The Monthly Dragon - Tackling the early 6.f4 "Levenfish" like GM Simon Williams

by Arne Kaehler
3/28/2023 – The "Ginger GM" Simon Williams enjoys playing the Dragon a lot, but is an even bigger fan of the Dragadorf. But, what happens if the opponent plays the interesting 6.f4 Levenfish variation for White? Simon Williams knew the answer and dominated his opponent. Chris Ward analysed the game closely, and found some interesting options for Black and White to take care of!| 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.

 
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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.f4 The 'Ginger GM' is mainly known for his French Defence outings but has definitely played his fair share of Dragons and Dragadorfs. Of course there is no time to distinguish between the two Dragon variants as the Levenfish variation kicks off now on move 6 and so an exponent of either has to deal with this in the present. Nbd7 And the response is along the lines of a 'Dragadorfy' one as indeed would be 6...a6 that could have come via a Najdorf move order. There is certainly nothing wrong with the text that side-steps the complications of 7.e5 dxe5 8.fxe5 because there is no check on b5. Hence Nd5 (or 8...Ng4) Considered most challenging is 6...Nc6 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.e5 Nd7 9.exd6 exd6 Black has scored well in practice from here over a big sample and the engines already quite like Black after say 10.Qd4 or 10.Be3 Be7 11.Qd2 0-0 12.0-0-0 d5 10...Nf6 11.Be3 Be7 6...Bg7 7.e5 Nh5 7...dxe5? 8.fxe5 Ng4 9.Bb5+ Bd7 10.Qxg4 Oops! 8.Bb5+ 8.g4? Nxf4 9.Bxf4 dxe5 is fine. 8...Bd7 9.e6 is playable if a bit of a mess! 7.Bb5 So whenever I see a strong player whipping out 6 f4, given its poor reputation, I tend to get the feeling we're about to see something new and I wasn't wrong here! For example also 7.e5 dxe5 8.fxe5 Nxe5 9.Bf4 Nfd7 10.Bb5 Bg7 11.Qe2 0-0 12.0-0-0 was an interesting pawn sac that brought something new to the table. 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.Bd3 isn't very testing. and 7.Be2 Bg7 8.Be3 0-0 9.0-0 a6 has more of a 'Classical variation' feel to it. 7...a6 White's last move saw him renew the threat of e4-e5 (i.e. without a pawn sac involved) but the question is immediately put to the pinning bishop. 8.Bxd7+ 8.Ba4?! b5 9.Bb3 Bb7 would merely help Black to achieve the set-up he wants whilst 8.e5 axb5 9.exf6 Nxf6 10.Ndxb5 Bg7 would comfortably favour Black with the bishop pair and extra centre pawns. 8...Nxd7 8...Bxd7 9.e5 dxe5 10.fxe5 Ng4 11.Bf4 Bg7 12.Qe2 is potentially tricky but whilst 8...Qxd7 9.e5 dxe5 10.fxe5 Nd5 seems okay, one can understand the text, keeping that e4-e5 thrust under control. 9.Be3 Bg7 10.Qf3 Facilitating long castles when in retrospect 10.0-0 might be more prudent. Still though 0-0 leaves White loose on the c4; a consequence of course of trading off his light-squared bishop. 10...0-0 11.Nde2?! 11.0-0-0 is consistent with White's last move but clearly White wanted to avoid Black's ...e5 thrust that would have ultimately gained the e5-square for the black knight e.g. through e5 12.Nde2 exf4 13.Qxf4 Ne5 13...Be5 14.Qf3 Nb6 also not silly. 11...b5! Certainly White's previous move would have been justified in the event of 11...e5? 12.f5! but instead Black simply carries on with the development here in the manner always intended for his light-squared bishop with ...b4 handily available now too. 12.e5 Hence White gets the text in whilst he can but the queen will soon be challenged along the b7-g2 diagonal. Instead 12.0-0-0 Bb7 13.h4 b4 14.Nd5 e6! 15.Nxb4 Nf6 16.Ng3 16.Nc3 Rc8 with the good old ... Rxc3 in the equation as well as the likes of ...Rc4 and ...Qa5. 16...Qc7 17.h5 a5 18.Nd3 Rfc8 19.c3 Qc4 highlights the sort of initiative Black can easily obtain. 12...Rb8 13.exd6 Bb7! 14.Qf2 The greedy intermezzo 14.dxe7 Qxe7 15.Qf2 Rfe8 simply leaves White in big trouble in the centre e.g. 16.Bd2 or 16.0-0-0 b4 16...Nf6 17.0-0-0 b4 14...b4! Going with the initiative. 15.Na4 15.Nd1 Nf6 16.dxe7 Qxe7 17.0-0 Rfe8 and there's problems on the e-file. 15...exd6 Not super valuable itself, this pawn does control the c5-square and now of course the e-file is open. 16.Bd4 Upon 16.0-0 Bc6 17.b3 Bxa4 18.bxa4 Bxa1 19.Rxa1 Rc8 Black is extremely unlikely to get mated on g7 and hence is simply significant material up. 16.Nb6 Nf6 would show the contrast in knights. White's one on b6 is a handicap whereas Black's steed is poised to wreak havoc! 16...Nf6 I like this move although very straightforward was 16...Bxd4 as it's no clear which way White should recapture i.e. 17.Nxd4 or 17.Qxd4 Re8 simply pinning. 17...Re8+ 18.Kd2 Nc5! 17.0-0-0 Upon 17.0-0 neat is Ng4! 18.Qg3 Re8! 19.Qxg4 h5! (the point) 20.Qg3 Rxe2 leaving both g2 and d4 attacked. 17...Qa5 17...Bc6 18.Nb6 Ne4! 19.Qe3 Bxd4 with the knight on b6 dropping, suggested itself but the text is also natural and dynamic. 18.b3 Bc6 19.Bxf6 With or without this concession, things weren't looking good for White! Bxf6 20.Rxd6 White was pinning his hopes on this forking of Black's bishops but Black has everything under control. Bxa4 21.Rxf6 After 21.bxa4 Qxa4 22.Rxf6 Rfc8 23.Nd4 Qxa2 Black simply has too many threats with 24.Kd2 b3 not helping. 21...Bxb3! 22.Nd4 After 22.cxb3 Qxa2 the exposed white king's days look numbered whilst 22.axb3 Qa1+ also highlights the danger the white rooks are in. 22...Bxa2 23.Re1 Even 23.Nf5 doesn't exactly threaten anything whilst b3 and 23...Qa3+ 24.Kd2 Rbd8+ 24.Nh6+ Kg7 definitely leaves Black with threats! 23...b3 24.cxb3 Bxb3 As far as a white pawn shield goes, the king has been abandonned! 25.Rc6 Rfd8! Leaving ...Qa1+ and ...Rxd4 as just two of many threats. 26.Nxb3 Rxb3 There is nowhere for the white king to hide and mate is inevitable. 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Grover,S2509Williams,S24650–12023B71Airthings Masters Play-In6

Full analysis by Chris Ward

We have a bundle for you below, including Powerbook & Powerbase of the Sicilian Dragon, with over 5000 games.

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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