Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...c5/2. Nf3/2...d6/3. d4/3...cxd4/4. Nxd4/4...Nf6/5. Nc3/5...g6/6. Be3/6...Bg7/7. f3/7...O-O/8. Qd2/8...Nc6

Sicilian Defense, Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack Yugoslav Attack rd bd qd rd kd pd pd pd pd bd pd nd pd nd pd nl pl nl bl pl pl pl pl ql pl pl rl kl bl rl Sicilian DragonBoth sides have now sufficiently developed and white faces a major dilemma for their next move: - 9. Bc4 was originally the most popular and critical line. White controls d5 as much as possible, trying to restrict all central counterplay from white. The mainline then follows 9...Bd7 10. 0-0-0 Rc8 11. Bb3 and both sides go on an all out attack on each other's king. - 9. 0-0-0 was seen until recently a refuted line that allowed black to immediately equalize and avoid the massive pawn storm coming at them. With the advent of engines it was revealed that white actually maintains a larger, positional advantage. This led to a theory war with many top players trying to find deep ideas for each color up until the endgame. - 9. g4 is a hyper aggressive variation that has the very simple and easy idea of punching black in the face as soon as possible by immediately going on the offensive. This variation is known for being extremely dangerous to both sides, but engine analysis has shown that black has sufficient counterplay in the center to survive the attack easily. Theory Table Yugoslav Attack +91011Main Line (towards Old Line)Bc4 Bd7O-O-O Rc8Bb3 Ne5∞Panov Variationg4 Be6O-O-O Nxd4Bxd4 Qa5∞Rauzer VariationO-O-O d5exd5 Nxd5Nxc6 bxc6∞