Accelerated Dragon #2

Ideas in the Accelerated Dragon

Idea #2:  Black plays the same first 6  moves whenever possible, and usually castles on the 7th.

These moves are:  

1.e4        c5

2.Nf3     Nc6

3.d4       cxd4

4.Nxd4  g6

5.Nc3    Bg7

6.Be3    Nf6   

7.Bc4    0-0     

   or 7.f3      0-0  
   or 7.Qd2  0-0  
   or 7.Be2   0-0  
   or 7.Nb3   0-0  

Of course this only works if White cooperates.  We will look at deviations by white in later posts.

Accelerated Dragon #1

Ideas in the Accelerated Dragon

Idea #1 - Black wants to play ...d5 in one move

In the Sicilian Defense, ...d5 is generally an important freeing move for Black. With ...d5 and the resulting open lines in the center, White's plans of king side attack (with f3, g4, h4, h5 as in the Yugoslav Attack, or 0-0, f4, f5 as in the Classical Dragon) invite more risk for the first player.

In the standard Dragon move order, black plays an early ...d6, which means that ...d5 costs another tempo later. To illustrate the impact of this difference, we will compare two common Dragon strategies (the Yugoslav Attack, and the Classical Dragon) with the Accelerated Dragon.

Note: Of course, White does not have to allow Black to play the Accelerated Dragon. In particular, the Maroczy Bind and the Rossolimo Variation would derail Black's plans. But that is for another chapter.