secrets of the sicilian dragon

SECRETS OF THE SICILIAN DRAGON
SECRETS
OF THE
SICILIAN
DRAGON
Eduard Gufeld & Eric Schiller
CARDOZA PUBLISHING
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CARDOZA PUBLISHING • GUFELD & SCHILLER
FIRST EDITION
Copyright © 1998 by Eduard Gufeld & Eric Schiller
- All Rights Reserved -
Library of Congress Catalogue Card No: 97-94718
ISBN: 0-940685-92-2
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SECRETS OF THE SICILIAN DRAGON
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FROM THE AUTHORS
Eduard Gufeld
Eric Schiller
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9
9
INTRODUCTION
11
OVERVIEW OF THE SICILIAN DRAGON
13
HISTORY OF THE DRAGON
The Early Experiment
The Dragon Gets its Name
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15
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A QUESTION OF MOVE ORDER
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ESSENTIAL CONCEPTS
The Dragon Bishop
Battle for Control of d5
Sacrifice at c3
Sacrifice at g4
Fischer’s “Sac, Sac, mate!”
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24
25
27
33
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ATTACKING PLANS FOR BLACK
White Castles Queenside
The Standard Attack
White Refrains from Bc4
Attack on the a-file
White Castles Kingside
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41
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44
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CARDOZA PUBLISHING • GUFELD & SCHILLER
ATTACKING PLANS FOR WHITE
Classical Themes
Levenfishing
Fianchetto System
Tal Attack
Yugoslav Attack
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48
52
53
55
59
NINE TACTICAL THEMES FOR WHITE
1. The Famous Knight Leap to d5
2. Weakness at f7
3. Rook Sacrifice at h7
4. Deadly Knight
5. Weakness of Black’s Back Rank
6. Def lection of King to h8
7. Break at e5
8. Break at f5
9. Sacrifice at f6
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67
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TEN TACTICAL THEMES FOR BLACK
1. Demolishing the Diagonal
2. Sacrifice at g4
3. Trapping a Knight at e7
4. Sicilian Break with ...d5
5. Queenside Break with ...b5
6. Pinned or Overworked Pawn at b2
7. Blocking Lines
8. Sacrificing the Pawn at d6
9. Sacrificing a Knight at c4
10. Controlling Dark Squares Without the Dragon Bishop
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80
88
91
93
95
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98
100
101
TYPICAL MISTAKES
Underestimating the Enemy Attack
Giving up the Dragon Bishop
A Moment’s Hesitation
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103
106
110
GREAT ESCAPES
112
DRAGON ENDGAMES
125
DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ!
131
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SECRETS OF THE SICILIAN DRAGON
THE DRAGON HALL OF FAME
Mikhail Botvinnik
Thomas Ernst
Kiril Georgiev
Eduard Gufeld
Garry Kasparov
Sergey Kudrin
David Levy
Georgy Lisitsin
Jonathan Mestel
Tony Miles
Gennady Nesis
Margeir Petursson
Harry Nelson Pillsbury
Attila Schneider
Andrew Soltis
Gena Sosonko
Sergei Tiviakov
Dragoljub Velimirovic
Chris Ward
William Watson
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149
153
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160
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THE LITERATURE OF THE DRAGON
197
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SECRETS OF THE SICILIAN DRAGON
INTRODUCTION
The Sicilian Dragon is one of the most exciting openings in
all chess. Games played in this opening rank among the finest
ever produced, with brilliant combinations and full frontal assaults, Black is willing to risk everything to go after the opponent. The slightest error by either side can lead to a quick and
decisive conclusion to the game.
The take-no-prisoners attitude of the Dragon leads to fierce
and uncompromising chess. It is certainly not for the weak of
heart! You must be prepared to sacrifice most of your army to
hunt down the enemy king. At the same time, your opponent is
obliged to do the same, so you must be both goalkeeper and attacker. There are very few openings in all of chess that have such
a high mortality rate in both amateur and professional play.
You will have two guides in our journey to the secrets which
lie at the heart of the Sicilian Dragon. Grandmaster Eduard Gufeld
is one of the most renowned experts in the Dragon, and has played
it throughout his career. His many books on the subject have been
translated into several languages. He is teamed with National
Master Eric Schiller, an authority on chess openings with over 80
chess books published to date. He is the author of World Champion Openings, Standard Chess Openings, and Unorthodox Chess Openings, the trilogy of almost 1700 pages covering the opening strategy in chess. Schiller has played both sides of the Dragon, and
has contributed important new ideas to the Yugoslav Attack both
over the board and in his two previous books on the subject.
This book discusses all of the important principles of the
Dragon, from the opening to the endgame. We are going to take
you on a guided tour of Dragon territory. You’ll learn all of the
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CARDOZA PUBLISHING • GUFELD & SCHILLER
key strategic and tactical ideas. Unlike most modern opening
books, we aren’t going to cover the massive amount of theory by
presenting detailed treatments of each variation. You can find
that in Gufeld‘s The Complete Sicilian Dragon. Because theoretical
evaluations are constantly re-examined in journals and in chessboard battles, memorizing variations is not enough. You need to
understand the ideas behind the opening, and this book is dedicated exclusively to that task.
We have extracted the critical ideas from the labyrinth of variations and will show you what you need to know to attack effectively or defend a precarious positions. Although we are unabashedly in favor of the Black side, White’s resources will receive equal
attention. There are many dangerous weapons in White’s arsenal. You’ll need to be ready with appropriate responses.
You will learn how to properly conduct your attack and defend against the enemy onslaught. You will be able to anticipate
favorable endgames and avoid dangerous ones. Memorizing variations is only a small part of the task of preparing to play the
Dragon in tournaments. Knowledge of the appropriate strategy
and tactics is essential if you want to score well in the Dragon.
When you have mastered the concepts in this book you will be
able to handle either side of the Dragon effectively. With a little
practice, you will soon become a “Dragoneer”, bravely doing battle
on a grand scale each time your opponent walks into the jaws of
the beast!
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