Chess

William Hartston

Tuesday 07 March 1995

Print
A A A
The Dragon variation of the Sicilian Defence ought to be put on a protected species list. Popular with children and club players, the Dragon, characterised by the saurian, spiky back of its pawn formation - d6, e7, f7, g6 and h7 - offers an attractive ready-made strategy. The bishop on g7, rook on the c-file and a quick advance of the b-pawn all combine to create an attack against White's Q-side. Black can win in automatic fashion if White doesn't know what he is doing.

The trouble for Dragon-fanciers has been that White players have become increasingly aware of the correct ways to douse its flames. In the early 1960s, the beast was almost driven to extinction when an anti-Dragon plan (sometimes called the St George Attack) was invented with Be3, f3, Qd2, 0-0-0, h4, h5, Bh6 and a quick mate down the h-file.

Dragon players developed counter-measures, but the whole variation was never trusted at the highest levels. Viktor Korchnoi's dramatic loss to Anatoly Karpov with a Dragon in their 1974 match was its sole outing in the final stages of a world championship.

Recently, however, the young Bulgarian Vesselin Topalov has been breathing new fire into the Dragon. Here is how he beat Nigel Short last week in Linares.

Short's 12.g4 was designed to avoid a favourite Topalov line of 12.h4 h5. With 14.Ncxb5 White announced his intention to defend grimly and win with the extra pawn. 14...Bxb5 15.Nxb5 Nxf3 16.Qe2 Ne5 17.Nxa7 might have justified his play, but Topalov's continuation made it look dubious. When 23...d5! came (24.exd5 loses to Bf5), White was struggling. Topalov played the final attack with impressive precision.

White: N. Short

Black: V. Topalov

1 e4 c5 22 Kd2 Qc7

2 Nf3 d6 23 Qd3 d5!

3 d4 cxd4 24 Kc1 dxe4

4 Nxd4 Nf6 25 fxe4 Bc4

5 Nc3 g6 26 Qd2 e5

6 Be3 Bg7 27 Rd6 Nf4

7 f3 Nc6 28 Bxf4 exf4

8 Qd2 0-0 29 Rd1 f3

9 Bc4 Bd7 30 Qf4 Qe7

10 0-0-0 Ne5 31 h4 Be2

11 Bb3 Rc8 32 R1d5 Rbc7

12 g4 b5 33 Nd4 Bc4

13 g5 Nh5 34 Qxf3 Bxd5

14 Ncxb5 Nc4! 35 Rxd5 Rxc3

15 Bxc4 Rxc4 36 Qf6 Qc7

16 Qd3 Rb4 37 Qf2 Qc4

17 Nc3 Qb8 38 Kb2 Qb4+

18 Nb3 Be6 39 Ka1 Rh3

19 Qa6 Bxc3 40 Qf1 Re3

20 bxc3 Rb7 White resigns

21 Rd4 Rc8

Comments

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
Latest in News
Woolwich backlash: EDL takes to streets as attacks on Muslims increase tenfold
Woolwich suspect saw friend 'sliced to pieces' in 2008
French soldier stabbed in the neck in Paris
You want to get an Eton scholarship? All you need to do is answer four (not so simple) questions
Lack of fresh water could hit half the world’s population by 2050
Robben proves Mr Reliant for for Bayern
After 61 films, Heather still likes to boogie
News in pictures
World news in pictures
UK news in pictures
UK news in pictures
From the blogs

Question Time with Mathew Jonson

Mathew Jonson has been a hero of mine for quite some time now. His timeless piece, Marionette, was o...

Dish of the Day: Lily Vanilli’s recipe for making a human brain cake

A slight deviation from style this week and admittedly a bit weird, but at least I can finally say I...

Something For The Weekend in London: May 24-26

We love London for its multiculturalism, so we’re all about that cross-cultural life this weekend by...

Owen Howells: From the UK to Australia and back again (and again!)

Owen Howells is a DJ/producer who grew up in Australia but was born in the UK. He came back to the U...

       
SPONSORED FEATURES

Get your summer started with British Military Fitness

BMF is the UK’s biggest and best loved outdoor fitness classes

Visit York Nook Get reading
Prizes & offers Business videos

Visit York

Find out what The Independent's resident travel expert has to say about one of the most beautiful small cities in the world

Military Fitness Nook Get reading
Prizes & offers Business videos

Making reading fun for kids

Nook is donating eReaders to volunteers at high-need schools and participating in exclusive events throughout the campaign.

Military Fitness Visit York Get reading
Prizes & offers Business videos

Introducing the 'Get Reading' campaign

Get the latest on The Evening Standard's campaign to get London's children reading.

Military Fitness Visit York Nook
Prizes & offers Business videos

Enter the latest Independent competitions

Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.

Military Fitness Visit York Nook
Get reading Business videos

Business videos from commercial thought leaders

Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.

Military Fitness Visit York Nook
Get reading Prizes & offers

Day In a Page

Andrew Mitchell: 'It's no good feeling hard done by'

Andrew Mitchell: 'It's no good feeling hard done by'

In his first interview since 'plebgate', the former Chief Whip opens up just enough to concede that, in politics, you have to take the rough with the smooth

Johnny Marr talks relationships and reunions

He's worked with Modest Mouse, the Pet Shop Boys and Beck, to name a few, and recently released his first solo album. So why, wonders Johnny Marr, do people still hark on about The Smiths?
Corruption and the FCO: Blue skies, white sands, dark clouds

Corruption and the FCO: Blue skies, white sands, dark clouds

Special report: Met police call for criminal inquiry into former diplomat's Cayman Islands rule
Fallen angel: Winona Ryder on bouncing back from her decade in the wilderness

Fallen angel: Winona Ryder bounces back

She owned the 1990s... but then she disappeared. Now, Ms Ryder is back with quite the bang in her latest role, as the wife of a notorious real-life Mob hitman.
Roman Polanski shakes Cannes Film Festival

Roman Polanski shakes Cannes Film Festival

The director's new film, 'Venus in Fur', is one of the raciest on offer
Rev Richard Coles: 'I don’t have any concerns that God is cross with me for being gay and eventually the Church won’t either'

Rev Richard Coles on the Church and homosexuality

The mellifluous, erudite and witty Coles is the nation's most pop-culture-friendly priest
'Baghdad likes to live from crisis to crisis': Civil war looms in Iraq

Patrick Cockburn: Civil war looms in Iraq

The governor of Kirkuk - one of the country's most violent but successful provinces - fears the worst
Written on the body: Tattooists at pains to point out their artistic credentials

Written on the body

Tattooists at pains to point out their artistic credentials
Conquering Everest: 60 facts about the world's tallest mountain

Conquering Everest: 60 facts about the world's tallest mountain

The IoS marks the sixtieth anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay first reaching the peak of the highest mountain on Earth
A new, and irreversible, Dust Bowl looms

Rupert Cornwell: A new, and irreversible, Dust Bowl looms

The destructive power of tornadoes will be as nothing once the Great Plains' vast underground water reserve dries up
Every creature's needless death diminshes us all

Philip Hoare: Every creature's needless death diminishes us all

A 60 per cent decline in our national species should alarm us, yet few of us act. But to mind more about animals would reflect well on society
Killing with kindness: Burma's religious battleground - and the monks at the heart of it

Killing with kindness: Burma's religious battleground

Six years ago, the world cheered the monks behind Burma’s Saffron Revolution. Now, a horrific new eruption of religious slaughter is being blamed on a 'Buddhist Bin Laden'.
Let's take it outside: Bill Granger's Bank Holiday feast

Let's take it outside: Bill Granger's Bank Holiday feast

You can’t always depend on the weather – but you can avoid the pitfalls of the British barbecue by preparing an elaborate outdoor feast indoors ahead of time...
The Calvin report: Stirring Champions League final shows how far English game must advance

The Calvin report

Stirring Champions League final shows how far English game must advance
10 big questions for the British & Irish Lions to answer

10 big questions for the British & Irish Lions to answer

Warren Gatland's squad fly Down Under aiming to do justice to the expectations – and hoping the Wallabies stay in the pub