Sicilian Defence, Dragon Variation

This article is about the chess opening named Dragon. For the chess engine named Dragon, see Dragon by Komodo Chess.
"Dragon (chess)" redirects here. For the fairy chess piece also known by this name, see Amazon (chess). For the chess variant, see Dragonchess.
Dragon Variation
abcdefgh
8
a8 black rook
b8 black knight
c8 black bishop
d8 black queen
e8 black king
f8 black bishop
h8 black rook
a7 black pawn
b7 black pawn
e7 black pawn
f7 black pawn
h7 black pawn
d6 black pawn
f6 black knight
g6 black pawn
d4 white knight
e4 white pawn
c3 white knight
a2 white pawn
b2 white pawn
c2 white pawn
f2 white pawn
g2 white pawn
h2 white pawn
a1 white rook
c1 white bishop
d1 white queen
e1 white king
f1 white bishop
h1 white rook
8
77
66
55
44
33
22
11
abcdefgh
Moves1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6
ECOB70–B79
OriginLouis Paulsen (c. 1880)
Named afterConstellation Draco
ParentOpen Sicilian

In chess, the Dragon Variation[1] is one of the main lines of the Sicilian Defence and begins with the moves:

1. e4 c5
2. Nf3 d6
3. d4 cxd4
4. Nxd4 Nf6
5. Nc3 g6

In the Dragon, Black's bishop is fianchettoed on g7, castling on the king's side while aiming the bishop at the center and queenside. In one of the most popular and theoretically important lines, the Yugoslav Variation, White meets Black's setup with Be3, Qd2 and Bh6, exchanging off the Dragon bishop, followed by launching a kingside pawn storm with h4–h5 and g4. To involve the a1-rook in the attack, White usually castles queenside, placing the white king on the semi-open c-file. The result is often both sides attacking the other's king with all available resources. The line is considered one of the sharpest of all chess openings.[2]

The modern form of the Dragon was originated by German master Louis Paulsen around 1880.[3] It was played frequently by Henry Bird that decade, then received general acceptance around 1900 when played by Harry Nelson Pillsbury and other masters.

In his 1953 autobiography, the Russian chess master and amateur astronomer Fyodor Dus-Chotimirsky claimed that he coined the name "Dragon Variation" in 1901, after the fancied resemblance between Black's kingside pawn structure and the constellation Draco.[4][5] The earliest known printed reference, found by chess historian Edward Winter, is in the Jan-Feb 1914 issue of Wiener Schachzeitung.[6]

This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.
  1. ^ "Sicilian, Dragon Variation (B70)". Chess openings. Chessgames.com. Retrieved 2022-10-02.
  2. ^ Wolff 1997.
  3. ^ Hooper & Whyld 1987, p. 95.
  4. ^ Edward Winter presents: Unsolved Chess Mysteries (8), Chessbase.com, 18 June 2007
  5. ^ Martin 2005, p. 5, Intro.
  6. ^ Edward Winter, C.N. 7826 - The Dragon Variation, chesshistory.com, 27 October 2012