Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...c5/2. Nf3/2...d6/3. d4/3...cxd4/4. Nxd4/4...Nf6/5. Nc3/5...g6/6. f4

Levenfish Variation Sicilian Defence, Dragon, Levenfish Variation rd nd bd qd kd bd rd pd pd pd pd pd pd nd pd nl pl pl nl pl pl pl pl pl rl bl ql kl bl rl This move has a few ideas connoted to it. The primary idea is to push e5, since this pawn idea gains central influence and is now prepared by f4. White can also look to put the knight back onto f3 and play the position like a Grand Prix attack, with future ideas of swinging the white queen onto the kingside through the e1-h4 diagonal. Against some sidelines, white can also consider castling long! The point - 6...Bg7?! 7. e5! The natural looking 6...Bg7 is actually theoretically inaccurate. This runs into White's primary idea of the Levenfish, to push e5. White does this immediately with 7. e5 and then can claim a slight, nagging edge in the upcoming variations because of the advanced e-pawn. White should seek active play with Bb5+ and Qe2 to support the pawn before deciding which way to castle, both leading to viable positions Main Line - 6...Nc6 The best move since it immediately covers the threat of e5. This idea effectively killed the Levenfish variation pre-2000. Black develops the queenside knight. Here, White has traditionally gone for the line 7. Nxc6!? bxc6 8. e5 which is somewhat favourable for black upon 8...Nd7! 9. exd6 exd6 leading to an interesting pawn structure. A sounder alternative several high profile games have included is the idea of 7. Nf3!? swinging the knight back to the kingside and looking to play a slower game on the kingside. Other sidelines 6...Nbd7 is traditionally met by 7. Nf3, although in recent times engines have preferred queen developments such as 7. Qe2, the choice of Grandmaster Gevorg Harutjunyan. 6...a6 aims to stop a piece landing on b5 and constructs a sort of Dragondorf setup. Here White can choose between 7. e5 and 7. Nf3. Statistics 351 games in Lichess Masters database. White wins 32 percent of games. 29 percent are drawn. 38% have black emerge victorious.