Sicilian Dragon: moves, ideas and plans

Black fianchettoes on g7 for a long diagonal of power. Sharp, with opposite-side castling races.

B78Play it as BlackAdvanced19 moves

Main line: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. Bc4 Bd7 10. O-O-O

Key ideas

• The g7 bishop is the dragon: it hits the centre and the queenside.
• Against the Yugoslav Attack both sides race to mate.
• Pressure on the c-file with rook, queen and knight.

The Sicilian Dragon move by move

Every move of the main line, with the reason it is played. The final position is recognised in the opening database as B78 Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack.

1. 1. e4Centre.
2. 1… c5The Sicilian.
3. 2. Nf3Prepares d4.
4. 2… d6Controls e5.
5. 3. d4Opens the centre.
6. 3… cxd4Trades a wing pawn for a centre pawn.
7. 4. Nxd4Strong central knight.
8. 4… Nf6Attacks e4.
9. 5. Nc3Defends it.
10. 5… g6The Dragon: the bishop is heading for g7.
11. 6. Be3The Yugoslav Attack setup.
12. 6… Bg7The dragon bishop on the long diagonal.
13. 7. f3Supports e4 and prepares g4 and h4.
14. 7… O-OBlack castles kingside.
15. 8. Qd2Prepares O-O-O and Bh6 to trade the dragon bishop.
16. 8… Nc6Pressure on d4.
17. 9. Bc4The bishop aims at f7 and stops ...d5.
18. 9… Bd7Black prepares ...Rc8 on the open c-file.
19. 10. O-O-OOpposite-side castling: the race is on.

More openings for Black