Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...c5/2. Nf3/2...g6/3. d4

Hyperaccelerated Dragon Hyperaccelerated Dragon B27 3. d4 White plays 3. d4, the classic Open Sicilian move, to open up the centre while opening lines for their bishop and queen to develop. White is playing to maximise their activity. This gives White pawns on both d4 and e4 controlling great tracts in the middle of the board, so the main move is 3...cxd4 to break up White's powerful two-pawn centre, and after White recaptures, Black will have a central pawn majority and use of the half-open c-file. White can then retake the pawn with either 4. Nxd4, the conventional Open Sicilian move, or 4. Qxd4, which is an effective sideline against the Hyperaccelerated Dragon. 3...Bg7!? is a sideline for Black, which transposes into the Pterodactyl defence (usually reached by an early ...c5 in the Modern defence). 4. dxc5 Qa4+ lets Black recover the pawn. Theory table 3...cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Bc4 O-O 8. Bb3 d6 9. f3 Bd7 10. Qd2 Nxd4 Accelerated Dragon(by transposition) + 3. ... ... 4. ... ... 5. c4 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Nc3 O-O 8. Be2 d6 9. O-O Maróczy bind + 3. ... ... 4. Qxd4 Nf6 5. e5 Nc6 6. Qa4 Nd5 7. Qe4 Ndb4 Hyperaccelerated Dragon + 3...Bg7!? 4. dxc5 Qa5+ 5. c3 Qxc5 6. Na3 Nf6 7. Nb5 b6 Accelerated Pterodactyl(transposing to the Rhamphorhynchus variation) References See also