for Black · advanced
Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation
10/10
1.e4c52.Nf3d63.d4cxd44.Nxd4Nf65.Nc3g6
Black fianchettoes the bishop on g7, aiming it down the long diagonal at White's queenside. It produces some of the sharpest opposite-side castling races in chess, where both sides attack the enemy king at full speed.
Key ideas
- Fianchetto to g7 and pressure the a1-h8 diagonal and c-file
- Launch a queenside attack with ...Rc8 and ...b5 pawn storms
- Meet the Yugoslav Attack (Be3, f3, Qd2, O-O-O, h4) with fast counterplay
- Race to open lines against the opposite-side king first
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation4.9M games · White to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
14%697k47%
12%612k44%
9.2%456k51%
5.4%267k43%
3.3%164k43%
1.2%60k47%
Famous games in this line20k master games
Karjakin, Sergey (2771) – Carlsen, M. (2881)Grischuk, Alexander (2777) – Carlsen, Magnus (2863)Anand, Viswanathan (2800) – Carlsen, Magnus (2826)Dominguez Perez, L.. (2758) – Carlsen, M.. (2862)Carlsen, M. (2832) – Nakamura, Hi (2786)Caruana, F. (2803) – Nakamura, Hi (2799)Anand, Viswanathan (2790) – Carlsen, Magnus (2810)Kramnik, Vladimir (2791) – Aronian, Levon (2807)Heroes of this opening Grischuk, Alexander · Carlsen, M..
Keep exploring
Go deeper — named lines from here
Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Classical Variation6.Be2 · 4 deeper linesSicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Levenfish Variation6.f4 · 1 deeper lineSicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Fianchetto Variation6.g3Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Levenfish Variation, Main Line6.f4 Nbd7
Nearby lines in the family
From the archives
No reply to 1.e4 is played more. Fischer made the Najdorf his main weapon, and Kasparov's Sicilians are pillars of chess history — the Scheveningen against Karpov, the Dragon he unveiled against Anand in 1995. When you play 1...c5 you refuse symmetry, the same refusal that carried two world champions.
Study this opening