilst 8.Bxd4 cxd4 is nicely in Black's favour with that half open c-file and dark-squared domination. 6...d6 7.Nge2 Note here Black needs to be careful that White doesn't switch plans and succesfully achieve the d4-pawn nreak as then there would be future pressure against d6 e.g. after Nge7 Hence 7...Nd4! 8.d4 cxd4 9.Nxd4 3...g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bc4 is the original Grand Prix Attack where not having played ...d6 yet, Black can cut across White's kingside ambition with e6 (blunting that c4-bishop and facilitating an alternative king's knight deployment) 6.d3 Nge7 7.0-0 d5 2.c3 The c3 Sicilian or Alapin Variation is the Daddy of all Anti-Sicilians. Not reknowned for high excitement levels, it's probably the one most played by top players side-stepping the main lines of the Open Sicilians. White's threat to play d2-d4 is real and so rather than continue tamely with 2...g6, in my opinion Black should interfere with White's plans i.e. d5 or 2...Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.d4 cxd4 e.g. 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.cxd4 d6 when White has a nice centre but Black can challenge it and achieved an appealing d5-square for the knight. 3.exd5 3.e5!? Bf5 4.d4 e6 would be a good French Defence for Black as the light-squared bishop didn't get locked in on c8. 3...Qxd5 Unlike in the Scandinavian Defence, White has a pawn on c3 and so can't immediately punish the black queen's early arrival to the action via Nc3. 4.d4 when Black has several plausible ways to develop including Nf6 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.Be2 e6 7.0-0 Nc6 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 is the 'Morra Gambit' when Black can accept the offered pawn or decline it via say Nf6 4.e5 Nd5 transposing to the c3 Sicilian. 2.b4 is the Wing Gambit where cxb4 3.a3 d5!? 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.axb4?? Qe5+ would see White 'sacrificing' more than was intended! 2.a3 being a sort of delayed wing gambit. Actually not really but g6 seems sensible to me and 3.b4 Bg7 4.Ra2 looks silly! Upon d6 5.bxc5 dxc5 the d-file is handy and the less said about the rook on a2 the better! 2.f4?! (the Grand Prix Attack typically seeing 2 Nc3 first to avoid what follows) is considered by theory to be premature because of d5 3.exd5 Nf6 when White would probably rather that f-pawn was back on f2. 2.d3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 is similarly a Closed Sicilian where White could park a pawn on c3 instead of the knight whilst still going with f2-f4 or else I suppose leave that f-pawn at home with Nf3 being a sort of King's Indian Attack. 2...d6 3.d4 One must also beware the odd move order trick e.g. 3.Nc3 g6?! 3...Nf6 or 3...Nc6 still leaving a Dragon after d2-d4 a possibility. 4.d4 cxd4 5.Qxd4! Nf6 6.e5 3.Bb5+ is the Rossolimo variation with Bd7 Alternatively 3...Nd7 4.0-0 a6 e.g. 5.Bxd7+ or 5.Bd3 Ngf6 6.Re1 e6 7.c3 b5 White still has his central plans but they're far from swift whilst Black has there own queenside expansion well under way. 5...Bxd7 6.c3 Nf6 7.Re1 Bc6 and achieving d2-d4 isn't so straightforward without offering a pawn. 4.Bxd7+ Qxd7 leaving White to choose between 5.c4 Or 5.0-0 Nc6 6.c3 with the plan of building that big centre. Note then Nf6 7.Re1 g6?! Hence 7...e6 8.d4 cxd4 9.cxd4 with d5 crucial. Yes 10.e5 is a French Defence structure but the bad bishop is not there! Ne4 or even 10...Ng8 given the centre is closed. 8.d4 cxd4 9.cxd4 Bg7 gives White what they are after. 5...Nc6 6.d4 cxd4 7.Nxd4 for a Maroczy Bind set-up. 3.c3 Nf6 4.Be2 a trap to avoid is Upon 4.d4 , playable is Nxe4 with Qa4+ achieving nothing now. 4.Bd3 (the Kopec System which looks silly but the idea is that this bishop will drop back to c2 from where it will still guard the e4-pawn and comr out of the way of d2-d4) Nc6 5.Bc2 5.h3 prevents the pin but given White has wasted a lot of the time, justified is d5 where I recall one game of mine continuing 6.e5 Nd7 7.e6 fxe6 8.Ng5 Nf6 9.Bxh7 Nxh7 10.Qh5+ Kd7 11.Nxh7 b6 12.Nf6+ exf6 13.Qxh8 Ba6 with the bishop threatening to occupy the d3-square and paralyse White's position. 5...Bg4 when for example 6.h3 Bxf3 7.Qxf3 g6 8.0-0 Bg7 9.d3 0-0 10.Be3 Nd7 would see Black challenging that d4-square and have an obvious future ...b5-b4 plan. 4...Nc6 4...g6 or 4...Nbd7 which threatens to grab that pawn are safer bets! 5.d4 Nxe4 5...cxd4 6.cxd4 Nxe4 7.d5 Qa5+ 8.Nc3 Nxc3 9.bxc3 Ne5 10.Nxe5 Qxc3+ 11.Bd2 Qxe5 12.0-0 is fun for White too. 6.d5 3...cxd4 4.Nxd4 is the Open Sicilian with White having deployed the 'Open Sicilian' by making the pawn break d2-d4 without c2-c3 being involved. 4.Qxd4 also possible e.g. Nc6 5.Bb5 4...Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 is of course our beloved Dragon but White players need to be prepared for the likes of 5...a6 The Najdorf. 5...e6 The Sheveningen. 5...Nc6 The Classical and other systems via 2...e6 and 2...Nc6 instead when opting for the Open Sicilian.
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Anti-Sicilians-A brief look!-2024B70

In this first part, the emphasis is on themes and ideas whereas Part 2 and 3 focus on theoretical knowledge!

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Arne Kaehler, a creative mind who is passionate about board games in general, was born in Hamburg and learned to play chess at a young age. By teaching chess to youth teams and creating chess-related videos on YouTube, Arne was able to expand this passion and has even created an online course for anyone who wants to learn how to play chess. Arne writes for the English and German news sites, but focuses mainly on content for the ChessBase media channels.
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