The Dragon is the sharpest way to play the Sicilian as Black: the pawn goes to g6, the bishop lands on g7 and fires down the long diagonal into White's queenside. In return Black hands White a ready-made attacking plan. Play through the Yugoslav Attack, the Classical system and the Accelerated Dragon move by move.
The thin arrow on the board shows the next move.
You can also play the move on the board: pick the piece up and put it on the square.
The starting position. Choose your moves - at a branching point several continuations are available.
The dimmed moves are the rest of the main line, and the dots mark branching points. Click any move to jump to that position.
The name comes from the chess composer and astronomer Fyodor Duz-Khotimirsky, who thought Black's d6-e7-f7-g6-h7 pawn chain looked like the constellation Draco. It stuck because it also describes the character of the line: the dragon breathes fire down the long diagonal.
Technically the Dragon is a system inside the Sicilian: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6. Black does not fight for the centre with pawns but puts the bishop on g7 and strikes from a distance - through d4 and c3 straight into White's queenside.
In the Yugoslav Attack the kings go to opposite sides: White queenside, Black kingside. From that moment the game is a race. White pushes the g- and h-pawns, opens the h-file and dreams of trading off the g7 bishop. Black presses down the c-file, often gives up the exchange on c3 and opens lines to the white king.
Hence the practical rule of the Dragon: count tempi, do not judge the position by feel. One wasted move loses the race, which is why the Dragon is the most theoretical part of the Sicilian. It cannot be played from general principles.
If the pieces come off and an endgame appears, Black is usually the happier side: the g7 bishop and the pawn structure work beautifully in endings. That is why White rarely agrees to exchanges and almost always goes for the attack.
The Dragon suits players who are ready to learn long lines and do not mind positions where the first mistake decides the game. It gives Black real winning chances, but it demands homework: in the Yugoslav Attack concrete moves matter more than general ideas.
If you like the g7 bishop but would rather not memorise fifteen moves of theory, look at the Accelerated Dragon (4...g6 without ...d6). There White usually replies with the Maroczy Bind and the game becomes positional.
These are the main named variations. Click any one of them and it loads straight onto the board above, where you can play it out move by move. The trainer itself holds more lines than this: it also covers main-line continuations and transpositions that have no name of their own.
What to avoid, and what catches an unprepared opponent.
The bishop has just reached the long diagonal and immediately bites on its own pawn. After 7...dxe5 8.fxe5 Ng4 9.Bb5+ Black's king is in trouble. In the Dragon the move order matters more than the habit.
Traps in other openings - the 12 most common opening traps.
Take a short quiz and find out which chess opening suits your MBTI personality type - 16 types, each with its own opening and a walkthrough on the board.
The Dragon Variation is a bishop on the long diagonal and a race of attacks on opposite wings; its ECO code is B70. The moves are 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6. Its main branches: Yugoslav Attack and Classical system.
Not really. The ideas are clear, but in the Yugoslav Attack one inaccurate move can cost the game. A beginner is better off with a classical Sicilian or the Accelerated Dragon, where there are fewer forcing lines.
Black plays ...g6 at once, without ...d6. That saves a tempo and sometimes allows ...d7-d5 in one move, but it lets White set up the Maroczy Bind with c2-c4.
The c3 knight holds White's position together: it defends e4, shields the king after queenside castling and stops ...d5. After Rxc3 the g7 bishop points straight at the white king and the pawn cover falls apart.
Play the Classical 6.Be2, or avoid the Open Sicilian altogether - for example with the Alapin 2.c3, where understanding matters more than memory.
Right here: the board above plays through every line with a comment on each move, and the check mode lets you try to recall the moves yourself.
Want the tactics that decide these positions? Start with the 12 most common opening traps and tactics for beginners. If you are just starting out, read the rules of chess and how to set up the board.
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