Openings · B34–B39

Sicilian, Accelerated Dragon

The Dragon without …d6, so the freeing …d5 comes in one move — and White gets to answer with the Maroczy Bind.

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6played as Black

The idea

Leaving the d-pawn at home for one more move means that when …d5 comes it comes in a single step, which is exactly the tempo the ordinary Dragon lacks. Against most White setups that is enough to equalise quickly.

The price is 5.c4, the Maroczy Bind: pawns on c4 and e4 take d5 and b5 away and Black has to earn the break with …a6 and …b5, or …f5, or a well-timed trade of knights. Choosing this opening means choosing to play against the Bind.

Practise the line

You play Black; the other side answers on its own. Nothing here is saved or graded.

Your move 1 of 40/4

1.e4c5
2.Nf3Nc6
3.d4cxd4
4.Nxd4g6

White is answering…

Common mistakes

Three that come up again and again below master level. Each is ordinary opening theory — a named trap, or the error every coach corrects — not a statistic, and not drawn from anybody's games.

Playing …d6 and turning it back into a Dragon

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 d6 8.f3 O-O 9.Qd2

The mistake: Filling in …d6 because the Dragon has a pawn there.
Why it costs: The tempo the whole opening was built to save has just been spent, and the position is a Yugoslav Attack with White a move to the good. That is the exact position 4…g6 was chosen to avoid.
Instead: …Nf6 and …d5 in one go, or …Nxd4 first and then …d5. The pawn structure that results is less tidy, and it is the point of the opening.

Missing …Ng4

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.c4 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Nc3 Ng4 8.Qxg4 Nxd4

The mistake: Playing developing moves in the Bind and never using the tactic that justifies the move order.
Why it costs: 7…Ng4 works only because Black has not played …d6: the bishop on e3 is loose, and after 8.Qxg4 Nxd4 the material comes straight back — 9.Qd1 Ne6, or 9.Bxd4 Bxd4 with the dark-squared bishops traded. White has to spend a move on Be2 or f3 to prevent it, and that move is Black's compensation for the Bind.
Instead: Look for …Ng4 every time the bishop lands on e3 with the queen still on d1. If White prevents it, the prevention was the concession.

Living in the Bind without a break

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.c4 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Nc3 O-O 8.Be2 d6 9.O-O Bd7 10.Qd2 a6

The mistake: Reaching the Maroczy position and playing solidly, waiting for something to turn up.
Why it costs: Nothing turns up. With pawns on c4 and e4 White has more space in every sector and no weaknesses, and a Black player without a break is simply worse for ninety moves. The two breaks are …b5, prepared by …a6 and …Rb8, and …f5, prepared by …Nd7 or a trade on d4.
Instead: Trade a pair of knights on d4, play …Bc6 to hit e4, and get …b5 in even at the cost of a pawn. Passive equality is not one of the outcomes this opening offers.

Where it fits

The Sicilian, Accelerated Dragon is a variation of the Sicilian Defence, whose page covers the ideas this one takes for granted.

Try it on one of your own

The board above is for the line itself; this is for a game you played. Paste a game in this opening, or pull one from chess.com, and every move is graded against what the engine would have played. Open the board, read how the grading works, or go back to the other openings.