is the dragodorf legit?
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Simon Williams has a video series on this opening. It's basically a hybrid of the najdorf and dragon. I know that he can sometimes endorse suspect lines, so I was wondering if it's worth studying this opening? Also, is it more or less aggressive vs the najdorf or dragon?
Apr 13, 2017
0
#2
If you want to increase your rating, not worth studying at all.
If you want some entertainment / appreciation of the rare line, then by all means.
Cherub_Enjel wrote:
If you want to increase your rating, not worth studying at all.
If you want some entertainment / appreciation of the rare line, then by all means.
Which category would you put the standard dragon under?
Apr 13, 2017
0
#5
The problem is that there's a lot of theory involved in the standard dragon.
You can try playing it, as long as you don't memorize a ton of moves.
Usually I never recommend Sicilian Defenses to anyone rated under 1800, except for the Kan variation, but the Dragon can be played because the ideas are relatively straightforward, although at the higher levels you must memorize a good deal of lines.
Cherub_Enjel wrote:
The problem is that there's a lot of theory involved in the standard dragon.
You can try playing it, as long as you don't memorize a ton of moves.
Usually I never recommend Sicilian Defenses to anyone rated under 1800, except for the Kan variation, but the Dragon can be played because the ideas are relatively straightforward, although at the higher levels you must memorize a good deal of lines.
Are there any specific videos you would suggest?
Apr 13, 2017
0
#7
Gawain Jones had some success with it. It's really hard to play though and engines are little help because they think Black is screwed no matter what he does.
Apr 14, 2017
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#8
It is fine, Williams wrote a book also called the New Sicilian Dragon.... Shabalov also played it vs Caruana at the US champs the other day although he didn't do too well. It is a good option at club level
op. from our perspective its fine.
if an opening is good enough to be played by Gm's....
OTOH, my understanding is that the black dragon and all its variations is not considered "good" chess among top players.
The Opening itself is likely sound, but I doubt it is the best option for anyone under 1800. Positions can become highly unbalanced, with Black intentionally delaying not only castling but the normally key Bg7 move. I've seen games where Black even plays h5, h4 and Rh5, leaving his King and Bishop on their original squares.
Games can be fun, complex, interesting ... but if you don't understand the positions, you are going to lose games without knowing why, and it will be very hard to take what you learn in this opening and apply it to more 'normal' positions, thus slowing your overall chess progress. I would not recommend it as your main defence to 1.e4. If you just want an option to play for a punt every now and then, though, then it's as good a choice as any.
