If you like the classic Dragon, you may also want to look at the Chinese Dragon. It has been getting good results in tournament play and it is much more active and tactical than the more positional Soltis variation.

Hey tgibbs, those lines aren't the problem for black. The real problem is 9. 0-0-0. You can't play the Chinese Dragon against that. Also I don't play the Soltis Variation

I was actually one of, if not the first, player in the world to actively play the line involving a quick ...Nxd4 and ...b5. Some people maybe played it in blitz, but I think I was playing it regularly in tournaments before most people. Hence I knew the line very very well. Problem is that it's not so good either! I'm sure the Chinese Dragon is okay, I've heard good things, but as I stated it doesn't help against 9.0-0-0.

Anyway trust me, the Dragon is garbage as long as you are rated over 2400 USCF. I can't allow some GM to play 9. 000 on me and be automatically slightly better/better in some dry lifeless position. If you aren't regularly playing GMs and 2500+ players, then you can get away with the opening and score pretty well, but otherwise it's really brutal. In general it leads to pretty weak positions for black. At least try to find a Dragon game played by someone in the top 10 in the world from the last few years. You'll be hard pressed to do so from a serious tournament.

Despite this rant, I'd still recommend the Dragon to most players, it teaches you a lot about chess!

Good info! Yeah, I hate playing against 9.O-O-O as well. I know the books recommend d5, but I never could make it work. Of course, my opponents weren't GMs either, but I still ended up in very odd positions. Anyway, thanks for the videos, I really enjoy them.

Yeah I played 9...d5 too. I have a few tricks up my sleeve, but that's all they really are is tricks. White has like 2-3 ways to get a small and enduring edge. For instance the 10. Qe1 lines are really simple and good for white. Also the normal 10. Exd5 lines are good, although slightly more complicated.

very solid!

I liked the idea of jumping with the knight to e3 and opening the d-file for your pieces. I wish I was able to recognize such patterns in my own blitzes more often. Maybe watching these videos will help:-)

Thanks mis3u! I don't know how good it was, but it was all I could think of to do with the time pressure.

Hearing your thoughts about the dragon was enlightening, especially since you've been playing it for so long. Is the fact that you play the Sicilian connected to your use of the English opening? It seems like you would often get into reversed positions up or down tempi. I would think it makes it easier to understand these kinds of positions really well.

Could you try 11...e5 instead of d5? It seems to fit with what you were saying earlier (trying to control d4). ...e5 seems like a decent approach.

After Qd7, what were you planning to play against Nb5. Can't he get his knight into d6 in those lines? Or are you going to play something like Nxe5, revealing an attack on the knight.

I really liked the Ne3 idea. I was thinking about trying h5 and Nh6-g4 instead, but I'm not sure how much play that would give you.

Amazing recovery from a very difficult opening. Especially since you would've had a winning position with more time. Thanks!

Hey curtains

I suggest instead of 6...e6 you should go ahead and play 6...Nf6 7 Nf3 O-O and then if 8 c3 you can play 8...Bg4 and after exchanging the bishop for knight ( which I know you don't want to do ) you can push your queenside pawns and increase the power of your dark-squared bishop. I suggest exchanging your bishop for knight because the bishop might become passive if White plays f5. Also White's knight will be misplaced on d2. I don't know if this is correct. just a suggestion.

Sounds like a good idea Randas. I use that idea in some other positions. Problem is I don't play that line against the normal Closed Sicilian, so if he just plays Nc3 instead of c3, its a bit annoying for me. One idea that I used this plan was:

1. e4 c5
2. nf3 d6
3. c3 nf6
4. bd3 bg4

idea eventually bxf3 , g6, bg7, 00, nd7, rb8, b5-b4 etc. I drew GM Blatny in this exact line once.

This is awesome! The opening system for White basically transposes into the Polar Bear system/Leninggrad Bird, doesn't it? (http://www.videochess.net being all about the Polar Bear) I play this as White at the moment (1.f4 and then the setup that happens), but when I go back to 1.e4, and if I meet the Sicilian, I'll probably just transpose back to the Bird like here.

Believe it or not, I've never heard of the "Polar Bear"

Oh, you should check out some of Danielsens blitzgames on his site then, they are very instructive and amusing.

Cool Vid.