The Monthly Dragon - The 5 best Sicilian Dragons of the Olympiad!

by Arne Kaehler
10/11/2024 – The Olympiad in Budapest is over, and of the 7000+ games, a couple of stunning dragons were on the board. Chris selected the 5 most interesting, and beautiful examples, and analysed them. A sixth game was also added, as a special surprise - Especially for co-host Arne Kaehler ... | 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.e41,196,59654%2421---
1.d4967,01855%2433---
1.Nf3289,25156%2440---
1.c4186,65356%2443---
1.g319,97756%2427---
1.b314,71754%2428---
1.f46,00248%2376---
1.Nc33,96151%2383---
1.b41,79948%2378---
1.a31,26854%2406---
1.e31,09549%2409---
1.d398350%2380---
1.g467446%2360---
1.h446954%2381---
1.c344652%2424---
1.h329456%2418---
1.a412060%2461---
1.f310147%2431---
1.Nh39366%2506---
1.Na34861%2472---
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 d6 7.Be2 Nf6 8.0-0 0-0 9.f4 Qb6 10.Na4 Elsewhere in the Mens Olympiad... Monaco Vs Kazakhstan and a nicely played endgame: 10.Qd3 Ng4 10...Qxb2 if not exactly poisoned, feels a bit greedy!: 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Rab1 Qa3 13.Nd5 Qxd3 14.Nxe7+ Kh8 15.cxd3 11.Bxg4 Bxd4 12.Nd5 Similarly 12.Bxd4 Qxd4+ 13.Qxd4 Nxd4 14.Bxc8 Raxc8 is fine for Black. 12...Bxe3+ 13.Qxe3 Qxe3+ 14.Nxe3 Bxg4 15.Nxg4 f6 16.c3 b5 17.Ne3 Kf7 18.Rad1 h5 19.Rf3 Rac8 20.Nc2 a5 21.Nd4 Nxd4 22.Rxd4 Rc5 23.Rfd3 Rb8 24.Kf2 b4 25.cxb4 axb4 26.Rb3 Rc2+ 27.Kf3 Ra8 28.a3 bxa3 29.bxa3 Ra2 30.Rdd3 h4 31.Re3 Ra4 32.h3 Ke6 33.Rbd3 Ra1 34.Rb3 Ra5 35.Rbd3 g5 36.f5+ Kf7 37.Rb3 Ra2 38.Red3 Re5 39.Rbc3 Ra1 40.Rd4 Rf1+ 41.Ke2 Rfxf5 42.Rf3 Rxf3 43.Kxf3 Rc5 44.Ra4 d5 45.exd5 Rxd5 46.Ra7 f5 47.a4 Rd3+ 48.Ke2 Ra3 49.a5 Kf6 50.a6 e6 51.Ra8 Ke5 52.a7 Kf4 53.Re8 Rxa7 54.Rxe6 Kg3 55.Re5 Ra2+ 56.Kf1 Rf2+ 57.Kg1 Rxg2+ 58.Kh1 Rd2 59.Re3+ Kf4 60.Ra3 Rf2 0-1 (60) Meylan,A (2165)-Ansat,A (2457) Budapest HUN 2024 Worth knowing is the sharp 'Zollner Gambit' of 10.e5 dxe5 11.fxe5 Nxe5 12.Nf5 Qxb2 13.Nxe7+ Kh8 14.Bd4 Qb4! 15.Bxe5 or 15.Nxc8 Rd8! 15...Qxe7 10...Qa5 11.Nc3 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 e5 13.fxe5 dxe5 14.Be3 Be6 15.Bf3 15.Qe1 Rac8 15...Rad8 15...Rac8 16.Qe2 Rc8 17.Qf2 a6 17...Qb4!? 18.Rfd1 Ng4 18...Qb4!? 19.Bxg4 Bxg4 20.Rd5 20.Bb6 Qb4 21.Nd5 20...Qb4 21.Bc1 Not too appealing!!! f5 22.exf5 Rxf5 23.Qh4 Qb6+ Obviously best although 23...Rf1+ is the other good check i.e. 24.Kxf1 Be2+ 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Archibald,T1444Stagno,M16640–12024B73Olympiad Women 20245.58
Sandramo,C1524Elshalom Essayas Berhane16590–12024B78Olympiad Women 20247.65
Koskela,N2173Corrales Jimenez,Z21700–12024B74Olympiad Women 20248.21
Huh,I2114Castro,J2299½–½2024B7845th Olympiad 20245.30
Junior,D2183Avila Pavas,S24850–12024B7245th Olympiad 20246.31
Castro782241DonnieDarkcore21591–02024B76Rated blitz game

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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