7/8/2023 – Magnus Carlsen likes to play with, and against the Dragon. Chris Ward found two recent games of the Norwegian GM, and shows us which variation the former World Champion chose to defeat the Sicilian, and how to counter the variation better. Furthermore, we dive into the win of Magnus, and what mistakes his strong opponent made. Remember, all the variations are available on Ward's Fritztrainers! | Photo: John Upham
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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.
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.e4d62.Nf3Nf63.Nc3c5A rather unusual way to reach a Sicilian with seemingly a Pirc or Philidor initially offered. Still...4.d4cxd45.Nxd4g66.Bc4Though via another different move order, the position after6.Be3Bg77.f3Nc68.Qd20-09.Nb3was reached in another Magnus game very recently which caused a bit of a furore. The specific variation then is effectively a 9 Nb3 (rather than 9 0-0-0, 9 g4 or 9 Bc4) Yugoslav Attack with White dissuading ...d5. Play continuedBe610.0-0-0Ne511.Kb1Rc812.h4h5when with the knight no longer on d4, White needs to secure f3 in order to make the g2-g4 break. Hence13.Be2a614.Bd414.Bh6could be met by the thematic exchange sacrificeBxh615.Qxh6Rxc316.bxc3Qc714...Qc714...b515.Bxe5dxe516.Qxd8Rfxd817.Rxd8+Rxd818.Nc5Bc819.a4 sees Black's queenside pressurised in a slightly unpleasant endgame. With more pieces on though White won't want to give his bishop up in that manner and concede so many dark squares.15.g4hxg416.f4Nc6?White wins convincingly after this but Black has better and interesting alternatives:16...b517.fxe5dxe518.Be3b419.Nd5Bxd520.exd5Rfd8 could be fun with21.h5Rxd522.Qc1Rxd123.Qxd1gxh5for example leaving Black with an attractive preponderance of passed pawns for the piece.16...Rfd8!? as after17.fxe5dxe5the bishop is pinned to the queen.16...Ned7 offering better support to the king.17.Bxf6Bxf618.Nd5Bxd519.exd5Nd420.Bxg4Nxb321.axb3a522.h5White isn't interested in Black's rook. Opposite coloured bishops favour the attacker and with holes/lines being created around the black king first, it is White who will make the decisive breakthrough.a423.hxg6axb3Or23...fxg624.Be6+Kg725.Rdg1axb326.Rxg6+Kxg627.Qd3+Kg728.Qh7#24.cxb3Ra825.Qh21-0 (25) Carlsen,M (2853)-Shevchenko,K (2684) Warsaw 2023, mate being unavoidable.6...Bg76...Nc6?falls into a standard trap i.e.7.Nxc6bxc68.e5(the main justification for a trade of knights on c6 is if White can get in this move successfully.dxe5??9.Bxf7+7.0-00-08.Re1Nc69.Nxc6I was really pleased to see this game as I have observed this trade on c6 creeping in quite a lot in recent times and yet it so goes against what I've always believed in in these positions. So nice to have arguably the World's greatest player on hand to punish it!9.Bb3and9.h3are most common in a system where White intends to delete the central knight supporting Be3.9...bxc6 From my perspective, Black now has a handy half-open b-file instead of c-file but very useful control over the d5-square.10.Bb3Typically one might imagine that the only justification is for White to be able to crash through the centre and at the very least saddle Black with two queenside isolanis. However here10.e5?!fails tactically todxe511.Qxd8or11.Rxe5Nd5!11...Rxd812.Rxe5Nd5!10...Nd7 Certainly not forced but very neat, nipping that e4-e5 thrust in the bud and preparing a future re-route to c5 or b6.11.Be3Nb6Bringing us to a new position. Previously:11...a512.Qd2Qc713.Rad1Nb614.a4(not too dissimilar from our main game then!)Ba615.Bh6c5?!(clearly eager to get in ...c5-c4 but conceding the d5-square)16.Bxg7Kxg717.Nd5Nxd518.Bxd5(For any real attempt at an advantage White should probably recapture with the pawn and look to make the most of e-file pressure or a rook lift up and across to the kingside)Rab819.Qc3+Kg820.e5dxe521.Rxe5e622.Bf3½-½ was Andres Gonzalez,I (2354)-Gonzalez Perez,A (2480) Caldas da Rainha 201412.a4a5The inclusion of the a-pawn advances were probably inevitable. The black knight post is obviously weakened but White's queenside has arguably suffered the most from these inclusions.13.Qd2Rb8 Basically transposing to the first reference above but this being a little more useful than ...Qc7.14.Rad1Nd7! I love the smooth but simple way Magnus handles this game, looking to make progress whilst keeping control. White has centralised his pieces but there is no break.15.Bh6Nc5!Highlighting the downside of a2-a4 and played immediately rather than luring the queen to h6 after which a Re3-h3 plan would have to be contended with.16.Bxg7Upon16.e5d5! those b-file issues remain.16...Kxg717.Bc4Again17.e5should be met byd5whilst17.Qd4+Kg818.e5offersRb4!not that in either case taking on b3 would be bad.17...Rxb2!The ex-World Champion (wow that's going to take some getting used to!) does some swift calculation and doesn't believe this pawn is poisoned. Guess what, he's right!18.e5Actually after18.Qd4+ Black could simply withdraw his king as there is no good discovered attack against the white rook. Neverthelesse5!is even stronger, bearing in mind19.Qxd6Qxd620.Rxd6Rxc221.Rxc6Rxc322.Rxc5Be618...d5!19.e619.Bf1Bf5 is just lovely for Black and so White attempots to mix things up.19...f619...Rb4looked rather strong too but instead Black implements the simple lock-out.20.Qe3Hitting the knight and of course the d5-pawn remains pinned.Upon20.Re3then simplyBxe620...Nxe6Upon20...Qb6the tactic21.Bxd5cxd522.Nxd5Qa7wouldn't exactly work but at least White would finally have 21 Bb3. Still good for Black though.21.Nxd5?Instead White goes 'all in' but it's not working.And White should really have deployed21.Bb3! now. He's two pawns down but the e7-pawn is tender and a future Qc1 could bag the exchange. . Okay sod421...Qd622.Qc1Rxb323.cxb322.Qc1Rxb323.cxb3Qb6 could possibly occur which to be fair still offers Black plenty on top of those two pawns for the exchange.21...cxd522.Bxd5Rb6! Protecting the knight and more importantly providing a great solution to the Bxe6 discovered attack.Rather than22...Ng523.h4Nf724.Bxf723.c4Note23.Bxe6Rxe624.Qxe6or24.Rxd8Rxe324...Bxe625.Rxd8Rxd826.Rxe6Rd1+Yes unsurprisingly Magnus has it all figured!23...Rd6Black's turn for some pinning!24.c5?Not helping but basically White was a piece down for nothing!Rxd5Make that two pieces!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.
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