Sicilian Defense: Accelerated Dragon - Modern Variation (7.Be2, 7.Qd2, 7.Nxc6)
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.
Let's learn the rarer 7th moves! White brings its queen out early to d2. We castle kingside and later jump our knight to g4, aiming to win White's dark-squared bishop. Let's begin with 1.e4.
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Key lines
The free lines of this chapter, each one trainable move by move.
- Trap: 10.Bd4, you win the queen
… 13. Qxe3 Bxf4 14. Qxf4 exf4 15. Bc4 Qf6
- 7. Be2
… 6... Nf6 7. Be2 O-O 8. Qd2 d5 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. exd5 cxd5
- 7. Be2
… 6... Nf6 7. Be2 O-O 8. Qd2 d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxd5 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 Qxd5
- 7. Be2
… 6... Nf6 7. Be2 O-O 8. O-O d5 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. exd5 cxd5
- 7. Be2
… 6... Nf6 7. Be2 O-O 8. O-O d5 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. e5 Ne8 11. f4 f6
- 7. Be2
… 6... Nf6 7. Be2 O-O 8. O-O d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxd5 Nxd4 11. Nxe7+ Qxe7
- 7. Be2
… 6... Nf6 7. Be2 O-O 8. O-O d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxd5 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 Qxd5
- 7. Nxc6
… 6... Nf6 7. Nxc6 bxc6 8. Bd3 O-O
- 7. Nxc6
… 6... Nf6 7. Nxc6 bxc6 8. Bc4 O-O
- 7. Nxc6
… 6... Nf6 7. Nxc6 bxc6 8. e5 Ng8 9. Bd4 Qa5
- 7. Nxc6
… 6... Nf6 7. Nxc6 bxc6 8. e5 Ng8 9. f4 Nh6
- 8. f3
… 7... O-O 8. f3 d5
- 10. Bf4
… 9... bxc6 10. Bf4 Qa5 11. f3 Bxc3
- 10. Bg5
… 9... bxc6 10. Bg5 Qa5 11. f3 Bxc3
- 10. Bg5
… 9... bxc6 10. Bg5 Qa5 11. Bxe7 Re8
Other chapters
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. f3 O-O 8. Qd2 d5 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. e5 Nd7 11. f4 e6 12. O-O-O c5
Modern Variation (7.f3)
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.
16 lines1. 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)
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. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bc4 Qc7 8. O-O Nf6 9. Re1 d6 10. Bf4 Nh5 11. Be3 a5
Modern Variation (6.Nxc6)
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.
10 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
Sidelines (5.Be3)
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 lines1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. O-O Bg7 5. c3 Nf6 6. Re1 O-O 7. d4 d5 8. e5 Ne4
Rossolimo Variation (3.Bb5)
17 lines1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 Nf6 4. e5 Nd5 5. d4 cxd4 6. cxd4 d6 7. Bc4 Nb6 8. Bb5 dxe5
Delayed Alapin Variation (3.c3)
12 lines1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 g6 4. O-O Bg7 5. c3 e6 6. d4 cxd4 7. cxd4 d5 8. exd5 exd5
Old Sicilian (3.Bc4, 3.Nc3)
22 lines
Learn Modern Variation (7.Be2, 7.Qd2, 7.Nxc6) on the board
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