The Monthly Dragon - Hungarian Dragon attacking the king-side?

by Arne Kaehler
7/11/2024 – We all love the dragon for it's attacking play against the king on the queen-side. But how can one attack the king on the king-side? Chris Ward has not only an answer to that, but actually dives deep into the the psychology of king-side attacking, and how to actually get an advantage on the queen-side instead. Furthermore, the example game shows nicely how a material imbalance harmonizes against White. | 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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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Nc6 7.f3 h5 Within this encounter in a fashionable line, in the video I attempt to answer the viewer question 'Dear Chris and Arne, I would really like to see Black’s plan of attack in the Hungarian dragon against White’s short castling with the white move h3 or h4 - what should Black do in this case? How to find your counterplay? Could you help me any advice with it?'. 8.Bc4 As the Hungarian Variation has grown in popularity, this move has been prioritised a lot with White side-stepping the 8.Qd2 Nxd4 9.Bxd4 Bh6 that is characteristic of the 'Hungarian variation'. 8...Bd7 9.Nxc6 Previously we've also investigated 9 Bb3 but this recent White attempt avoids returning to the 9.Qd2 Nxd4 10.Bxd4 Bh6 lines such as 11.Be3 11.Qf2 Qa5 12.0-0 (With Black's bishop on h6 though, there can be no castling queenside!) e5! 13.Be3 Bxe3 14.Qxe3 Rc8 15.Bb3 Qc5 (Far from exhilarating but nevertheless a sensible approach. With the queens off, the black king will be able to safely remain in the centre.) 16.Qxc5 with both recaptures being fine. 11...Bxe3 12.Qxe3 Rc8 (Pretty natural given Black might want to delay committing his king for the timebeing.) 13.Bb3 Qa5 14.0-0-0 Qc5 with roughly equal chances in Firouzja,A (2760)-Carlsen,M (2830) chess.com INT 2024. 9...bxc6 10.Qd2 Bg7 11.0-0-0 Qa5 12.Kb1 Rb8 In general from a Black perspective having a pawn on c6 is quite handy for keeping white pieces (especially a steed) out of the d5-square. The fact that Black hadn't yet deployed ...Rc8 means that Black naturally brings a rook to the half-open b-file without a loss of tempo. 13.Bb3 White needed cover for b2 given that ...Nxe4 was a very serious threat. Be6 Having advanced his h-pawn early doors and of course not yet castled, Black's weaknesses lie around f7 and g6. Obvious g6 would be even more weakened if Black had to play ...fxe6 but White really needs that b-file cover! 14.Rhe1 Particularly with the black king in the centre, White would love to arrange a successful e4-e5. In general 14.Bxe6? wouldn't be wise now but actually rather than simply recapturing, Black would have the option of Nxe4!? with instant b-file issues. Note 14.Nd5?! here achieves very little here i.e. Qxd2 15.Nxf6+ Bxf6 16.Rxd2 and indeed with 16... c5 , I'd say Black is for preference. 14...Nd7 Potentially looking to relocate this steed, opening up the Dragon bishop and most importantly nipping White's e4-e5 plan in the bud. 15.Nd5 Here though this move does bring something with it. Qd8?! The point was 15...Qxd2 16.Nc7+ Kf8 17.Nxe6+ fxe6 18.Rxd2 when White could point to his bishop pair and Black's weakness on e6. Nevertheless both 18...a5 and 18... c5 would remind White that he still has his own issue on b2 so it's not as though White should exactly be jumping with joy! 16.Bg5? This doesn't work out and instead White should look to 16.Nb4! The knight may feel a little awkward here but of course there is a threat on c6. Hence Rc8 I'm not sure 16...Qc8 17.Bxa7 Rb7 18.Bd4 Bxd4 19.Qxd4 0-0 really leaves Black with anything for the pawn and he still faces issues on the kingside. 17.Bd4 0-0 The alternative 17...Bh6 18.Qe2 0-0 19.Bxe6 fxe6 20.e5 d5 21.Nd3 c5 22.Be3 also favours White. 18.Bxg7 Kxg7 19.Nd3 when White's idea is to take on e6 and push through with e4-e5 with Nf4 in the picture. 16...cxd5 17.exd5 Bf5 White then has sacrificed a piece for that e-file action but the material situation is key. 18.Bxe7 Qxe7 19.Rxe7+ Kxe7 The black king is a bit exposed but Black has a rook, knight and bishop for a queen and two pawns; by old money 11pts Vs 11pts!. 20.Qe2+ Kf8 21.Re1 After 21.g4 hxg4 22.fxg4 the move Re8! helps bale out the bishop. 21...Be5 White's bishop on b3 is simply a blocker whilst with ....Kg7 up soon, Black main concerns of finding a home for his king and activating the king's rook will have been sorted. 22.h4 Selected because of 22.g4? hxg4 23.fxg4 Rxh2 22...Rb4! Again thwarting g2-g4. 23.Ka1 White doesn't have many available plans but at least this facilitates c2-c3. Nc5 Not that there was anything wrong with either 23...Kg7 or 23...Rxh4 24.Qf2 Kg7 With the h8-rook ready to join the fray, Black's army now looks huge. 25.Rxe5 Nxb3+ And not 25...dxe5?? 26.Qxc5 26.axb3 dxe5 27.Qe1 A fork that wins a pawn, but forgetting pawn count for a second, Black now has two rooks and a bishop for the queen. Rhb8 28.Qxe5+ Kg8 Plus Black's remaining three pieces combine really well. 29.Qc7 White is desperate to preserve his c-pawn. R4b7 30.Qc6 Rb6! 31.Qc7 Rc8 32.Qxa7 Rbb8 More than adequate although 32...Bxc2 33.Qxb6 Ra8+ would have been cute too! 33.Kb1 Rxc2 After 33...Rxc2 it all collapses with 34.Qxb8+ obviously met by Rc8+ , meeting a check with a discovered check and bagging the white queen. 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Palczert,M2332Tzidkiya,Y24650–12024B72Budapest Spring Open 20247.19

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

Links:

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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