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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Scroll the moves: the board follows.
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 11. O-O-O Qc7
- 7. Be2
… 6... Nf6 7. Be2 O-O 8. Qd2 d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxd5 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 Qxd5 12. Bxg7 Qxg2 13. O-O-O Kxg7
- 7. Be2
… 6... Nf6 7. Be2 O-O 8. O-O d5 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. exd5 cxd5 11. Bd4 Bf5
- 7. Be2
… 6... Nf6 7. Be2 O-O 8. O-O d5 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. e5 Ne8 11. f4 f6 12. Bd4 fxe5 13. fxe5 Rxf1+ 14. Qxf1 Nd6
- 7. Be2
… 6... Nf6 7. Be2 O-O 8. O-O d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxd5 Nxd4 11. Nxe7+ Qxe7 12. Bxd4 Bxd4 13. Qxd4 Qxe2
- 7. Be2
… 6... Nf6 7. Be2 O-O 8. O-O d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxd5 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 Qxd5 12. Bxg7 Qxd1 13. Raxd1 Kxg7
- 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 12. Qxc3 Qxc3 13. bxc3 Nf2 14. Bc4 Nxh1 15. Rxh1 a5
- 10. Bg5
… 9... bxc6 10. Bg5 Qa5 11. f3 Bxc3 12. Qxc3 Qxg5+ 13. Rd2 Nf6
- 10. Bg5
… 9... bxc6 10. Bg5 Qa5 11. Bxe7 Re8 12. Bh4 d5 13. exd5 Bh6
Other chapters
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 linesModern 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 linesModern 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 linesExchange 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 linesMaróczy 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 linesSidelines (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 linesRossolimo Variation (3.Bb5)
Our knight takes the e4 outpost in front of White's e5 pawn. Next ...Qb6 attacks the bishop on b5, and ...Bg4 pins the knight on f3...
17 linesDelayed Alapin Variation (3.c3)
We recapture with the queen after trading off White's strong knight. Next ...e6, ...Be7 and ...O-O complete development, and ...Rd8 puts...
12 linesOld Sicilian (3.Bc4, 3.Nc3)
With our king safe, next ...Bf5 or ...Be6 develops, ...Rc8 takes the open c-file, and ...a6 asks the bishop on b5 to decide.
22 lines
Learn Modern Variation (7.Be2, 7.Qd2, 7.Nxc6) on the board
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