All the King’s Men chess store and club is featured in an article from the Gloucester County Times today titled “Pitman chess store owner has all the right moves.” The article talks about how owner Stephen Dick turned an online store into a bricks and mortar chess and games emporium. This is definitely a place to visit this summer (see map), perhaps in conjunction with playing in the 2nd Annual Greater Pitman Open Chess Championship, a 4-Round Game-60 Swiss tournament on August 15th, directed by Dick. According to Susan Polgar, among those confirmed to play in the Grand Prix event are GM-elect Alex Lenderman, GM Michael Rohde, IM Bryan Smith, NM Dr. Leroy Dubeck and “likely, but not confirmed players” IM Dean Ippolito, IM Kirill Kuderinov, FM Boris Privman, and FM Tommy Bartel. Lenderman will play a simul Friday, August 14th at 7:30 p.m. at All the King’s Men, with an entry fee of $20 and prizes of $50 for a win and $25 for a draw.
Archive for July, 2009
All the King’s Men
Friday, July 10th, 2009Dortmund 8: Kramnik beats Carlsen, leads
Friday, July 10th, 2009And suddenly things have changed… After two relatively uneventful rounds Vladimir Kramnik was able to go into the lead at the Sparkassen tournament in Dortmund, after the leader since round one Magnus Carlsen blundered in a probably drawn position. Dmitry Jakovenko was able to defeat Etienne Bacrot in an 81-move marathon. Round eight report with pictorial impressions.
Your judgement, please
Friday, July 10th, 2009An advanced knight outpost in the enemy camp is a fine thing, and two of them often make you believe the game should just win on its own. Playing 29.Bg5, White had just provoked the losing move
29. … f6 here. What would you recommend to him now? A) There are no forced continuations, but the modest bishop retreat to c1 keeps all the advantages of his position;
B) Don’t stop half way, the strike 30.Nxf6+ clearing the d-file wins at once;
C) Sacrificing is correct, but the right method is rook h3 with the threat 31.Rxh5+.
The solution is here,
but first ponder over it with a larger version of the diagram.
Michael Jackson – the chess connection
Friday, July 10th, 2009On June 25th the iconic pop star died in Los Angeles of cardiac arrest. While the world stopped to mourn and millions followed his memorial service, we discovered an interesting factoid: Jackson owned a very luxurious gold-and-marble chess set, which he actually used, back in 2000, to teach his son Prince Michael, then aged three, the first steps in the game.
Here is video evidence.
Karpov in Syria – a pictorial feast
Friday, July 10th, 2009The legendary twelfth World Champion Anatoly Karpov has long been an ambassador
for chess. In his latest mission he travelled to Syria to make the first move
of the Arabic Chess Championships Under 14. He was accompanied by roving chess
journalist GM Robert Fontaine of Europe
Echecs, who sent us a pictorial report, including high-def video footage.
Extraordinary visual impressions.
Dortmund 7: All games drawn, Carlsen leads
Friday, July 10th, 2009Two games – Magnus Carlsen vs Peter Leko and Etienne Bacrot vs Vladimir Kramnik – ended in relatively uneventful draws. The third encounter, between Arkadij Naiditsch and Dmitry Jakavenko, developed into a drama in which the German GM let an advantage slip away, then got an unexpected gift from Jakavenko, but failed to capitalise on it.
Round seven report.
#526 Summer Tourney – Round 4
Thursday, July 9th, 2009Ian Mangion maintained his 1.5 point lead over NM Mark Kernighan. TD Greg Tomkovich moved into 3rd place. Max Sherer climbed 3 spots & stands 4th.
- Renna 0-1 Kernighan
- Carrelli 0-1 Mangion
- Tomkovich 0-1 Moldovan
- Moldovan 0-1 Tomkovich
- Sherer 1-0 Pawlowski
- Shiffman 1-0 McAuliffe
- Castillo 0-1 Agress
#525 KST – Round 3 Games
Thursday, July 9th, 2009#524 GSCL Games – Round 5
Thursday, July 9th, 2009I have uploaded a replay page & zipped PGN file with 4 annotated games (including those of Stoyko, Sherer & Sokolosky) from last week’s Garden State Chess League finales.
Obama as Chess Master, Part Two
Thursday, July 9th, 2009This week, Spiegel Online published an interview with Henry Kissinger (see “Obama Is Like a Chess Master“) that featured the following headline-grabbing exchange:
SPIEGEL: Do you think it was helpful for Obama to deliver a speech to the Islamic world in Cairo? Or has he created a lot of illusions about what politics can deliver?
Kissinger: Obama is like a chess player who is playing simultaneous chess and has opened his game with an unusual opening. Now he’s got to play his hand as he plays his various counterparts. We haven’t gotten beyond the opening game move yet. I have no quarrel with the opening move.
As I noted in “Obama as Chess Master,” the association of Obama with chess in the discourse of international relations contrasts sharply with the more primitive games (such as poker and Monopoly) associated with his predecessor. US foreign policy no longer seems driven by ideological brinksmanship but instead seems guided by objective and intelligent strategic maneuvering. The White House no longer hides its cards, but instead makes its moves openly on the world stage for all to see. Kissinger is clearly troping on the chess vs. poker theme I have been following for several years, and he elevates the praise of Obama implied by the “chess master” metaphor by pointing out that the President is “playing simultaneous chess” and trying out “an unusual opening.” Kissinger, of course, is famous among chess players for having made an 11th hour call to Bobby Fischer that got him to participate in the 1972 World Championship match in Iceland. Even if he opened his conversation with Fischer by saying, “This is one of the worst chess players in the world speaking to the best,” Kissinger is surely regarded as a master of strategic maneuvering and a brilliant chess player on the world stage. So this is high praise indeed for Obama.
That Obama met with opposition leader and former chess World Champion Garry Kasparov during his recent visit to Moscow is still more evidence of the objective and complex type of game he is playing. As ChessBase points out, he is the first president since Bill Clinton to meet the Russian opposition leader during a state visit.
How do you do it, Mr. King?
Thursday, July 9th, 2009Losing a must-win position owing to a tactical
blunder can make you feel really sick. That is why calculation is a core ability
in chess and why Daniel King finally covers it in the latest DVD of his
Powerplay series. It is vol. 10 now but the DVDs just keep getting better and
better, says Michael Jeffreys.
Buy Powerplay 10
- Calculation now or read this review.
When knowing is losing – gender factors in chess
Thursday, July 9th, 2009Normally knowing your enemy is an advantage. Not so in chess games between the sexes. In a study published in the European Journal of Social Psychology Dr Anne Maass (et al.) pitted male and female players against each other via the Internet. Women showed a 50% performance decline when they were aware that they were playing a male opponent. Very thought-provoking!
Donostia Chess Festival in San Sebastián
Thursday, July 9th, 2009The Basque seaside town of San Sebastián, famous for its intense cultural life and international festivals of film and jazz, is paying host to a category 18 event, with ten GMs averaging 2682 – amongst them the legendary 12th World Champion Anatoly Karpov and two former FIDE world champions. After two rounds US GM Hikaru Nakamura leads. Pictorial report by WGM Anastasiya Karlovich.
Dortmund 6: All games drawn, Carlsen leads
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009Top French GM Etienne Bacrot and top German GM Arkadij Naiditsch drew a Queen’s Indian in 24 moves. Former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik and his 2004 Challenger Peter Leko played a Nimzo Indian which ended in a 25-move draw. Top ranked Russian GM Dmitiy Jakovenko and world number three Magnus Carlsen drew a Sicilian Sveshnikov by repetition on move 45. Express report.
No mystery: what Kasparov said to Obama
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009On Tuesday former World Chess Champion and oppositional leader Garry Kasparov met with Barack Obama. Russian state media quickly sought to marginalise the meeting between the US President and the “ex-grandmaster”. State controlled Russia Today: “What exactly Kasparov and other opposition leaders talked about with Obama, remains a mystery.” Perhaps we can help.
2009 World Open Games
Tuesday, July 7th, 2009U.S. Chess Scoop Episode 3 from DIM mak films on Vimeo.
There is plenty of good commentary on the World Open, which wrapped up this weekend in Philadelphia, won by Evgeny Najer and Hikaru Nakamura (who played the short schedule, as Mig reports). Jennifer Shahade gives us her video “scoop” (see above). Lubomir Kavalek analyzes two snappy miniatures in his Washington Post column. Jonathan Hilton blogs about his games at the USCF website. And you can download the 128 available games from the World Open website (PGN here) and in TWIC #765 (see description or download PGN), or view them online at Chessgames.com (among other places). I found the Dragon games Friedel – Robson and Homa – Kudrin of interest.
Update: According to the USCF website (”Hilton on the World Open: Lenderman Dances; Nakamura and Najer Tie for 1st“), the World Open blitz event was won by Kenilworth Chess Club champion Yaacov Norowitz with a score of 9.5/10. Congratulations Yaacov!
Dortmund – a walking tour
Tuesday, July 7th, 2009Tuesday – after five rounds, and having completed the first half of the double round robin Sparkassen tournament, the players have earned a rest day. For your roving correspondents the concept is unknown – we use the pause to take a look around the German industrial city of Dortmund. Join Michael von Keitz on a sightseeing tour through Dortmund.
Monokroussos on the Hedgehog System(s)
Tuesday, July 7th, 2009Because of its rather abstract nature and, most obviously, the amount of space
it concedes to the opponent, the Hedgehog System (or systems) tend to be relatively
unpopular at the club level. In this week’s Playchess
lecture Dennis Monokroussos shows us that this is not the way things ought to
be. Be there to watch on the server at 9 p.m. ET.
Norwegian endgame artistry
Tuesday, July 7th, 2009Magnus Carlsen is leading the field in Dortmund at the half-way mark with 3.5 points, closely followed by Vladimir Kramnik and Peter Leko with three points each. Both Kramnik and Leko have won a game with kingside attacks, but the 18-year-old Norwegian has scored two points in endgames against the Berlin Defence. GM Karsten Müller, commentator for ChessBase Magazine,
has examined the endgame
artistry of the world number three in the game Carlsen-Jakovenko.
You can learn more about the endgame in the Berlin Defence which was the subject of the endgame column in CBM
128.
Dortmund 5: Carlsen, Leko win, Carlsen leads
Monday, July 6th, 2009The first half of the Sparkassen Super-GM ended with Peter Leko demolishing Etienne Bacrot after the French GM blundered on move 36. Magnus Carlsen kept the pressure up against Arkadij Naiditsch’s Berlin Defence, until the German player committed an innocuous looking error and crumbled. Carlsen is once again in the sold lead with a 2885 performance. Full illustrated report.
Dortmund 04: Kramnik wins with black, leads with Carlsen
Sunday, July 5th, 2009After a desperately uneventful round three the players suddenly all galvanised into fighting mode and delivered a supremely exciting round four. Vladimir Kramnik won his game with the black pieces against Arkadij Naiditsch, while Magnus Carlsen came very close to a black victory against Etienne Bacrot. Carlsen and Kramnik now lead with 2.5/4 points. Big pictorial review.
Boris Gelfand annotates
Sunday, July 5th, 2009FIDE’s new Elo list ranks Boris Gelfand at number 9 – the last time the 41-year old was so well
placed was in 2006. The Elo points he has acquired come above all from his top
class results in various leagues (Israel, Austria, Russia). For ChessBase Magazine 130 the
Israeli GM has annotated his game against Karjakin from the Grand Prix in Nalchik (click on the notation to replay).
Here it is in full.
All India Chess Federation revokes ban on Gopal
Sunday, July 5th, 2009In March we reported on the ban that was placed on G.N. Gopal, one of India’s bright young stars, by the AICF. The 2555 rated GM had failed to play in the national championship last December, and the punishment would have seen him missing the next Asian and the World Junior Championship. Now, after protest by the Chess Players Association of India, the AICF has lifted the ban.
Anya Corke – a special talent from Hong Kong
Sunday, July 5th, 2009She was born in the USA but raised in Hong Kong, where her Chinese mother and Scottish father had lecturing positions. She is a WGM and strongest chess player in Hong Kong and has represented the island at several Olympiads playing on the first table against, amongst others, Gata Kamsky. In spite of an academic career this girl has a bright chess future. Portrait by Diana Mihajlova.
Sicilian Dragon Webliography
Saturday, July 4th, 2009One of the most popular openings at every level of play, from beginner to GM, is the Sicilian Dragon (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6). This may well be due to “the power of animal names in helping us identify with our opening lines,” and I still remember imagining myself like Bruce Lee at the chessboard when I played it as a beginner in the 1970s after reading Horowitz and Reinfeld’s “How to Think Ahead in Chess” (most of which you can find online as “Learn to Play the Sicilian Dragon“). I think a lot of players feel this way about the opening. Now that many of the challenges posed by the Yugoslav Attack have been addressed, the Dragon is experiencing a resurgence even at the Super-GM level (having been used by Kasparov and most recently Magnus Carlsen and Teimour Radjabov), and it is clearly very popular among amateurs (to judge by the number of books on the subject). It therefore should come as no surprise that there are many excellent online resources for anyone interested in learning more.
The following is intended as an experiment (and currently a work in progress) to see how much information is available online in various forms (including in video formats) on a specific opening line. As always, I welcome reader input and additions. I may repeat the experiment with other openings, and welcome your suggestions. In many cases, the material I have found appears to have been posted in violation of copyright, but I did not post it myself and so I don’t see why I shouldn’t link to it. Don’t be surprised, however, to find that some of this material has been taken down by the time you read this!
General Dragon Resources
ChessPub Discussion Forum on the Dragon
If you start playing the Dragon, you will want to keep up on the latest theory by visiting ChessPublishing.com’s “Chess Pub” forum on the Dragon. You don’t need to be a member to access it, but if you join you will have access also to ChessPublishing’s opening theory.
Hammerschlag at Chess.com, “Ideas Behind the Sicilian Dragon“
http://www.chess.com/article/view/ideas-behind-the-sicilian-dragon
A fairly good overview of the major lines in the Dragon, mostly for beginners or those new to the opening.
Tomas Bragesjös Sicilian Dragon Games
http://hem.passagen.se/tbragesjo/index.htm
An interesting collection of amateur games.
Various White and Black Systems (B70-74)
IM Miodrag Perunovic, Sicilian Dragon vs. Fianchetto
http://www.chesslodge.com/2007/07/sicilian-dragon/
Covers the interesting White fianchetto line 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.g3 Nc6 7.Nde2.
IM Miodrag Perunovic, Dragon B70
http://www.gardinerchess.com/images/webpix/dejanantic/CC_11.pdf
Free copy of Chess Chronicle #11 featuring excellent analysis by Mio of Black’s play against the Fianchetto system against the Dragon.
IM Gary Lane, Opening Lanes #28: Crouching Tigran Hidden Dragon
http://www.chesscafe.com/text/lane28.pdf
Discusses a couple of games with White g3 fianchetto — both won by Black.
Majnu2006 of Letsplaychess.com presents Tinni – Majnu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rfp_qmAEYfw
A quick loss in online correspondence that should serve as a warning to Black to beware the e5 shot.
IM Greg Shahade, Zombie-Ragozin vs Curtains
http://www.chessvideos.tv/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1103
Interesting discussion of the g3 system in a video discussion of a Shahade (”Curtains”) blitz game.
IM Miodrag Perunovic, How to Bust the Sicilian Dragon Sidelines
http://www.chesslodge.com/2007/08/sicilian-dragon-sidelines/
Better than book quality coverage of unusual White sixth moves following the standard 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6, including the interesting 6.h3!? intending to develop by g4, Bg2, Nde2, Be3 and either O-O-O or O-O.
GM Raymond Keene, Magnum Force
http://www.chessville.com/keene/MagnumForce.htm
Keene annotates Nisipeanu – Carlsen, Foros Ukraine 2008 with 6.Be2.
Misha Savinov, Interview with Alexander Motylev
http://www.chesscafe.com/text/misha22.pdf
Features a game of Motylev’s against the Be3 and Be2 set up.
Leopold Lacrimosa, Learn to Play the Sicilian Dragon
http://amchesscoaching.com/Lessons/learn_to_play_the_sicilian_drago.htm
A nice introduction to the Dragon that basically reproduces my own intro to it via Horowitz and Reinfeld’s “How to Think Ahead in Chess” (Simon & Schuster 1951).
IM Greg Shahade, Von Luck vs. Curtains (Classical Dragon)
http://www.chessvideos.tv/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1141
A classical with Be2 and Nb3 by transposition from Accelerated Dragon. White tries some typical bad ideas which you might see at the club or online.
GM Gary Lane, Opening Lanes #8
http://www.chesscafe.com/text/lane08.txt
Covers tricky tactical traps in the Dragon, including 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 g6 6 Be3 Ng4?? which loses a piece.
IM Andrew Martin, Combating the Sicilian Dragon
http://www.jeremysilman.com/chess_bits_pieces/040216_cmbtng_scln_drg.html
Recommends the unusual line 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Bg5!? Bg7 7.Bb5+, which is an idea of Vitolins.
IM Andrew Martin, “The Verdict“
http://www.jeremysilman.com/chess_bits_pieces/040313_verdict_1.html
Covers the Levenfisch Variation with an early f4.
Kingscrusher of Letsplaychess.com presents Blitz #165 vs daviv52 (1904)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xE3k0BrcNJw
A smashing game with an odd sort of Levenfisch.
Karel van der Weide, My Contributions to Opening Theory, Part 2
Discusses a game of the author’s beginning 1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.f4 Nf6 5.Nf3 c5 6.dxc5 Qa5 7.Bd3 Qxc5 8.Qe2 0-0 9.Be3 Qa5 10.0-0 Bg4 11.h3 Bxf3 12.Qxf3 Nc6.
Eric Schiller, Sicilian Dragon, Attacking Plans for Black
http://www.chesscity.com/PDF/Sicilian_Dragon_Black_Attacks_ssd.pdf
A portion of a longer book on the Dragon, covering various systems, mostly featuring unusual or mistaken play by White.
Kingscrusher of Letsplaychess.com presents Blitz #33 vs TORREATTACK (1889)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YNKov4BJdU
White somehow gets away with an early Nxc6 and Bc4 and Qf3.
IM Andrew Martin, “Dragon Forever.”
An excellent introduction from the “Starting Out: Dragon” author.
Steve Farmer, Roller-Coaster Chess
An interesting game with White Be2 and Be3 with good commentary, especially on the ending and on Black typical error with …e5?! advance.
ChessGames, Sicilian Dragon
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessopening?eco=B72
A useful collection of games.
Yugoslav Attack with 9.O-O-O (B76)
Dorian Rogozenco, Bazna Round 9
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5532
GM commentary on Nisipeanu – Rdjabov, which began 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 Nc6 8.Qd2 0-0 9.0-0-0 d5 10.Kb1 Nxd4 11.e5!?
Majnu2006 of Letsplaychess.com presents Mason vs Ward
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZ5k10Oy0hk
Part 6 in the series. A very nice 2007 attacking game with both players attacking heavily on opposite sides, but Black’s attack triumphing.
Majnu2006 of Letsplaychess.com presents Lekic vs Banikas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sWPTYOSwx8
Part 8 of an excellent series analyzing games with the Dragon.
Majnu2006 of Letsplaychess.com presents Fossan vs Ward
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5m-0266N8g
Part 3 in the series features a great game with a well known and thematic sacrificial combination for Black that is very worth knowing.
Andre Schulz, The Bjering Variation — Something New in the Dragon
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5248
Analysis of the surprisingly effective 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.0-0-0 d5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Bd4 Nxc3!
Karel van der Weide, My Contributions to Opening Theory
Discusses a particular line following 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 Nc6 8.Qd2 0-0 9.0-0-0 Nxd4 10.Bxd4 Be6 11.Kb1 Qc7 12.g4 Rfc8 13.h4 Qa5 14.Qg5.
ChessGames, Chess Openings: Sicilian Dragon, Yugoslav Attack (B76)
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessopening?eco=B76
Hitchhiker, A Strange Breed of Dragon
http://www.chessvideos.tv/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4522
An interesting way of playing where Black delays castling.
GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, Alexandra Kosteniuk Plays Blitz Chess in Coreglia
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3597747490126032684
A safe and effective line by the Women’s World Champion. I found the moves easy to follow and I think anyone familiar with the opening will be able to follow easily.
Steve Farmer, Puff Goes the Dragon
http://www.chessvideos.tv/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4522
A wrong-headed Black attack with a cute finish, well presented.
Chess HW: Sicilian Dragon, Adams – Fedorov
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIiHf1tnO8Y
A soundless video (good for watching at the office perhaps) with text commentary on a very cute tactical game won by Black.
GM Roman Dzindzichashvili, Beating the Dragon, Part One and Beating the Dragon, Part Two
http://www.chess.com/video/player/beating-the-dragon-part-1
http://www.chess.com/video/player/beating-the-dragon-part-2
Only a teaser on these two videos, recommending the 9.O-O-O line for White and mostly looking at weaker plans for Black. To see the full videos you have to subscribe.
GM Nigel Davies, Understanding the Sicilian Dragon — Chess Mentor
http://www.chess.com/chessmentor/view_course.html?id=306
A selection of videos available for subscribers only.
Yugoslav Attack with 9.Bc4 (B77-79)
FM Boris Schipkov, G. Shahade – Mezentsev, San Francisco 2000 (B77)
http://www.chessib.com/shamez.html
Schipkov annotates a game that offers a great illustration of how Black can exploit control of the c-file in the Dragon.
Majnu2006 at Letsplaychess.com, Anand vs Kasparov at YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsKez8_jRi8
An easy way to play over Kasparov’s famous Dragon game from his 1996 match with the current champion, with its very nice tactical conclusion. Good commentary, but no deep theory here.
Canstein2 at Letsplaychess.com, Anand vs Kasparov at YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_NKf0D0bTU
Another useful commentary with lots of color and personal insight.
Majnu2006 at Letsplaychess.com, “Winfield vs Purdy“
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USrRWwGs9hI
A very interesting game despite some theoretically mistaken play in the opening.
Majnu2006 at Letsplaychess.com, “Majnu vs Ceri“
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rigy-aAkuKU
A great Black win due to White failing to castle. Part 7 in the Dragon series.
Majnu2006 at Letsplaychess.com, “Nicholson vs Mestel“
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n7OWbqDxe8
Part 4 in the series, featuring a classic Rxc3 sac.
Majnu2006 at Letsplaychess.com, Geller – Korchnoi 1971 at YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntxUFdiGSc0
Second game of the candidates match with a classic Rxc3 sac. Good general commentary, but not a lot of deep theory here. I really like this series.
Majnu2006 at Letsplaychess.com, Corus 2008, Negi – Carlsson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7×1SbO07T8
A very interesting game where Black offers the exchange in an unusual way and concludes with a nice heavy-piece attack on the White King while facing down threats against his own King.
Majnu2006 at Letsplaychess.com, Fischer – Larsen, a closer look
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLYKB7UrGsg
A look at a critical moment from the much-analyzed game Fischer – Larsen, Potoroz 1958, showing how Black might have saved the game (following analysis by Kasparov). A good lesson in Black defense.
Majnu2006 at Letsplaychess.com, “Petrosians Friend vs Majnu“
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_fSzIZZUbo
An excellent attacking game, with an embedded second game featuring a King hunt. White gets materialistic grabbing the a-pawn and opening lines for Black.
Kingcrusher from Letsplaychess.com: World no.5 vs no.6 : Slaying the Dragon!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LsxgALRyFk
A great Topalov – Carlssen game from 2008 where White gets a stunning kingside attack by just throwing his pawns, and Carlsen makes too big a concession with …e5.
Kingscrusher of Letsplaychess.com presents blitz #37 vs Kungsangen (2071)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c15xkWMkrKA
A nice White crush of Black, after setting up the e5 shot and getting to play it.
Kingscrusher of Letsplaychess.com presents Karpov vs Gik
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxYAYSZhpJ4
A great classic game for White in the Dragon, with some fascinating ideas.
Kingscrusher of Letsplaychess.com: Battering ram critical success factors!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycH9cLiuDzE
First in a series on h-file battering ram attacks, with Carlsen – Radjabov, Bilbao 2008 as example.
Kingscrusher of Letsplaychess.com presents Kasparov vs Piket
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LowqciCknjs
An impressive Kasparov victory.
IM Gary Lane, Opening Lanes #117: Enter the Dragon
http://www.chesscafe.com/text/lane117.pdf
Offers several games with 9.Bc4, plus a bonus line for Dragon players to try against the annoying c3 Sicilian: 1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.Nf3 g6 4.c3 Bg7!? with the idea of d5 and Nf6 to follow.
Misha Savinov, Interview with Tigran Petrosian
http://www.chesscafe.com/text/misha19.pdf
Includes Petrosian’s own analysis of Cornette – Petrosian 2002.
NM Jim West, Sicilian Dragon, Soltis Variation (B77)
http://jimwestonchess.blogspot.com/2007/04/sicilian-dragon-soltis-variation.html
An article that originally appeared in Atlantic Chess News 1987 on 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.h4 Rc8 11.Bb3 h5.
NM Jim West, Sicilian Dragon, Yugoslav Attack with 14…Qc7
http://jimwestonchess.blogspot.com/2007/03/sicilian-dragon-yugoslav-attack-14qc7.html
An article that originally appeared in Atlantic Chess News in 1994, featuring some of the author’s wins (or shoulda-wons) as White with an early Bc4 system that transposes to a Yugoslav.
Mike Glick, Sicilian Dragon, Yugoslav Attack
http://home.comcast.net/~danheisman/Articles/Dragon%20Yugoslav.htm
Focuses on the Bc4 “tabiya” — for beginners.
GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, Annotated Game: Kosteniuk – Pogonina
http://www.chessville.com/instruction/Annotated_Games/Kosteniuk_v_Pogonina.htm
A lovely attacking game contested by two of the most lovely chessplayers on earth.
GM Mihail Marin, Linares Super-GM
http://www.chessbase.com/news/2009/linares/games/marin09.htm
Marin annotates the spectacular Dragon game Dominguez – Carlsen, Linares 2009, which began 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 Nc6 8.Qd2 0-0 9.Bc4 Bd7 10.0-0-0 Rb8!? — the Chinese Variation.
IM Ivan Markovic, The Sicilian Dragon, Yugoslav Attack (B78)
http://www.chesscafe.com/text/informant13.pdf
A very useful introduction from the editor of the Informant series to 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 Nc6 8.Qd2 0-0 9.Bc4 Bd7 10.0-0-0.
Luiz Roberto da Costa, Theory: the Trapped Queen in the Chinese Dragon (B78)
http://web.archive.org/web/20060523153027/http://www.chessmail.com/assets/pdfs/chinese_dragon.pdf
An archived ChessMail article from 2004 in PDF format.
Stefan Bücker, The Chinese Dragon Refuted Over the Horizons 37 at ChessCafe
ChessBase, Bilbao, R2
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4888
The exciting Dragon (B78) game Ivanchuk – Carlsen, with 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 Nc6 8.Qd2 0-0 9.Bc4 Bd7 10.0-0-0 Rc8 11.Bb3 Ne5 12.Kb1 a6, is lightly annotated.
IM Gary Lane, Opening Lanes #41
http://www.chesscafe.com/text/lane41.pdf
Lane annotates the Yugoslav Attack game Michal Novak-Lukas Mezera Czech Team Championship 1997, which offers an excellent illustration of Black’s thematic exchange sac at c3.
Canstein2 from Letsplaychess.com presents Short – Topalov
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qr4NQ8DaQGM
An interesting game with an early White g4 to discourage the Soltis Variation with …h5.
IM Andrew Martin, “Sicilian Dragon, 10…Qa5 Refuted.” TWIC Theory February 15, 2005.
Joe Hurd, The Sicilian Dragon
http://www.gilith.com/chess/coaching/sicilian-dragon.html
A brief introduction for beginners with two sample games featuring the Qa5 line.
Bobby Ang, Beating the Dragon
Covers 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0–0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.Bc4 Bd7 10.h4 Qa5 11.0–0–0 Rfc8 12.Bb3 Ne5 13.Kb1 Nc4 14.Bxc4 Rxc4 15.Nb3
ChessGames, Chess Openings: Sicilian, Dragon, Yugoslav Attack (B77)
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessopening?eco=B77
A useful collection of games to play over online.
Accelerated Dragon
IM Andrew Martin, Accelerated Dragon Assault!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyiSTYer73M
A great introduction to the Accelerated Dragon by the ubiquitous IM. A great ad for his video.
Grakovsky at Chess.com, “Sicilian Defence: Accelerated Dragon.”
http://www.chess.com/article/view/sicilian-defence-accelerated-dragon
A useful resource for beginners or those new to the opening.
GM Eugene Perelshteyn, Acclerated Dragon Miniatures
http://www.viddler.com/explore/Fuzz/videos/100/
I assume that this is a bootleg, but it is nonetheless a great ad for the quality productions of ChessLecture.com, which is a pay service that I recommend.
Majnu2006 from Letsplaychess.com presents De Vreugt vs Tiviakov
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9CVpm7U4X8
A very typical Accelerated Dragon, Maroczy Bind game, nicely discussed.
GM Nigel Davies, Accelerated Dragon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76P54jH800o
Interesting medias res analysis of White alternatives against Qa5.
Gooeyjim, The Sicilian Dragons for Black
http://www.chessvideos.tv/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2713
An interesting amateur video that presents a strong argument in favor of the Hyper-Accelerated Dragon move order with 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 g6.
John Donaldson, Accelerated Dragon, Uogele Variation
Playing a5 in the Acclerated Dragon.
John Donaldson, Accelerated Dragon (Non-Maroczy) Main Line with 11…Qh5
http://www.jeremysilman.com/chess_opng_anlys/030403_accel_drgn_m_l.html
An answer to a reader’s question regarding the dubious looking queen adventure.
Majnu2006 at Letsplaychess.com on “Nijland – Michaud“
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ta_5YRfcSFg
A drawn over the board game from the narrator.
Karel van der Weide, Abandon the Acc! – The Pain and Anguish of Opening theory, Part 11
Black struggles against 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4.
IM Gary Lane, Opening Lanes #115: Dragon’s Dream
http://www.chesscafe.com/text/lane115.pdf
A good overview of the Accelerated Dragon, with games in the major lines.
IM Greg Shahde, Chapaev – Curtains, 4.Qxd4 Accelerated Dragon
Good commentary from IM Shahade in high rated blitz play.
IM Greg Shahade, Curtains – L379: B vs Rogo
http://www.chessvideos.tv/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1120
An interesting game with dark-square domination.
IM Greg Shahade, B vs Molton, h3 Dragon
http://www.chessvideos.tv/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2059
This opens as an accelerated Dragon but turns into a more normal dragon with an early White h3.
IM Greg Shahade, Mathematician vs. Curtains
http://www.chessvideos.tv/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1357
White plays a g3 system against the Accelerated that remains in true Accelerated territory.
IM Greg Shahade, B vs Iraj
http://www.chessvideos.tv/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2200
A tricky line of the Accelerated with Qxd4.
GMs Lev Alburt, Roman Dzindzichashvili, and Eugene Perelshteyn, Excerpt from Openings for Black, Explained.
http://www.chesscafe.com/text/skittles257.pdf
A useful excerpt from the popular book on the Maroczy Bind with c4 and Be3.
Chessgames.com, Sicilian Dragon Accelerated Fianchetto, Breyer Variaiton (B39), Maroczy Be3 (B38), Maroczy Bind (B37), Maroczy Bind (B36), Modern Variation with Bc4 (B35), and Various Systems (B34).
ChessLecture.com has about 20 videos devoted to games with the Dragon.