In the Dragon white usually castles Q-side with the result that often both sides attack the Kings on opposite wings using every available resource. This frequently results in some very sharp games.
The seldom used Chessbase program sitting on my laptop came to the rescue with an Opening Report. There are 10,734 Dragon games in the database and white won 41 percent whereas black only won 25 percent. The average rating of the players was around 2450. Apparently the Dragon is no longer to be dreaded.
Strong players who have played the Dragon in recent years include Miso Cebalo, Sergei Tiviakov, Christopher Ward, Natalija Pogonina, Kiril Georgiev, Sergey Kudrin and Gawain Jones.
The following game is a cruhing victory using the Dragon by one of its leading exponents. Sergey Kudrin was born in 1959 Novosibirsk, Siberia. He was awarded the Im title in 1980 and the GM title in 1984. After arriving in the U.S. in 1978, he was one of the country's leading and most active players.
Born in 1957, GM Nick de Firmian is a three-time U.S. Champion, winning in 1987 (with Joel Benjamin), 1995, and 1998. He also tied for first in 2002, but Larry Christiansen won the playoff. He has represented the United States at several Interzonals and played on the United States Olympiad teams eight times.
[Event "Gausdal Young Masters"]
[Site "Gausdal"]
[Date "1982.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Nicj de Firmian"]
[Black "Sergey Kudrin"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B78"]
[WhiteElo "2475"]
[BlackElo "2480"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 16"]
[PlyCount "64"]
[EventDate "1982.??.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "8"]
[EventCountry "NOR"]
[SourceTitle "MCD"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
{B78: Sicilian Dragon: Yugoslav Attack} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4
Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 {At one time 6.Bc4 was by far the most popular move, but
in the database white played it in 599 games with an average success rate of
56 percent. With the text his success rate in 7,292 games is 60 percent.} Bg7
7. f3 Nc6 8. Qd2 O-O 9. Bc4 Bd7 10. h4 Rc8 11. Bb3 h5 12. O-O-O Ne5 13. Rdg1
Qa5 14. g4 {So far both players have been following the ton of opening theory
available, but the text move is, perhaps, a bit too risky. A safer move ould
have been 14.Kb1} hxg4 {This is the correct reply.} (14... Rxc3 {This is
tempting, but it's just an OK move. After} 15. bxc3 hxg4 16. h5 gxh5 17. Bh6
Bxh6 18. Qxh6 Qxc3 19. Kb1 Qxd4 {Nlack is only slightly better.}) 15. h5 {
White has what appears to be the makings of a strong attack and so black must
be carefull.} Nxh5 (15... Rxc3 {is still a possibility, but the complications
are dizzying.} 16. bxc3 Nxf3 {Better is 16...gxh5} 17. Nxf3 Nxe4 (17... gxf3
18. hxg6 {White has a winning attack.}) 18. Qd3 Qa3+ 19. Kd1 (19. Kb1 Nxc3+ 20.
Ka1 Nd1+ {mates in 2}) 19... Nxc3+ 20. Ke1 Bf5 21. Qd2 Ne4 22. Qh2 gxf3 23.
hxg6 f2+ 24. Bxf2 Qc1+ 25. Ke2 Qd2+ 26. Kf3 Qxf2+ 27. Qxf2 Nxf2 28. gxf7+ Rxf7
29. Kxf2 e6 {in this materially unbalanced position anything could happen! In
Shootouts 5 games were f\drawn.}) 16. Bh6 Rxc3 {Equally good was 16...Bf6} (
16... Bf6 {feels hotter.} 17. Kb1 Rxc3 18. fxg4 Bxg4 19. Bxf8 Kxf8 20. Qxc3
Qxc3 21. bxc3 a6 {k is only slightly better.}) 17. Bxg7 {This is where white
loses the game.} (17. bxc3 $17 {was forced.} Bxh6 18. Qxh6 Qxc3 19. Kb1 Qxd4
20. fxg4 Bxg4 21. Rxg4 Nxg4 22. Qxg6+ Qg7 23. Qxh5 {Black is two Ps up, but
white's well placed pieces keeps black's pieces at bay. In Shootouts white
scored +0 -1 =4}) 17... Rxc2+ {[%mdl 512] An unexpected surprise for white!}
18. Kxc2 (18. Bxc2 Qxd2+ 19. Kxd2 Kxg7 20. fxg4 Bxg4 {Black has more than
enough compensation for the exchange.}) (18. Nxc2 {is much worse...} Qxd2+ 19.
Kxd2 Nxf3+ 20. Ke2 Nxg1+ 21. Rxg1 Kxg7 {with a won position.}) 18... Rc8+ 19.
Kd1 Qxd2+ {Otherwise white had Qh6} 20. Kxd2 {And now Bxe5 would win.} Kxg7 (
20... Nxg7 {would allow white back in the game after} 21. fxg4 Nxg4 22. Rc1
Rxc1 23. Rxc1 Nf6 24. e5 dxe5 25. Nf3 e4 26. Ng5 e6 27. Rc7) 21. fxg4 (21. Rc1
{doesn't wotk now...} Rxc1 22. Rxc1 gxf3 23. Rc7 f2 24. Ke2 (24. Bc4 Nxc4+ 25.
Rxc4 f1=Q) 24... Nd3 25. Rxd7 Ng3+ 26. Kxd3 f1=Q+ {and with careful play black
will win.}) 21... Bxg4 22. Ke3 Nf6 23. Rc1 Rc5 24. Rhg1 Bd7 25. Nf5+ Kf8 26.
Nd4 (26. Rxc5 {isn't much better.} dxc5 27. Nh6 Kg7 {with a decisive advantage.
}) 26... Neg4+ 27. Kf3 Ne5+ 28. Ke3 Neg4+ 29. Kf3 Rh5 30. Rc7 Rh3+ 31. Kg2 Rh2+
32. Kg3 {Overlooking a mate in two, but he was lost anyway.} (32. Kf1 Rd2 33.
Nf3 Rf2+ 34. Ke1 Rxf3 35. Rxd7 Rf4 36. Rxb7 a5 37. Ra7 Rxe4+ {and black is
clearly better.}) 32... Nh5+ {White resigned. A smartly played game by Kudrin.}
0-1
No comments:
Post a Comment