I dropped by the Kenilworth Chess Club a couple weeks back, where two players were discussing an amusing trap that begins 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Nd5!? I have since posted an article on this Sicilian Dragon Trap with 6.Nd5 (and you can download the PGN for your own analysis).
At first glance, this looks like the type of move that should get White in trouble. After all, moving the same piece twice in the opening is rarely good. But it has some bite, and I was intrigued enough (and interested enough in the Sicilian Dragon as Black) to look into it. As I suspected, with best play Black is doing fine, but White is not risking more than equality. Meanwhile, he does set a dastardly trap, because 6....Nxe4? (tempting in blitz) drops at least the Exchange. Can you see how?
8 comments:
Andrew Martin in his "Starting Out: Sicilian Dragon" gives a game of Littlewood's using this line and notes some of the same games. White gets nothing from this.
The line is discussed by IM Miodrag Perunovic in "How to Bust the Sicilian Dragon Sidelines."
Link here:
https://web.archive.org/web/20071021025112/http://www.chesslodge.com/2007/08/sicilian-dragon-sidelines/
There is a similar Nd5 trick against the Classical:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fym6ETw5Pc
[Event "IRT5"]
[Site "Sao Paulo BRA"]
[Date "2006.??.??"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Pedroso, A."]
[Black "Awoki, Daniel Teidi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B70"]
[WhiteElo "2081"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2006.??.??"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Nd5 $5 {Moving the same
piece twice in the opening goes against principle, of course. But the trap
this move sets may tempt you to give it a try, at least in blitz. Besides,
White can afford a tempo if he is willing to settle for equality after Black's
best replies.} (6. Bb5+ Bd7 7. Nd5 {will probably transpose to the present
game or the lines considered in the games that follow.}) 6... Nxe4 $2 {
Diagram # Black thinks, "White forgot about his pawn at e4" and falls headlong
into the trap. We will examine the better responses below.} 7. Bb5+ $1 ({
White can also win by} 7. Nb5 $5 Na6 8. Qd4 Nf6 9. Qc3 $1 (9. Nxf6+ $5 exf6 10.
Nxa7 Bd7 11. Nb5 $16) 9... Bg7 (9... Nxd5 10. Qxh8 Ndb4 11. Na3 $18) 10. Ndc7+
$16) 7... Bd7 (7... Nc6 $2 8. Nxc6 $18) (7... Nd7 $2 8. Qe2 f5 (8... Nec5 $4 9.
Nf6#) 9. Ne6 Qa5+ 10. b4 $18) 8. Qe2 f5 {
Otherwise Black simply loses a piece or gets mated after} (8... Nc5 $4 9. Nf6#)
9. Ne6 $1 ({Much less clear is} 9. f3 $6 Nc5 10. b4 (10. Bxd7+ $1) 10... Nc6 (
10... Bg7 $1 11. Bb2 Kf7 $13) 11. Bb2 Bg7 $2 12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. Bxg7 Rg8 14. Bc3
cxd5 15. bxc5 dxc5 16. O-O d4 17. Bd2 e6 18. Qxe6+ {
1-0 Maros,M-Ruano,J/Bratislava WchJM-U16 1993}) 9... Qc8 ({More complicated is
} 9... Qa5+ 10. b4 $8 Bxb5 (10... Qxb5 11. Nec7+ $18) 11. c4 $1 Qa4 (11... Bxc4
12. Qxc4 $18) 12. cxb5 Kf7 13. Bb2 $18 {but White wins easily.}) 10. Nec7+ Kf7
11. Nxa8 $18 {Diagram #} e6 ({Or} 11... Bxb5 12. Qxb5 Na6 13. O-O $16 {
and Black has insufficient compensation for the Exchange, expeciallyconsidering
his precarious King position.}) 12. Nf4 Nc6 13. Nb6 axb6 14. c3 d5 15. O-O h5 {
Black has some counterplay, but White should be able to maintain his material
and exploit Black's weakened king position with precise play.} 16. f3 (16. Be3
$1 Qc7 17. f3 Nd6 18. Bxc6 $1 bxc6 19. Bd4 Rh7 20. Rae1 $18 {finishing developm
ent and putting the pieces on good squares is one strong way to maintain the
winning edge.}) 16... Nd6 17. Bd3 $6 g5 $5 18. Nh3 g4 $1 {White's pieces are
all in a tangle and Black gains counterplay with this sacrifice.} 19. fxg4 hxg4
20. Qxg4 Ne5 21. Qe2 Nxd3 22. Qxd3 Bb5 23. Qf3 $6 {
After this, White is equal at best.} (23. Qd4 Rxh3 $1 24. gxh3 Bxf1 25. Kxf1
Ne4 {maintains the material advantage, though Black has significant
counterplay due to White's exposed King.} 26. Qd1 $1 $14) 23... Bxf1 24. Qxf1
Ne4 25. Be3 Bc5 26. Qd3 Qc7 27. Rf1 Nf6 (27... Bd6 28. Bf4 $11) 28. Kh1 Ng4 29.
Bf4 $14 Bd6 $2 30. Qd2 $6 {and despite his weak play, White went on to win.
But he could have finished the game immediately with} (30. Ng5+ Ke7 31. Nxe6 $3
Kxe6 32. Qxf5+ Kxf5 33. Bxd6+ $18) 1-0
Game 2
[Event "Elista ol (Women)"]
[Site "Elista, RUS"]
[Date "1998.10.09"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Mohammed, Rabea"]
[Black "Minnaar, Michelle"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B70"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "1998.??.??"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Nd5 Nxd5 {Diagram #} 7.
Bb5+ {A necessary zwichenzug!} ({After} 7. exd5 $2 Qa5+ {White drops a pawn.})
7... Bd7 ({A good alternative is} 7... Nd7 8. exd5 a6 $1 9. Bxd7+ (9. Bc4 Nb6
10. Bb3 Nxd5 $1 $15) 9... Bxd7 10. O-O Bg7 11. Re1 O-O 12. c3 {with about
es, though the two bishops are a potential long term factor for Black.}) 8.
exd5 Bxb5 $1 (8... Bg7 9. O-O O-O (9... Bxb5 10. Nxb5 O-O 11. c3 Nd7 12. Be3 a6
13. Nd4 Qa5 14. Qb3 $13) 10. Be2 Qb6 11. Nb3 Bf5 12. Be3 Qc7 13. c3 a5 14. a4
Rc8 15. Re1 Na6 16. Nd4 Bd7 17. Nb5 $1 Bxb5 18. Bxb5 Nc5 19. Bg5 e5 20. dxe6
Nxe6 21. Be3 Rd8 22. Qd5 Be5 23. g3 Rac8 24. Rad1 Bg7 25. Re2 h6 26. Red2 Bf8
27. Qf3 Nc5 28. Rd5 Qe7 29. Kg2 Nd7 30. Bxd7 Rxd7 31. Rxa5 Qe6 {1-0 -- Black
appears to have resigned since White's win is easy after 32.Qd5 in Cybulak,A
(2270)-Wojtow,A/POL-chT 2nd div North 1999}) 9. Nxb5 Qa5+ 10. Nc3 Bg7 11. Bd2 (
{A different path is} 11. O-O $5 O-O (11... Bxc3 $2 12. bxc3 Qxc3 13. Rb1 $16)
12. Bg5 $1 Re8 13. Re1 Qb4 14. Rb1 Nd7 15. Re4 Qb6 16. Rxe7 Rxe7 17. Bxe7 Re8
18. Bh4 Be5 19. Qd2 Qb4 20. Bg3 Bxc3 $1 21. Qxc3 Qxc3 22. bxc3 Nb6 {and White c
ould not solve the technical challenges of exploiting his pawn advantage in 1/
2-1/2 Ciganikova,A-Horvath,M/Slovakia ch 1995 (58)}) 11... Na6 12. O-O O-O 13.
Re1 Rfe8 14. Qf3 Rac8 15. Ne4 Qd8 16. c3 (16. Bc3 $5 f5 $1 $13) 16... h6 17.
Re2 Nc5 18. Rae1 Nd7 $2 {Diagram # This blunder should have decided the game
quickly in White's favor. White has continuing pressure in any case, e.g.:} (
18... Qd7 19. h4 $1 (19. c4 $5)) 19. Nxd6 $1 Ne5 20. Rxe5 Qxd6 (20... Bxe5 $4
21. Qxf7+ $18) 21. R5e4 b6 22. Qh3 h5 23. Rxe7 $1 Red8 24. Qf3 Qxd5 25. Re8+ $1
Kh7 26. Qxd5 Rxd5 27. Rxc8 Rxd2 {Diagram #} 28. Rce8 $6 {
A most unfortunate slip after such excellent play!} (28. Rb1 $1 $18 {
leaves White with a very easy win.}) 28... Rxb2 29. R8e2 Bxc3 30. Rxb2 Bxe1 31.
Re2 Bb4 {Now White probably has an insurmountable technical challenge to bring
home the point, since Black can build a fortress with Bc5 and a5.} 32. Rc2 Bc5
33. Rd2 Kg7 34. Kf1 Kf6 35. Re2 a5 36. a4 Kf5 37. Ke1 g5 38. Kd2 Kf4 39. Kd3 f5
40. Kc4 h4 41. Kd5 g4 42. Ke6 Bd4 43. Kd5 1/2-1/2
Game 3
[Event "10th Monarch Assurance"]
[Site "Port Erin IOM"]
[Date "2001.??.??"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Smith, Andrew Philip"]
[Black "Tiviakov, Sergei"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B70"]
[WhiteElo "2234"]
[BlackElo "2618"]
[PlyCount "62"]
[EventDate "2001.??.??"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Nd5 Bg7 $1 {
Diagram # The GM response to White's idea: Black simply continues to develop.}
7. Nxf6+ ({Probably a better idea is} 7. Bb5+ Bd7 (7... Nbd7 8. Nxf6+ Bxf6 9.
c3 a6 10. Ba4 {with equal chances}) 8. O-O $1 (8. Nxf6+ Bxf6 9. O-O Bxb5 10.
Nxb5 O-O 11. c3 Nc6 12. Bh6 $11 {
0-1 Strenzwilk,D (2062)-Zaremba,A (2343)/Parsipanny USA 2009 (56)}) 8... O-O 9.
Nxf6+ Bxf6 10. Bh6 Re8 11. c3 Bxb5 12. Nxb5 Qb6 13. Qe2 a6 14. Na3 Nd7 15. Nc4
Qb5 16. a4 $11) 7... Bxf6 8. Bh6 $6 {White sacrifices a pawn in order to keep
the Black King in the center. However, though A. P. Smith has played this at
least twice, the available games are unconvincing.} ({Better tries are} 8. Bb5+
) (8. c3 {which should be about equal.}) 8... Qb6 $1 (8... Nc6 $5 9. Bb5 Qb6
10. c3 Bd7 11. Bxc6 Bxc6 (11... bxc6 $1) 12. Nxc6 Qxc6 13. Qd3 O-O-O $1 14.
O-O-O Kb8 15. h4 Rc8 16. Bg5 Bxg5+ 17. hxg5 Qc4 18. Qxc4 Rxc4 19. f3 Rc5 20. f4
h5 $1 21. gxh6 Rh5 22. Rxh5 gxh5 23. Rh1 Rxh6 24. g4 $5 (24. Rh4 $1) 24... h4
25. Kd2 h3 26. g5 Rh5 27. Ke3 e5 28. Kf3 h2 29. Kg4 Rh8 30. fxe5 dxe5 31. Kf5
Rh5 32. Kxe5 $2 Rxg5+ 33. Kf6 Rg2 $17 34. Kxf7 Rxb2 35. e5 Rxa2 36. e6 Rf2+ 37.
Kg7 Kc7 38. e7 Kd7 39. Re1 Ke8 {
0-1 Smith,A (2199)-Beaumont,C (2328)/Cotswold op 2003}) 9. c3 (9. Nb5 $5 Bxb2
10. Rb1 Be5 11. Bc4 a6 12. Be3 Qa5+ 13. Bd2 Qd8 $15) 9... Qxb2 {Though Black
cannot castle and his Queen appears exposed, White really has insufficient
compensation for the pawn.} 10. Bb5+ Nd7 11. Rc1 Qa3 $5 ({
GMs are rarely greedy, but playable seems} 11... Qxa2) 12. O-O a6 13. Ba4 Qc5
14. Qd2 b5 15. Bb3 Bb7 16. Rfe1 Nb6 $1 $17 {
Diagram # Who needs to castle when you have such well placed pieces?} 17. f4
Rd8 18. Kh1 Qh5 19. e5 Bh4 $1 20. exd6 (20. Bg5 $2 Bg3 $1 $19) 20... Qxh6 21.
dxe7 Rd7 {Though Black's King position appears precarious, White really has no
compensation for the piece.} 22. Qe3 Rxe7 23. Qh3 Qxf4 24. Rf1 Qe4 25. Nf3 g5
26. Nxh4 Qxh4 27. Bxf7+ Rxf7 28. Rce1+ Kd8 29. Rd1+ Nd7 30. Qe6 Rxf1+ 31. Rxf1
Qe4 0-1
The Miodrag Perunovic article above covers this line very well and does show that white can equalize even in the main line:
https://web.archive.org/web/20071021025112/http://www.chesslodge.com/2007/08/sicilian-dragon-sidelines/
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