Know your Dragons

If you are trying to choose a Sicilian to learn and got confused with the different types of Dragon Sicilians, this guide will help you figure out which beast best fit your opening repertoire!

What is a Sicilian Dragon?

Pretty much any Open Sicilian (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 followed by d4 and ...cxd4) in which black plays ...g6 and fianchetto the king is a dragon. There are exceptions and transpositions from other openings, but as rule of thumb, this is a pretty reliable definition.

Many people get confused on why this is called a "Dragon" since there is no visual connection between the chess pieces arrangement and the mythological creature. Some people might think the tactical nature of the opening might be an explanation for naming the opening like this, but the truth is much simpler. The kingside pawn structure looks like the Draco constellation.

The difference between normal Dragon and the accelerated ones

All the dragons have the same kingside fianchetto setup. The difference between them is the move order they use to get there. The difference between the traditional dragon and the accelerated/hyper-accelerated ones actually happens in the second move.

The Dragon Sicilian is achieved by the move 2...d6, the Accelerated Dragon by 2...Nc6 and the Hyper-Accelerated by 2...g6. Since they rely on the same setup, there are many instances where they can transpose to each other. But to choose between them, we have to see when they cannot.

The Traditional Dragon

First let's look at the regular Dragon. White starts with 1.e4, Black goes for a Sicilian with 1...c5, white prepares d4 with 2.Nf3 and black plays 2...d6, supporting the c5 pawn. White usually follows with the Open Sicilian, and we have 3.d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4. Black attacks the e4 pawn with 4...Nf6 and white defends developing their knight with 5.Nc3. In this position, black can still go for the Najdorf and the Classical Sicilians, but 5...g6 gets our Draco constellation on the board.

This gives black a pretty solid setup that leads to many count-attacking opportunities. However, white also has a pretty reliable setup called the "Yugoslav Attack". White basically creates a battery with the queen and bishop at the dark diagonal, castles queen-side and throw all the pawns at the fianchetto'd king. After a few sacrifices and exchanges, there are great chances for a mating attack. See it for yourself:

The Yugoslav attack is a pretty easy setup for White to play at all levels and can be pretty tricky to deflect it. However, there are a lot of books and opening courses created by super GM's that choose to face the Yugoslav Attack with no fear of a mating attack. At lower levels, just having experience in this opening can play a large role in creating many counter attacking opportunities for Black, since the pawn storm attack is very time-sensitive. Any imprecision by White can be punished, if Black's playing attention and knows better.

But what if you can avoid the attack altogether?

This is basically the main advantage of the accelerated dragons. Since black doesn't play ...d6 on the second move, they can play ...d5! once the queen-side scheme for the Yugoslav attack is set up, which makes it less effective because it messes with the time for the pawn storm. I won't be going into the details of how it actually works, but please have a look at it if you want to play the Dragon for yourself, since White will try it against you even if you'll never see a strong GM playing into this.

Accelerated and Hyper-Accelerated Dragons

So, if the Accelerated Dragons work well for deflecting the Yugoslav Attack, what's the best option White has against them?

Lets start with the Accelerated Dragon, which happens after 2...Nc6.

First of all, White can avoid the Open Sicilian altogether ad play 3.Bb5, which is called the "Rossolimo". This will usually follow the exchange of the bishop for the knight and create a different structure than our usual Dragon (even if the kingside fianchetto is still a great option). This line is definitely playable for Black and there's not a crazy attack to be afraid of, but it is a line of its own and you have to be ready for it if you play the Nc6 move order. The Rossolimo is a major choice at any level and it is suggested for White in a lot of great opening courses not because of the Accelerated Dragon, but because they try to avoid the Sveshnikov Sicilian, which is a different opening that currently has one of the most solid status against White compared to any other sicilian.

But let's say White still goes for the Open Sicilian after our knight moves to c6. We then have: 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 and we start our fianchetto setup with 4...g6. The problem is: we never attacked the pawn on e5, so White doesn't need to protect it with Nc3, with leaves room for the c pawn to move forward with 5.c4!. This setup for White is called the "Maroczy Bind" and makes for a great grip at the center. White will usually play for f3, Nc3 and use the space to suffocate black. Compared to the Yugoslav Attack, this is more of a long term positional advantage and Black can dismantle the center with flank pawns and a smart use of their pieces. Especially at lower levels it is very much playable for Black and having experience is this structure is a great asset for your winning chances.

Well, if you can avoid the Yugoslav Attack by changing some move orders, can we do the same for the Maroczy Bind?

The Hyper-Accelerated Dragon can solve this problem for us. It starts by committing to the fianchetto at move two with 2...g6. If White follow the Open Sicilian, we have: 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 and we attack the e4 pawn with 4...Nf6, making White play 5.Nc3 and avoiding the Marocy Bind!

If you are asking yourself why we didn't use the knight in the Accelerated move order before moving g6: the reason is that our knight is already on c6, so even white puts their knight in front of the c pawn, avoiding the Maroczy structure, after we finally play ...g6, they can exchange knights on c6 and push e5, getting more space at the center and making our knight awkward. Look:

So what's the caveat of the Hyper Accelerated move order? Well, since Black commits so early to the fianchetto, White can go for other options that do not offer great counter attacking chances as some lines in the traditional dragon offer. The very line we showed to avoid the Maroczy Bind can also lead to a very quick endgame, which is not everyone's taste. Another annoying option for White is recapturing in d4 with 4.Qxd4, instead of the knight, making an attack to our rook. This can be defended, but requires some precision and the resulting position might be unpleasant.

At lower levels, though, the early g6 makes for a solid setup against all the other lines in the Sicilian, especially against the so called Anti-Sicilian, which is great practical tool for your repertoire.

In a lot cases, you can actually reach the same positions you get in the Traditional Dragon with the Accelerated/Hyper-Accelerated move orders, if you wish to. In fact, if White is not going for the Yugoslav Attack, the main Dragon setup is probably a great option for Black (Results may vary! Look at your own board before playing).

"Which of these should I play?"

After understanding the differences between the lines, you can still be in doubt on which second move bests suits you. I'll give you my recommendation (which is only valuable if you, like me, play online at begginer/intermediate levels):

If you like to play the same positions more consistently and develop a deeper understanding of their nuances over time, play the traditional Dragon with 2...d6. You'll get the Yugoslav very often and will be able to punish White imprecisions whenever you get a chance. There are other option for White other than the Yugoslav which you'd also avoid with the Accelerated Dragons, but Black's set up will always be solid enough that you can boost through it.

If you prefer to have a flexible setup that can be used to get a playable positioning while avoiding heavy theory, play the Accelerated/Hyper Accelerated Dragons. To choose between the two, try out the 2...Nc6 move order and see how you feel about playing the Rossolimo. If you don't like it, go for 2...g6; you can always go back to accelerated positions with 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 anyways. The hyper accelerated move order is particularly good to deal with Anti-Sicilians, since you can always rely on your fianchetto setup.

What I can definitely not recommend is that you change between the three of them constantly. Even though you can transpose to the same lines with different move orders, you'll also have to remember the differences about White early alternatives for three different move orders, which is a huge set back for your games.

The Other Dragons

The are many other typical setups the three main dragons can transpose to that happen a lot deeper in the lines we discussed. However, I'd like to mention two great options that can happen earlier on that you can combine with whichever move order you choose to play.

Dragondorf

The Dragondorf combines the thematic Dragon kingside fianchetto with the move ...a6, which is the defining move of the Najdorf variation. This is more a Dragon than a Najdorf, though. We use the ...a6 to grab space at the queenside and maybe prepare for b5 to fianchetto the other bishop while also playing h5 at some point to avoid the pawn storm of the Yugoslav setup. Here's how to reach it with different move orders (note that we cannot achieve this with the 2...Nc6 move order since your knight usually is best at the d7 square):

Dubov Dragon

The Dubov Dragon is a setup in which we delay the development of the bishop to g7 and play ...h5 earlier on, making the Yugoslav pawn storm stop before it starts and having the option to exchange dark square bishops or threaten the queen in d2. Here it is with different move orders:

There are many other Dragons to be found out there. I hope this post will make you look out for them!