Sicilian Defense: Accelerated Dragon - 7.f3 Lines (after 5.Nc3 5...Bg7 6.Be3 6...Nf6)
After 7.f3, meet it with ...O-O, ...d5, and ...e6, challenging White's center directly. Watch for lines where White castles O-O-O too early, letting ...Qxa2 win material for you.
Let's learn the Sicilian Defense: Accelerated Dragon! We fianchetto fast and dodge a lot of the sharp memorization other Sicilians demand. Let's begin with 1.e4.
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Scroll the moves: the board follows.
Key lines
The free lines of this chapter, each one trainable move by move.
- Main Line
… 10. e5 Nd7 11. f4 e6 12. O-O-O c5
- 8. Bc4
… 7... O-O 8. Bc4 d5 9. Nxd5 Nxd5 10. Bxd5 Bxd4 11. Bxd4 Nxd4 12. Qxd4 e6
- 8. Bc4
… 7... O-O 8. Bc4 d5 9. exd5 Nb4 10. Nb3 b5 11. Bxb5 Bf5
- 8. Bc4
… 7... O-O 8. Bc4 d5 9. exd5 Nb4 10. Nde2 Qc7 11. Bb3 Rd8 12. a3 Nbxd5 13. Bxd5 e6
- 8. Bc4
… 7... O-O 8. Bc4 d5 9. exd5 Nb4 10. Qd2 Nbxd5 11. Nxd5 Nxd5 12. Bh6 Bxh6 13. Qxh6 Nb6
- 9. exd5
… 8... d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. Nxd5 cxd5 12. c3 Bf5
- Trap: 11.O-O-O, you win a piece
… 8... d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxd5 Qxd5 11. O-O-O Qxa2 12. c3 Bxd4 13. g4 Bf6
- 9. exd5
… 8... d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxd5 Qxd5 11. c3 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 Bxd4 13. Qxd4 Qxd4 14. cxd4 Rd8
- 9. exd5
… 8... d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxd5 Qxd5 11. Nxc6 Qxc6 12. O-O-O Bf5
- 9. O-O-O
… 8... d5 9. O-O-O dxe4 10. fxe4 Qc7
- 9. O-O-O
… 8... d5 9. O-O-O dxe4 10. Nxe4 Nxe4 11. fxe4 Bxd4 12. Bxd4 Bg4
- Trap: 13.Bd4, you win material
… 8... d5 9. O-O-O dxe4 10. Nxc6 Qxd2+ 11. Rxd2 bxc6 12. fxe4 Ng4 13. Bd4 Bh6 14. h3 Bxd2+ 15. Kxd2 Rd8
- 9. O-O-O
… 8... d5 9. O-O-O dxe4 10. Nxc6 Qxd2+ 11. Rxd2 bxc6 12. Nxe4 Nd5
- 10. O-O-O
… 9... bxc6 10. O-O-O Qc7 11. exd5 cxd5 12. Nxd5 Nxd5 13. Qxd5 Bf5
- 10. exd5
… 9... bxc6 10. exd5 cxd5 11. O-O-O Qc7 12. Nxd5 Nxd5 13. Qxd5 Bf5
- 12. Be2
… 11... e6 12. Be2 c5
Other chapters
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Bc4 O-O 8. Bb3 Re8 9. f3 d5 10. exd5 Nb4 11. Nde2 e6
Modern Bc4 Variation (7.Bc4, after 5.Nc3 5...Bg7 6.Be3 6...Nf6)
White develops with 7.Bc4, then retreats to 8.Bb3 after your castling. Meet it with ...Re8, then after 9.f3 d5 10.exd5 Nb4 11.Nde2, play ...e6, lining your rook up behind that pawn against White's bishop on e3. Watch the 10.f4 trap, where ...Ng4 and ...Qb6+ win material. You aim for a sound center against White's queenside majority.
8 lines1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Qd2 O-O 8. O-O-O Ng4 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. Bd4 Bh6 11. f4 e5 12. Be3 Nxe3 13. Qxe3 Bxf4 14. Qxf4 exf4 15. Bc4 Qf6
Other 7th moves after 5.Nc3 5...Bg7 6.Be3 6...Nf6 (7.Qd2)
After 7.Qd2 O-O 8.O-O-O, meet it with ...Ng4 eyeing Nxe3 and Nxd4. If White plays 10.Bd4, pounce with ...Bh6 and ...e5, winning material.
2 lines1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bc4 Qc7 8. O-O Nf6 9. Re1 d6 10. Bf4 Nh5 11. Be3 a5
6.Nxc6 Lines (after 5.Nc3 5...Bg7)
After 6.Nxc6, recapture with bxc6 and meet 7.Bc4 with Qc7, then Nf6, d6, and Nh5 to hit the bishop on f4. Castle, then push a5 and a4, keeping the b-file half-open for your pieces. Watch the trap line where 9.e5 Ng4 wins material for you. Aim for active piece play against White's queenside majority.
7 lines1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Nxc6 bxc6 6. Qd4 Nf6 7. e5 Nd5 8. e6 Nf6 9. exf7+ Kxf7 10. Bc4+ d5 11. Bb3 e5 12. Qxe5 Bb4+ 13. c3 Re8 14. Qxe8+ Qxe8+ 15. Be3 Bc5
Exchange Variation (5.Nxc6)
White grabs your knight with 5.Nxc6, then jumps the queen to d4 and later pushes e5-e6 to chase your pieces. Recapture bxc6, meet 7.e5 with Nd5, and answer 8.e6 with Nf6, letting White overextend. If White grabs your pawn with 12.Qxe5, hit back with Bb4+ and win material. Aim for an endgame where your active pieces and extra material are winning.
5 lines1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. c4 Nf6 6. Nc3 d6 7. Be2 Nxd4 8. Qxd4 Bg7 9. Be3 O-O 10. Qd2 a5 11. O-O a4 12. Rac1 Bd7
Maróczy Bind (5.c4)
White grabs space with 5.c4, entering the tough Maroczy Bind. Develop with g6, d6, trade on d4, castle, then expand with a5, a4, and Bd7. Watch for 7.Be3 Ng4 8.Bc1 Qb6, where White's rook falls after Bxg4 Qxg4 Nc2+. Aim for a solid, flexible setup against White's queenside majority.
10 lines1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Be3 Nf6 6. Nc3 Bg7
5.Be3 Lines
White develops with 5.Be3, usually continuing 6.Nc3. Meet it with 5...Nf6, attacking e4, then fianchetto with 6...Bg7. If White tries 6.f3 Bg7 7.c4 Qb6 8.Qd2, take material with 8...Nxe4. Aim for structures where you land the bishop pair and push your kingside pawns.
4 lines
Learn 7.f3 Lines (after 5.Nc3 5...Bg7 6.Be3 6...Nf6) on the board
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