The Monthly Dragon - Castling on move 19!

by Arne Kaehler
6/6/2024 – Three wonderful features are presented in the game, which Chris Ward has chosen for us. Interestingly, he found a game, in which "The ChessNerd" streamer Max Weidenhoefer lost against the Sicilian. In this particular game, a variation of the Dragadorf is used, in which the King stays in the centre for quite some time. And that can be excellent, at times! Chris explains it all in the video. | 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 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 Nc6 8.Qd2 h5 8...Bd7 9.0-0-0 Rc8 is another system involving delaying/deleting kingside castling but the text played immediately inhibits a white kingside expansion (specifically g2-g4). 9.0-0-0 Bd7 10.Kb1 Rc8 11.Nb3 The Latvian GM is clearly an advocate of this Black alternative to the main lines and another site annotated encounter of his sticks in my mind: 11.Be2 Ne5 12.h3 (Satisfied that not much is going to happen by way of a typical Yugoslav Attack attack(!) down the h-file, White logical switches to the centre by preparing the push f3-f4 without Black being able to park his knight on g4.) h4!? 13.Rhe1 Nc4 14.Bxc4 Rxc4 15.Qd3 Qc8 16.f4 and now Rh5!? intercepting White's plan to blow Black away with 17 e5 in Bratovic, B-Starostits,I/Pula CRO 2003. The immediate 11.h3 covering the f4-square to support either a future g2-g4 or f4-f5, is plausible whilst 11.Nxc6 (Assuming that Black was always going to recapture now with the pawn, this was the only way to guarantee safe passage for the light-squared bishop to c4.) bxc6 12.Bc4 12.Bxa7 c5 could see White get his bishop out of trouble through 13.e5 dxe5 14.Bb5 but instead 12...Ra8!? followed by the likes of ...Be6 and ...Qa5 suggests very reasonable play for the pawn. 12...Qa5 13.Rhe1 With the black king in the centre, it is logical for White to want to break through there. Be6!? Not dissimilar was the 13...Rb8 14.Bb3 Be6 of Fedorchuk,S (2656)-Laurent,J (2343) Livry-Gargan FRA 2009. 14.Bb3 Despite the weaknesses in Black's position that 14.Bxe6 fxe6 might incur, White opts to keep the b-file more sealed. 14...Nd7!? was the Super Computer tussle Ethereal13.07 NNUE-15EE (3497)-Stockfish2021061923 (3632) tcec-chess.com INT 2021 that ended in a draw. 11...Qc7 12.Qf2 I think it's fair to say that White loses his way in this game and then things take a rapid turn for the worse. This in itself isn't a bad move but White could surely have better plans than scrutinizing the a7-pawn or a potential hole on b6. That said, it's not as though there is an easy breakthrough. I suppose 12.Bg5 x-rays through to e7 and brings to the party Bxf6 followed by dropping a knight into d5. Then I guess Be6 would deal with that latter threat though an f4-f5 would then suggest itself. Also 12.Be2 would keep plenty of options open also arguably waiting for Black to commit himself. 12...a6 13.Nd5? Poor timing for what is typically such a key move! Nxd5 14.exd5?! Black's whole system involved delaying or possibly deleting kingside altogether. Hence it was natural for White to want to open the e-file or exploit the black king there or at last to start with the pawn on e7. However the clear downside of recapturing on d5 with the e4-pawn is the access to the f5-square that Black's light-squared bishop is now granted. 14.Rxd5 is surely not what White intended but at this stage is the lesat of two evils at least allowing Nb4 to be met by 15.Rd2 to guard c2. 14...Nb4 But first up this move, scrutinizing each of the pawns on a2, d5 and c2 with the latter in immediate danger. 15.Na1?! How ugly is this? Nevertheless presumably White wasn't ready to accept 15.Bd3 Nxd5 simply leaving him a pawn down and with a worse position! 15.c4? of course fails to Bf5+ 15...Bf5! Things though are only going to get worse as Black adds further pressure to c2. 16.Rd2 All hands to the c2 pump but there are about to be problems elsewhere too! Qa5! Now Black is hitting the d5-pawn twice whilst also threatening mate via a2. 17.a3 In light of my last comment, pretty forced... Nxd5 But no doubt White was already regretting not handing over this pawn a few moves earlier when things weren't quite so dire! 18.Bd4 The attempt to budge the piece defending the knight on d5 through 18.b4?? would fail for counless reasons with Qxa3 and 18...Nc3+ being just two of them! 18...e5! 18...0-0 would just leave Black a pawn up with a better position but Black is on a roll! 19.Qe1 0-0! Simply unpinning the e-pawn. 20.Bf2 Be6 21.Rd3 Qxe1+ Keeping the queens on would have meant more pain for White but one can't argue with this professional approach. 22.Bxe1 Rfd8 23.g3 Ne7 Clearing the way for the d-pawn to advance. 24.Bb4 Nc6 25.Be1 Or 25.Bxd6? Bf5 26.Rd2 Bf8 bagging the bishop. and note 25.Rxd6 Nxb4 26.Rxd8+ Rxd8 27.axb4 Rd1# 25...Bf5 26.Rc3 e4 Opening up the Dragon bishop. Black is relentless. 27.Rb3 b5 28.f4 d5 I couldn't resist including this game in an update as that knight on a1 just looks so funny! 29.Bg2 Be6 Or the immediate 29...d4 Comparing the piece activity of the two sides brings a startling contrast! 30.Re3 f5 31.c3 d4 Just as White's knight was potentially going to re-emege on c2. 32.cxd4 Bxd4 33.Re2 Bc4 34.Rd2 Bd3+ 35.Ka2 b4 You can't fault this although 35...Be3 would have forced White to concede the exchange in view of 36.Rd1 Bc4+ 36.Bf1 bxa3 37.bxa3 Bxa1 How insulting is this! Black trades a great piece for a horrendous one but the win is forced. 38.Bxd3 38.Kxa1 Nd4 being similar. 38...exd3 39.Kxa1 Nd4 With the fork on b3 just one issue. 40.Kb2 Nf3 41.Rd1 Or 41.Rf2 d2 41...Rc2+ 42.Kb1 Upon 42.Kb3 super cute is Nxe1 43.Rhxe1 Rb8+ 44.Ka4 Rb5! The threat is mate on c4 with 45.Rb1 forced but losing to d2 46.Red1 Rxb1 47.Rxb1 Rc1 42...Rb8+ Also rather nice would have been 42...Nxe1 43.Rhxe1 Rb8+ 44.Ka1 d2 45.Rf1 Rbb2 with the two black rooks ready to deliver mate on the 7th rank. 43.Ka1 Rb3 44.Bb4 a5 45.Bd6 Nd2 46.Rhe1 Ne4 And with amongst other things ...Nc3 coming, White has had enough and who can blame him! 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Weidenhoefer,M2134Starostits,I23470–12024B75Bodensee Open 20242.8

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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