The Sicilian Dragon

Were into Mafia territory today. The Sicilion Dragon incorporating the Fianchetto is the fierce and dangerous Sicilian Dragon. The Dragon is played by Black and is not for the faint hearted. If you are not one to take risks then this chess strategy should be avoided as it leads to an aggressive game with both sides attacking each other at the same time. On the other hand, if you have been reading the articles on this site I have made you an offer you can't refuse.
Lets go: The principles of the Sicilian Dragon

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5...Nxe4 5.Nc3 d6 6.Be2 g6! 7.0-0 Bg7
The structure is nearly always as follows:
g7 pawn to g6 to allow the the Bishop out...Bg6
d7 pawn to d6 early on
c7 pawn gets whacked c5xd4

Kings Knight to f6
Queens Knight to c6
Kings Bishop to g7
King castles King side
The Queens Rook can go to c8
The Queen has choices. She can play c7, b6, a5 and sometimes c8
All the other pieces remain in theie original places.

As always in chess there are many variations to any chess strategy. The Sicilian Dragon is no exception and and dozens of books have covered the subject. This article is just an itroduction and if nothing else is gained from it, throw it into the conversations at parties to impress people.

The basic moves are: 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

The advantages of this chess tactic is that it frees up your pieces to the attack the centre of the board and can in a lot of games result in your opponent castling on the weaker Queen's side so they can push the King's side pawns up to attack the black King's side pawns. As you know White always starts with the advantage by having the first move but with the Sicilian Dragon it should even up by the time you have reached the middle game.

One major disadvantage of the Sicilian Dragon is that Black has to make a few pawn moves initially and therefore white can gain momentum by moving his pieces into position first. Nevertheless, this is the sacrifice Black accepts because he is going for the win which is usually harder for Black as he is always a move behind.

A common way to attack the Dragon is to do a Queens side castle and then attack your opponents King's side with your pawns.
Try using the Sicilian Dragon and see if it works.

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