Sicilian Defense

16. Dragon: punishing the premature 9.Bh6?

A frequent mistake in the Yugoslav Attack: 9.Bh6? before protecting the d4-knight. Black trades with 9...Bxh6 10.Qxh6 and captures 10...Nxd4, winning a piece.

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.Bh6 Bxh6 10.Qxh6 Nxd4

Move by move

  1. 1.e4 – White occupies the center with the king's pawn, controls d5 and f5 and frees the queen and the f1-bishop. This is the move we answer with the Sicilian.
  2. 1...c5 – The Sicilian Defense: Black controls d4 with a flank pawn instead of occupying the center. If White plays d4, Black will trade c5 for d4 and have two central pawns against one and the half-open c-file.
  3. 2.Nf3 – White develops the knight toward the center and prepares d2-d4 to open the game: it is the road to the Open Sicilian, the most ambitious try against us.
  4. 2...d6 – Black controls e5, opens the diagonal for the c8-bishop and prepares ...Nf6: after 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 the e4-pawn will be attacked right away. It is the basis of the Najdorf and the Dragon.
  5. 3.d4 – White opens the center: it offers the d4 pawn trade against c5 to develop quickly and use the lead in development in an open position.
  6. 3...cxd4 – Black trades at once: it removes White's d-pawn, keeps two central pawns (d6 and e7) against one and opens the c-file for rook and queen.
  7. 4.Nxd4 – White recaptures with the knight, which dominates the center from d4. In exchange for faster development it has conceded the central majority to Black.
  8. 4...Nf6 – Black develops with tempo by attacking e4. White has to defend it with 5.Nc3 and loses the chance to play c2-c4, which would give the solid Maróczy structure.
  9. 5.Nc3 – White defends e4 by developing a piece: it is the basic position of the Open Sicilian, from which the Najdorf, Dragon, Scheveningen and Classical arise.
  10. 5...g6 – The Dragon Variation: Black prepares the ...Bg7 fianchetto, which along the long diagonal will aim at d4, c3 and b2. The d6-g6 structure recalls the constellation of the dragon, hence the name.
  11. 6.Be3 – White develops the bishop on e3, where it defends the d4-knight and prepares f3, Qd2 and O-O-O: it is the beginning of the Yugoslav Attack.
  12. 6...Bg7 – The bishop completes the fianchetto and becomes Black's most important piece: from the h8-a1 diagonal it presses on d4 and, after White's long castling, on the king on c1.
  13. 7.f3 – White takes the g4 square away from Black, where ...Ng4 would attack the e3-bishop, and supports e4. It also prepares the g4 push or h4-h5 against the black castling.
  14. 7...O-O – Black castles: the king is protected by the g7-bishop. White will attack it with h4-h5 and Bh6, but Black will have time for counterplay on the c-file.
  15. 8.Qd2 – The queen goes onto the c1-h6 diagonal: White prepares Bh6 to trade the g7-bishop, the main defender of the black king, and long castling.
  16. 8...Nc6 – The knight develops and presses on d4 together with the g7-bishop. Later it will be able to go to e5 and c4 to attack the e3-bishop and the d2-queen.
  17. 9.Bh6 – A typical mistake: White immediately seeks the bishop trade on h6, but that way the bishop leaves e3 and the d4-knight is defended only by the queen.
  18. 9...Bxh6 – Black accepts the trade: after the recapture with the queen, the d4-knight will have no defender left.
  19. 10.Qxh6 – White recaptures with the queen, which looks dangerous near the black king, but has left d2 and the defense of the d4-knight.
  20. 10...Nxd4 – Black captures the d4-knight, which is no longer defended by any piece, and is left a piece up. The knight on d4 also threatens ...Nxc2+, attacking king and rook on a1.

How to exploit the position

Black is a piece up and threatens ...Nxc2+ attacking king and rook; it only has to stop White's attack on the kingside.

Master tips

Count the defenders before Bh6

The Bh6 trade removes a defender from the center: if the d4-knight was defended only by Be3 and Qd2, after ...Bxh6 Qxh6 it is left undefended.