Sicilian Dragon: free opening course

Key ideas

• The Dragon bishop on g7 is Black's best piece: keep it, and trade White's dark-squared bishop for something else only if you must.
• Use the half-open c-file: ...Rc8, ...Ne5-c4 and the exchange sacrifice ...Rxc3 to break up White's queenside king.
• Against the Yugoslav Attack, speed decides: White wants h4-h5 and Bh6, so Black must attack on the queenside at once.
• The central break ...d5 is Black's strongest freeing move when White's pieces are not yet coordinated (9.O-O-O d5!).
• Against slow systems (6.Be2), Black has time for ...Be6, ...Na5-c4 and pressure on the c-file and long diagonal.
• Watch for White's bishop on c4: it is loose on the c-file, and Black can often win it with ...Nxd4 and ...Rxc4 or ...Be6xc4.

The 4 variations in the course

• Yugoslav Attack 9.Bc4: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 … — White plays Be3, f3, Qd2, Bc4 and O-O-O, aiming at h4-h5 and Bh6. Black answers with ...Bd7, ...Rc8 and ...Ne5, and in the modern Chinese/Topalov line meets Kb1 with ...Re8 and h4 with ...h5.
• Yugoslav Attack 9.O-O-O d5: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 … — If White castles long before playing Bc4, Black strikes in the centre with 9...d5!, opening the long diagonal. After the exchanges on d5 and c6, Black gets active pieces and good play against White's king.
• Classical 6.Be2: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be2 Bg7 … — White develops quietly with Be2, O-O, Be3 and Nb3, then plays f4-f5. Black plays ...Be6, ...Na5 and ...Bc4 to trade off White's good bishop and gets comfortable play on the c-file.
• Levenfish 6.f4: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. f4 Nc6 … — White plays f4 to push e5 at once. The safest answer is 6...Nc6, trading knights and meeting e5 with ...Nd7. Black gets a sound structure and active pieces after ...d5.

Traps you will learn (3)

• Magnus Smith trap — A warning for Black. With White's bishop on c4, playing ...g6 together with ...Nc6 lets White trade on c6 and push e5. Capturing with ...dxe5?? allows Bxf7+, which uncovers the d-file and wins the queen.
• Yugoslav: the loose bishop on c4 — A trap for Black to spring. In the 9.Bc4 Yugoslav, once Black's rook is on c8, the bishop on c4 is only screened by the c6 knight. If White plays an attacking move like h4 instead of Bb3, Black takes on d4 and the rook captures the bishop.
• Yugoslav: castling into ...Bxc4 — A trap for Black to spring. After 9.Bc4 Nxd4 10.Bxd4 Be6, Black's bishop attacks the c4 bishop, which no white piece defends. White must play 11.Bb3; the natural 11.O-O-O?? just loses a piece.

How the opening courses work

Each course teaches an opening in a few main variations. For every move you read why it is played, which other moves are good, and which tempting moves are mistakes and why. Each course also shows the traps of the opening: the ones you can set and the ones to avoid.

After a lesson you play the moves yourself in a drill. The lines you learn go into your review, which brings them back when you are about to forget them (spaced repetition). 30 line courses add many short lines per opening, a few new ones a day, and every named opening, more than 3,800 lines, has a lesson of its own.