How to exploit the Dragondorf?
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I've read somewhere that it is unsound mostly because the Dragon and the Najdorf have different ideas. I think it's too slow compared to the Dragon or Najdorf itself. What's the best way to play against it?
Dec 12, 2018
0
#2
I would play the Yugoslav Attack, Be3, f3, h4, g4 Black's a6 is a weak move. I've won more games against Dragondorf than Dragon or Najdorf.
Basically treating it as a normal dragon? sure im familiar to the yugoslav so thanks
Dec 13, 2018
0
#5
bong711 wrote:
I would play the Yugoslav Attack, Be3, f3, h4, g4 Black's a6 is a weak move. I've won more games against Dragondorf than Dragon or Najdorf.
I agree with the Yugoslav Attack! I recently toyed with the Dragon as Black and the Yugoslav Attack is a headache and I didn't play ...a6 early. Back in the '90's, John Emm's book, Beating the Sicilian, 3rd Ed., says, "Black often omits the move ...a6. Time is of particular importance in the Dragon and Black simply cannot afford the tempo spent..." In the 2nd Ed, Emms recommended the main line Yugoslav with 9 Bc4. In the 3rd he recommended 9 O-O-O followed by attempting to mate Black down the h-file.
Because I love opening lines where I have a middlegame strategy to guide me right from the start, I like the idea of 9 O-O-O followed by attempting to mate Black down the h-file.
Similarly, Aagard and Shaw, in Experts vs the Sicilian (c.2006), say, "The Sicilian Dragon is defined by the
sequence l .e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4. Nd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6...As practice has showed, White's only critical reply to the Dragon starts with the moves 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3, followed by 8. Qd2 and then
queenside castling...To choose 9.0-0-0 as the main recommendation was not difficult."
Interestingly, in Jesus de la Villa's Dismantling the Sicilian (c.2009), he recommends the Rauzer Attack against the Dragon, noting that Bobby "Fischer was one of the first to notice that a medium-strength player can easily beat a master with the Rauzer Attack." But, he warns, "Black has violent counterplay and we must be up to date with the latest trends in theory. Nevertheless, the improvements for White are more lasting and convincing than improvements for Black."
Of course, the early ...a6 may change the move order, but it should make the same strategies easier to implement!
People who just say "Yugoslav attack" must be careful. If black plays a normal dragon and castles and plays a6, you are absolutely right. However, the point of the Dragondorf is that black delays castling. Hence the Yugoslav attack doesn't work because there is no king to be mated. In fact, the Yugoslav attack is exactly what a Dragondorf player hopes for. They delay castling, you attack the kingside and achieve nothing and then they attack on the queenside and get you in trouble.