February 11, 1999
B35 Sicilian, Accelerated Fianchetto, Modern Variation with Bc4 (aka the Accelerated Dragon)
1. e4 c5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. d4 cxd4
4. Nxd4 g6
5. Nc3 Bg7
6. Be3 Nf6
The Sicilian Defense, characterized by 1. e4 c5, is one of the oldest and most solid responses to White's 1. e4. Though the Sicilian has been widely analyzed, there are many variations, each with its own idiosyncracies and complexities. Generally speaking, because the Sicilian creates asymmetrical positions it is a very tactically-oriented opening and tends to make for very aggressive (and very exciting) chess. More often than not, White will be attacking kingside and Black attacking queenside resulting in what MCO-13 calls "a fierce struggle combining attack, defense and counterattack."
In the Accelerated Dragon variation, Black fianchettoes his bishop while accepting poor central pawn opportunities. The e-pawn in particular gets caught in a bind: The best square is clearly e5 which drives off the White's Knight but such a move obviously blocks the Bishop's long diagonal. Black thus accepts a tortured pawn structure in return for the fianchettoed Bishop--all the more tortured because the a- and b-pawns belong on the white squares not the black as the central pawns would prefer.
White's biggest difficulty is dealing with Black's fianchettoed Bishop. Despite this, there is ample opportunity to develop and so long as care is taken. White's best response to the Dragon is generally regarded as "the Yugoslav Attack," wherein White castles queenside and launches a pawn storm kingside.
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