Openings · B70–B79

Sicilian, Dragon

The bishop goes to g7 and looks down the long diagonal at b2 — and both sides start running.

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6played as Black

Play it through on the board below.

Practise the line

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

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
h8
g
f
e
d
c
b
a
Your move 1 of 50/5
  1. 1.e4c5
  2. 2.Nf3d6
  3. 3.d4cxd4
  4. 4.Nxd4Nf6
  5. 5.Nc3g6

White is answering…

The idea

Black's pieces have one address: the bishop on g7, the rook on c8, the knight to e5 and then c4, and the queen on a5 or c7. The pressure is all aimed at c3 and b2, and the exchange sacrifice …Rxc3 is a normal move rather than a brilliancy.

White's Yugoslav Attack — Be3, Qd2, f3, O-O-O, then h4–h5 and Bh6 — is about eleven known moves long. The Dragon is decided by which attack lands first, which is why every tempo in it is worth more than a pawn.

Common mistakes

Three that come up again and again below master level: named traps and the errors every coach corrects.

The exchange sacrifice as a gesture

After 12…Rxc3
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
  7. 7.
  8. 8.
  9. 9.
  10. 10.
  11. 11.
  12. 12.
The mistake
Playing …Rxc3 because it is the Dragon's famous idea, without counting the moves after it.
Why it costs
The sacrifice works when it removes the piece guarding d5 and e4 and Black's own attack is already faster. Played a move early it is an exchange for a pawn, and White's h-pawn carries on running as though nothing had happened.
Instead
…h5 or …Nc4 first, and take on c3 when the queen and the b-file are ready to follow it in. It is a calculation, not a reflex.

Letting the h-pawn run

After 14.h5
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
  7. 7.
  8. 8.
  9. 9.
  10. 10.
  11. 11.
  12. 12.
  13. 13.
  14. 14.
The mistake
Building on the queenside and leaving h4–h5 unanswered.
Why it costs
Once hxg6 has happened the h-file is open at the king, Bh6 trades the only defender of the dark squares, and the rest is technique for White. The pawn on h5 is not a threat to be met later; it is the attack.
Instead
…h5 — the Soltis move. It costs a tempo and it loosens g5, and nearly every modern Dragon line contains it anyway, because the alternative is losing the race by one move.

Passing up …d5

After 10.Bc4
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
  7. 7.
  8. 8.
  9. 9.
  10. 10.
The mistake
Answering 9.O-O-O with a developing move, and saving the central break for later.
Why it costs
9…d5 is available for exactly one move. With the bishop still on f1, the break hits the centre while White's king has just arrived beside it; after 10.Bc4 the square is covered, the pawn stays on d6 and Black is back to defending.
Instead
9…d5, immediately. The reason White now plays 9.Bc4 before castling is precisely to stop it.

What the engine says

After 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6, these are White's six best moves according to Stockfish, with the bar showing White's chance of winning. The whole list sits within 4 percentage points of win chance: none of them is a mistake, and the choice is about the positions you want to play.

  1. Be3+0.7
  2. f3+0.5
  3. Bc4+0.5
  4. Bb5++0.4
  5. Be2+0.3
  6. Bg5+0.3

The engine's main line from Be3: Be3 Nc6 f3 h5 Bc4 Bd7 Qd2 Nxd4.

Stockfish 18, depth 24. Scores are in pawns from White's side. Another engine or depth will move individual numbers a little; the picture does not change. How we check.

Where it fits

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

Analyse a game you played in itAll openings