The Monthly Dragon - The curious case of Qe2 and a CHRISmas cracker!

by Arne Kaehler
12/13/2024 – The mainline in the Yugoslav attack, is constantly played on a higher level. But what happens, if instead of moving the queen to d2, it goes to e2? Chris Ward says, shows us how to play against this attempt, and gain a good advantage for Black. Furthermore, the English GM has a recent, super entertaining game for us, where two chess legends battle it out - dragon style! | 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.e41,169,49854%2421---
1.d4949,34555%2434---
1.Nf3282,42656%2440---
1.c4182,60856%2442---
1.g319,74156%2427---
1.b314,33454%2427---
1.f45,91448%2377---
1.Nc33,81451%2384---
1.b41,75948%2379---
1.a31,22254%2404---
1.e31,07349%2409---
1.d395550%2378---
1.g466646%2361---
1.h444953%2374---
1.c343551%2426---
1.h328356%2419---
1.a411460%2465---
1.f39346%2435---
1.Nh39066%2505---
1.Na34262%2482---
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Bc4 Bg7 7.f3 0-0 8.Be3 Nc6 9.Qe2 Just when one might have assumed that we'd see 9.Qd2 , the queen nudges to a different square instead with this move once being a favourite of Swedish Grandmaster Johnny Hector. White still retains the option to castle either side with her majesty here helping to guard the key c4-square but not supporting a Bh6 challenge. 9...Na5 Chosen here over e5 as the knight eyes both the b3- and c4-squares whilst not obstructing the option to park a pawn on e5. 10.0-0-0 But this is the first time I've seen this. My own experiences have only seen 10.Bd3 with White opting to preserve the bishop. 10...Qc7 We're in fairly new territory here. 10...Bd7 would have to transposed to Black playing 9...Bd7 and then 10...Na5 this turn whilst 10...Nxc4 11.Qxc4 intending a6 and ...b5 or even 11...Nd7 looking to get the other steed to c4 were obvious alternatives. 11.Bb3 I'm not a great fan of this White system but nevertheless I'd have thought that 11.Bd3 would be more consistent with it, 11...a6 12.Qd2 12.h4? e5 highlights White's major problem which is the lack of available flight squares for his central knight (another reason why the light-squared bishop typically drops back to d3 rather than b3 in this line). Nevertheless the whole Qe2-d2 manoeuvre hardly seems like a raging success! 12...b5 13.h4 b4 14.Nd5 Nxb3+ The c4-square and c-file in general naturally remains important. Instead 14...Nxd5 15.exd5 or 15.Bxd5 Bb7 16.b3 Rfc8 15...Nc4 16.Bxc4 Qxc4 is of course playable with White having some compensation for the pawn after 17.Kb1 Qxd5 18.Bh6 15.Nxb3?! This recapture though doesn't work out well and White should again turn to the compensation route via 15.axb3 Nxd5 16.exd5 Qa5 17.Kb1 Qxd5 18.Bh6 15...Nxd5 16.exd5 a5! Yes it's attacking with pawns but courtesy of a tempo against the white steed, contact will be made with the enemy pawn defences swiftly. 17.Bh6? This and 17.h5?! a4 are too optimistic and White probably needs to tread more cautiously with 17.Bd4 Black is definitely on top though with a4 18.Na1 Bxd4 19.Qxd4 b3 not ideal from a white perspective! 17...a4 18.Na1 In case you were wondering, 18.Bxg7 axb3 19.Bxf8 bxa2 20.Qh6 a1Q+ 21.Kd2 simply loses to Qxb2 covering the mate on g7. 18.Nd4 b3! 19.axb3 axb3 20.Nxb3 Bxh6 21.Qxh6 Bf5 22.Nd4 Bxc2! 23.Nxc2 Rfc8 is a huge problem for White who can't defend the knight without allowing ...Ra1 mate. 18...Bxh6 19.Qxh6 The white queen is lured away from the real action on the queenside! Bf5 19...a3 and if 20.b3 then Qc3 also looked rather good! Nevertheless we have seen in the past how a bishop on f5 both attacks and defends. 20.g4 Bxc2 The most visual although 20...a3 21.gxf5 axb2+ 22.Kxb2 Qc3+ 23.Kb1 Qa3 24.fxg6 or 24.Nb3 Qxa2+ 25.Kc1 Rfc8 24...Qxa2+ 25.Kc1 Qxa1+ 26.Kd2 Qc3+ with ...fxg6 up soon, would also win. 21.Nxc2 b3 22.Rd2 Obviously ...Qxc2 mate was threatened. a3‼ How cool does this look? Black is after a new queen... or checkmate! 22...bxa2 23.Kd1 wouldn't have been anything like as effective. 23.bxa3 With the a-file cleared, now 23.axb3 a2 24.Kd1 a1Q+ 25.Nxa1 Rxa1+ would be a tasty skewer. 23.Kb1 bxa2+ 24.Kxa2 or 24.Ka1 axb2+ 25.Kxb2 Rfb8+ 26.Ka1 Qc3# 24...axb2+ 25.Kb1 Qc3 would leave ...Ra1+ unstoppable. 23...Rxa3 24.Kd1 Or 24.axb3 Qc3 threatening ...Ra1 mate with 25.Kd1 Qxf3+ bagging a rook with check. 24...Rxa2 With her own attack not having progressed, faced with enemy skewers and promotions, White throws in the towel. 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Bivol,A2345Gaponenko,I23240–12024B76TCh-SRB Women 1st 20247.1
Shirov,A2665Golubev,M24610–12024B76Titled Tue 23rd Jul Early8

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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