Chess Openings

Thursday, 5 January 2012

Sicilian Dragon: Yugoslav Attack

I have decided to start with a very common opening for Black in the Sicilian - The Dragon - which is often met by White's Yugoslav Attack!

The move 5. .. g6 introduces the Dragon variation of the Sicilian Defense. The White system of attack with f3 and Be3 was developed during the 1930's by Vsevelod Rauzer (1908-41) a soviet master noted for his attacking ideas in the opening. The system was not considered particularly dangerous until the 1950's when Vladimir Vukovic and other Yugoslav players strengthened White's offensive. This is the source of it's name - the "Yugoslav Attack"

Of course, as in any opening there are many, many variations on the same theme. I simply intend to give a flavour of each opening variation and stimulate some debate - here is a sample opening in the "Yugoslav":






Start positionPrevious MoveNext MoveEnd positionPlay movesStop playing
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 Nc6 8. Bc4 O-O 9. Qe2 Nd7 10. O-O-O Nde5 11. Bd5 e6 12. Bxc6 Nxc6 13. Ndb5 Qa5 14. Bd2 d5 15. exd5 exd5 16. Kb1 Bf5






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