♚ blackB70–B79

Sicilian Dragon

The Sicilian Dragon is one of the sharpest openings in chess. After 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6, Black fianchettoes the bishop to g7, creating a powerful diagonal aimed at White's queenside.

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Variations

About the Sicilian Dragon

The Dragon gets its name from the pawn formation (d6-e7-f7-g6-h7) which resembles a dragon constellation. The Yugoslav Attack (6.Be3, 7.f3, 8.Qd2, 9.O-O-O) is the critical test, where both sides castle on opposite wings and launch pawn storms against each other's king. The resulting positions are among the most analyzed and tactical in all of chess.

Key Ideas

  • Fianchetto the bishop on g7 — it's the dragon's fire
  • Castle kingside and launch a queenside attack with ...a5, ...b5
  • The exchange sacrifice ...Rxc3 is a common tactical theme
  • Watch for Bh6 ideas from White trying to trade the dragon bishop
  • In the Yugoslav Attack, every tempo matters — play fast

Related Openings

Sicilian NajdorfSicilian Accelerated DragonSicilian SveshnikovKing's Indian Defense

Ready to master the Sicilian Dragon?

Import this one or your own lines from YouTube, Lichess, or PGN and train with spaced repetition.