Sicilian Defense: Accelerated Dragon, Modern Variation

The Modern Variation of the Accelerated Dragon is 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nc3, the traditional main line. White develops the knight to c3 instead of clamping down on d5 with 5.c4, the Maróczy Bind. Black has not played ...d6, so ...d5 can come later in one move.

The main line

Play continues 5...Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4. White has to play accurately because of the sharp, tactical nature of the opening. Common inaccuracies are:

• 7.Be2 O-O 8.O-O d5, when Black achieves the thematic ...d5 in one move and equalises without much difficulty.
• 7.f3 O-O 8.Qd2 d5, for the same reason.
• 7.f3 O-O 8.Bc4 Qb6, with tactics based on ...Nxe4, ...Ng4 and ...Qxb2.

7...O-O

After 7...O-O White should play 8.Bb3. Black can answer 8...d6, transposing to a regular Dragon. Since White is a tempo down compared with the usual Dragon lines such as the Yugoslav Attack, the lines that are traditionally dangerous for Black are less venomous here, though they remain highly theoretical and just as sharp. 8...a5 is an alternative that leads to quite different play.

7...Qa5

7...Qa5 is a tricky alternative: Black pins the knight on c3 and targets the knight on d4, the pawn on e4 and the undefended bishop on c4. White should castle. 8.Qd2? Nxe4 9.Nxc6 Qxc3 10.Qxc3 Bxc3+ 11.bxc3 bxc6 leaves Black a healthy pawn up, and 8.Nb3 Qb4 is also good for Black.

The numbers

On Lichess the results are level: White wins 47.5% of the 5 million games and Black 47.3%. Black is slightly ahead below 1800, White from 2200 up (47.5% against 44.8%). In 9,356 master games over the board White won 32.9%, Black 23.8%, and 43.3% were drawn.