4/29/2025 – GM Chris Ward introduces a fresh and evolving variation in the Sicilian Dragon, humorously dubbed the "Accelerated Dragadorf", which merges dragon setups with thematic ideas from the Najdorf. He analyzes a complex game featuring this system, highlighting tactical motifs, a strong bishop on e5, and a dominant performance by young Vietnamese IM Dau Khuong Duy. The second part covers a clean positional win in a more traditional Dragon, culminating in a delightful rook endgame puzzle, followed by Chris sharing personal insights on his early use of chess engines like Fritz. | Photo: John Upham
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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.
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1.e4c52.Nf3d63.d4cxd44.Nxd4Nf65.Nc3g66.Be3a67.f3e5
A relatively new system for Black to ponder.8.Nb3Be69.Qd2Previously9.g4?! (looking to get g4-g5 to control the
d5-square) suffered a rude awakening when the talented young Vietnamese IM
continued withd5!anyway with10.g5Nc6occurring and after11.gxf6d412.Bg5dxc313.Qxd8+Nxd814.bxc3Rc815.Kd2Ba3Black reaching a
favourable endgame in Azarya,J (2417)-Dau Khuong Duy (2410) Hanoi VIE 2025.9...h5The text of course puts a stop to that White kingside
expansion whilst offering up a further incursion of his own and gaining more
control of the h6-square.Funnily enough our champion in this fresh variation had also gained
a good position after9...Nbd710.Be2b511.0-0Nb612.a4Nc413.Bxc4bxc414.Nc1d515.exd5Nxd516.Nxd5Qxd5in Liyanage,R (2397)-Dau,K (2410)
Hanoi 2025 but this suggests he was more concerned with White deviating there
through 10 g4.10.Be2White keeps his options open in the
castling department. Instead though it wouldn't have been a surprise to see10.0-0-0Nbd711.Kb1when I guess Black would take his pick fromRc8
, 11...b5, 11...Qc7 and 11.. .Be7. No doubt those will feature sometime in the
future.10...Nbd711.Nd5Of course White could still castle long but
effectively then Be2 will have been unnecessarily prioritised.The text
leads us to a different type of position as indeed would have the calm11.0-0Rc811...Bxd512.exd5h4Grasping more space on the
kingside. Nevertheless12...Bg7is very sensible too when the only
practical example I can see involves a fellow London Chess Classic commentator
of mine:13.Na5Qc714.c40-015.Rc1e416.f4Nc5with equal chances but
encouraged complications that worked out very well for Black after17.b4Ng4!18.Bxc5?!dxc519.Bxg4cxb4!in Bhawoodien,M (2182)-Trent,L (2404)
Porticcio 202213.0-0-0So again we'd see a different type of middlegame
through13.0-0Bg714.c4, still I'd say with about equal chances.13...Bg7Totally justifying this game's inclusion on the Dragon site! That said13...Nb6!? targeting the d5-pawn was also very plausible with14.Qa514.Kb1Nfxd515.Bxb6Nxb616.f4would also be a
bit murky with White certainly having some compensation for the pawn.14...Bh6!15.Bxh6Rxh6not having seen the 'Dragon bishop' ever
take up its traditional post.14.Kb1h3?!14...Qc7was more prudent but
Black is ambitious and not scared to speculate to accumulate!15.g4b5
I'd rather not award a second '?!' as one is enough for these two combined
Black moves. Basically Black is arguably playing a tad recklessly first
enabling g2-g4 and now conceding the c6-square. However Black is clearly happy
moving forward!16.g516.Na5Qc717.Rhe10-018.g5Nh519.Bf1Nf420.Nc6Rfe821.Bxf4exf422.Qxf4Nb6could easily have hit the board with a
bit of compensation for Black in the form of that Dragon bishop diagonal.
Instead White probably deploys this a move too late.16...Nh5A route of
g8-e7-f5 was a consideration but this steed has the f4-square in its sights.17.Na5?!Nf4! The
point now being that after Nc6, the black queen could take on g5.18.Rhg118.Qb4Qxg5The point being18...Nxe219.Rhe1thoughQc720.Rxe20-0
is still possible.19.Qxd6Qf6would be finely imbalanced.18...Nb6
Again hitting the d5-pawn. Alternatively18...Nxe219.Nc6(a necessary
intermezzo else this knight would be hanging)Qc720.Qxe2Nb8would be a
reasonable option with21.Nb40-022.Rg3a523.Nd3Nd724.Rxh3b4
offering some queenside action for the pawn.19.Nc6Qc720.Bxf4exf421.Rg4Or21.Qxf40-0
with that same Dragon bishop related compensation for the pawn.Note21.Rge10-022.Bxb5would be disastrous afteraxb5?Instead22...Bxb2!frees up the g7-square for the king.23.Ne7+Kh724.Qf2teeing up Qh4+.21...Be522.c322.Nxe5?!dxe523.d6Qc524.d7+Ke7
would see that errant white d-pawn under lock and key.22...0-0It's been abundantly clear that the young Vietnamese talent isn't
averse to jettisoning the odd pawn but22...Kf8!? intending to transfer the king to g7 whilst keeping a rook on the
h-file to protect the pawn there, was a very reasonable alternative.23.Rh4 Naturally then White decides he wants to pick off that pawn whilst
equally dreaming of mate down the h-file!Rfe8Black could also have
defended the loose h-pawn through23...Qd7as24.Bf1could then be met by
Qf5+24.Rxh3In retrospect24.Bf1!?was perhaps more advisable as
this bishop is a bit of a liability on the open e-file.24...Rac8Looking
to undermine the protection of the c6-knight through ...Nxd5.25.Bf1?!
Upon25.Nxe5dxe526.Qe1Kg727.Rh6Qd6I like Black's play for a pawn
with28.Qh4?well met byRh825...Nxd5!26.Nxe5?Regards26.Qxd5Qxc627.Qxc6Rxc6although opposite-coloured bishop endgames are often
drawish, with rooks on, Black retains some winning chances.26...Rxe5
Now though I much prefer the black knight over the white bishop and
there isn't going to be an h-file checkmate.27.Qf2Rxg528.Rh6Or28.Qh4Rh528...Qe7!29.Qh4Qe5 The
point! Black covers the h8-square with his queen.30.Re1Ne3
And now it is his turn to bat in the attacking department!31.Bd3Rg2
And attack he does, now with ...Rxb2+ threatened.32.Ka1b4Note not32...Rxc3??33.Qd8+Kg734.Qh8#Oops!33.Qh3But now with the white queen no longer on the diagonal to d8...Rxc3!34.Rh8+Or of course34.bxc3Qxc3+35.Kb1Qxe1#34...Qxh835.Qxh8+Kxh836.bxc3Rd2!
Plenty of good moves were available but this is the most devastating as the
attacked bishop has to cover the c2 fork with ...bxc3 in the air too.0–1
Arne KaehlerArne 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.
3/27/2025 – In this special March edition of the Monthly Dragon, GM Chris Ward takes us on a nostalgic yet deeply instructive journey through two of his own classic games. Rather than focusing solely on cutting-edge theory, Chris highlights the enduring value of tactical motifs, pattern recognition, and sharp attacking ideas — all with the fiery flair of the Dragon! | Photo: John Upham
2/28/2025 – In the main line of the Yugoslav Attack, the ninth move Bc4 is nearly as popular as castling long. While Bd7 remains the most common response, Chris has some excellent alternative suggestions that can give Black an edge. Interestingly, Bc4 recently proved to be a nightmare for co-host Arne Kaehler, as Chris thoroughly enjoyed predicting and countering Arne’s "amateur" plans. | Photo: John Upham
After 1.d4 d5 many players with White avoid the great amount of theory in the Slav, Semi-Slav, QGA and Orthodox Queen's Gambit and do not therefore play 2.c4. This is not very ambitious, but the painful experience of many chess players has been that the Colle System, the Trompowsky Attack, the Torre Attack and the London System are nevertheless extremely dangerous. Black has to be prepared for each of these openings and IM Valeri Lilov offers you some help with his six instructive videos, in which he demonstrates for each single opening a relevant plan for Black. In addition to the openings mentioned, the Bulgarian trainer also delves into the Catalan, the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit and the Richter-Veresov Opening.
2nd Move Anti-Sicilian Powerbase 2025 is a database and contains a total of 12090 games from Mega 2025 or the Correspondence Database 2024, of which 874 are annotated.
Ruy Lopez Powerbase 2025 is a database and contains a total of 12092 games from Mega 2025 and the Correspondence Database 2024, of which 1276 are annotated.
In this 60 Minutes, Andrew Martin guides you through all the key ideas you need to know to play with confidence. Whether you’re looking to surprise your opponents, or simply want a straightforward weapon against e5, the Centre Attack has you covered.
€9.90
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