Sicilian, Dragon, Yugoslav attack, 9.Bc4

Chess diagram|=
tright

= 8 |rd| |bd|qd| |rd|kd| |= 7 |pd|pd| | |pd|pd|bd|pd|= 6 | | |nd|pd| |nd|pd| |= 5 | | | | | | | | |= 4 | | |bl|nl|pl| | | |= 3 | | |nl| |bl|pl| | |= 2 |pl|pl|pl|ql| | |pl|pl|= 1 |rl| | | |kl| | |rl|= a b c d e f g h
Sicilian, Dragon, Yugoslav attack, 9.Bc4In chess, B77cite web | url=http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessopening?eco=B77 | title=Sicilian, Dragon, Yugoslav Attack (B77) | publisher=Chessgames.com | work=Chess openings | accessdate=2007-04-25] is the ECO code for the Sicilian, Dragon, Yugoslav attack, 9.Bc4 chess opening.

Also known as the Rauzer System or the St George Attack, the Yugoslav attack begins 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 O-O 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.Bc4.

Statistically, Chessgames.com's database of nearly 500 high level games shows white achieving victory 43.3 percent, black wining 28.8 percent and 28.0 percent ending in a draw. Similarly, Mega Database 2002 indicates that white scores 52 percent while 66 percent of the over 1,200 games were decisive.

One of Great Britain's strongest grandmasters John Emms notes that "I can safely say that the Yugoslav Attack is the ultimate test of the Dragon. White quickly develops his queenside and castles long before turning his attentions to an all-out assault on the black king. To the untrained eye, this attack can look both awesome and unnerving" [cite book |title=Starting Out: The Sicilian |last=Emms |first=John |authorlink=John Emms (chess player)|coauthors= |year=2002 |month=June |publisher=Everyman Chess |location= |isbn=1857442490|language=English]

The Yugoslav attack's main line of 9.Bc4 leads to highly tactical double edged positions. The point of 7.f3, the move that defines the Yugoslav, is to safeguard e4 and to stop Black from playing ...Nf6-g4 harassing White's dark squared bishop. Note that Black cannot play 6...Ng4?? immediately because of 7.Bb5+ winning a piece.

The Yugoslav exemplifies the spirit of the Dragon with race-to-mate pawn storms on opposite sides of the board. White tries to break open the black kingside and deliver checkmate down the h-file, while Black seeks counterplay on the queenside with sacrificial attacks. Typical white strategies are exchanging dark squared bishops by Be3-h6, sacrificing a pawn and sometimes an exchange on h5, exploiting pressure on the a2-g8 diagonal, and the weakness of the d5 square.

Black will typically counterattack on the queenside, using his queenside pawns, rooks, and dark squared bishop. He sometimes plays h5 (the Soltis Variation) to defend against White's kingside attack. Other typical themes for Black are exchanging White's light-square bishop by Nc6-e5-c4, pressure on the c-file, sacrificing the exchange on c3, advancing the b-pawn and pressuring the long diagonal. Black will generally omit ...a6, because White will normally win a straight pawn attack, because Black has given White a hook on g6 to attack. Generally, White will avoid moving their pawns on a2/b2/c2, and so Black's pawn storm will nearly always be slower than White's respective one on the kingside. Black can sometimes obtain an acceptable endgame even after sacrificing the exchange because of White's h-pawn sacrifice and doubled pawns.

In the B77, White most often plays 10.h4 or 10.Bb3. In most Yugoslav games, 0-0-0, h4 and Bb3 are all played by white, yet transition from one variation to another result in tactical loses if accurate play isn't observed.

The position from B77 results in extremely tactical and decisive battles. White keeps a firm grip on the center while advancing aggressively towards the enemy king with f2-f4-f5 and even g2-g3-g4. However, danger exists in overextending and allowing Black to gain the initiative with a deadly counter-attack.

Black's strategy is centered around the half-open c file and his ability to push the a and b pawns. Through out the entire course of the battle, Black will be looking to break the center with an advance from d6-d5.

ee also

* Sicilian Defence
* Sicilian Defence, Dragon VariationStatistically, Chessgames.com's database of nearly 500 high level games shows white achieving victory 43.3 percent, black wining 28.8 percent and 28.0 percent ending in a draw. Similarly, Mega Database 2002 indicates that white scores 52 percent while 66 percent of the over 1,200 games were decisive.

One of Great Britain's strongest grandmasters John Emms notes that "I can safely say that the Yugoslav Attack is the ultimate test of the Dragon. White quickly develops his queenside and castles long before turning his attentions to an all-out assault on the black king. To the untrained eye, this attack can look both awesome and unnerving" [2]

The Yugoslav attack's main line of 9.Bc4 leads to highly tactical double edged positions. The point of 7.f3, the move that defines the Yugoslav, is to safeguard e4 and to stop Black from playing ...Nf6-g4 harassing White's dark squared bishop. Note that Black cannot play 6...Ng4?? immediately because of 7.Bb5+ winning a piece.

The Yugoslav exemplifies the spirit of the Dragon with race-to-mate pawn storms on opposite sides of the board. White tries to break open the black kingside and deliver checkmate down the h-file, while Black seeks counterplay on the queenside with sacrificial attacks. Typical white strategies are exchanging dark squared bishops by Be3-h6, sacrificing a pawn and sometimes an exchange on h5, exploiting pressure on the a2-g8 diagonal, and the weakness of the d5 square.

Black will typically counterattack on the queenside, using his queenside pawns, rooks, and dark squared bishop. after 12.h4 Black sometimes plays h5!, the Soltis Variation, now the main line to defend against White's kingside attack. There are many ways for white to combat this line, however most of them have been shown to be flawed i.e. g4?! hxg4 where either h5 Nxh5 or f4 Nc4 actually do little to advance White's attack since although the black pawns have advanced, they remain on the board and pose a barrier to the white attack. The main line is 14.Bg5 Rc5 g4 hxg4 f4!? Nc4 Qe2 Qc8! (a great multi-purpose move which threatens Nxb2, increases the pressure on the c-file, prevents f4-f5 and safeguards the passed g4 pawn.

Recently this variation has proven so effective that White has turned to 12.Kb1! probably the most threatening line at the moment. The point of 12.Kb1 is that White safeguards the position of his king before attacking and also inhibits the movement of the Black Queen which often comes to a5. here that is not possible though because after 12.Qa5? Nd5! wins for white because of Qxd2 Nxe7+. This variation has the potential to reach a quasi-zugzwang situation because Black's pieces have come to their optimum squares yet there is no available pawn break for him and advancing the a- or b- pawns is fruitless.(the former because of the reply a4! stunting Black's queenside counterplay on account of the backward b pawn and the creation of b5 as blockading outpost for a knight, and the latter simply drops a pawn for not nearly enough compensation.) So black must consider moving a piece, but if his pieces are already considered to be at their optimum squares then this worsens his position. There are two lines: 12.Nc4!?/?! Bxc4 Rxc4 and now g4! is considered good for white since the king on b1, the reply b5 is no longer playable because of b3! winning a pawn. There are many lines following this position but White has to be preferred. Fortunately for black though, he does have one good non commital move at his disposal 12.Re8!? which allows him to meet Bh6 with Bh8 retaining the "dragon bishop" whilst overprotecting the e7 pawn so that Qa5 is once again possible. This line is very complex and is being contested at the highest levels currently. Recently the move 12.a6!? has arisen which was originally thought to be too slow but has yielded good practical results for Magnus Carlsen, a dragon afficionado.

12.Kb1 has proven to be so effective over time that some Dragon players have attempted to dodge the line with the interesting 10.Rb8!? instead of the usual Rc8. This is known as the Chinese dragon and is incredibly complicated. The most topical line is currently 11.Bb3!? which is really a degree of prohpylaxis designed to prevent the sacrifice of the b-pawn immediatly whilst buying time for white. Black now has the move Na5!? which both threatens to play Nc4 Bxc3 bxc4 opening the b-file or just removing the bishop straight off with Nxb3. Originally h4 was played in this position but recently the move 12.Bh6 has come to prominence leading to a sharp and double edged game in which Black has good practical chances.

Typical themes for Black are exchanging White's light-square bishop by Nc6-e5-c4, pressure on the c-file, sacrificing the exchange on c3, advancing the b-pawn and pressuring the long diagonal. Black will generally omit ...a6, because White will normally win a straight pawn attack, because Black has given White a hook on g6 to attack. Generally, White will avoid moving his pawns on a2/b2/c2, and so Black's pawn storm will nearly always be slower than White's respective one on the kingside.

Black can even obtain a winning endgame even after sacrificing the exchange because of White's h-pawn sacrifice, doubled isolated c pawns and most importantly the lack of mobility of the white Rooks compared to the Black minor piece.

In the B77, White most often plays 10.0-0-0 but 10.h4 or 10.Bb3 are also possible. 10.h4 h5 transposes to the Soltis variation but avoids the Chinese because after 10...Rb8?! 11.h5! is now good. 10.Bb3 usually also transposes into the main lines but notably there is a variation beginning 10...Nxd4 Bxd4 b5 which has come to be known as the Topalov system. Interestingly white's best chances in this line at the moment involve castling short and trying for a positional edge in an atypical fashion in the Yugoslav attack. In most Yugoslav games, 0-0-0, h4 and Bb3 are all played by white, yet transition from one variation to another result in tactical loses if accurate play isn't observed. i.e after 10.0-0-0 Rc8 11.h4?? loses a piece because of 11...Nxd4! 12.Qxd4 (12.Bxd4 drops the bishop on c4)...Ng4! where the triple attack on white's forces guarentees black a decisive material advantage.

In conclusion the Yugoslav with 9.Bc4 is probably one of the sharpest lines in chess where one inaccuracy can result in instant catastrophy for either side. Although incredibly theoretical, it remains one of the most popular lines in chess and innovations continue to be found for both sides.

References