[Event ""] [White "Quickstarter #1: 5. Nc3"] [Black "Quickstarter #1: 5. Nc3 #7"] [Site ""] [Round ""] [Annotator ""] [Result "*"] [Date ""] [PlyCount "28"] 1. e4 c5 { Welcome to the Sicilian! In this Quickstarter, we will check the major non-Maroczy lines of the Accelerated Dragon. } 2. Nf3 Nc6 { This is my suggested move order. 2...g6 leads to the so-called Hyper Accelerated Dragon. } 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 { This is the starting position of the Accelerated Dragon. We want to fianchetto the Bishop and keep the d-pawn on d7 for the time being. This will allow us to strike with ... d7-d5 quite often, especially if White isn't careful! } 5. Nc3 { Now we will take a look at all variations that feature the move 5. Nc3. It is the most popular move played on all levels, but there is a straightforward rule that I can confirm from my practice. Usually, the lower the rating of your opposition, the bigger the chance that someone will play 5. Nc3 against you. And the opposite. The higher the rating of your opposition, the more people will play 5. c4. I am not sure how it works in the other countries, but I observed that in Poland, people usually switch to 5. c4 at the rating of 2100-2200. So long story short, the rule of thumb is that the higher your opponent's rating, the bigger the chance he will play the Maroczy Bind after 5. c4. Before we stick to the theory, I also want to mention that top players quite often arrive in this position via the @@StartFEN@@rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1@@EndFEN@@ 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 g6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 move order. White usually wants to annoy the Sveshnikov players with the 3. Nc3 move order, but Black gets the extra opportunity to play the Accelerated Dragon without fearing the Maroczy anymore @@StartBracket@@there is a Knight on c3, and the c-pawn can't move@@EndBracket@@. } Bg7 { This is one of the two main positions in the whole opening. White usually goes for 6.Be3 now, but let's first check one popular sideline. } 6. Nde2 { Out of all White's alternatives on move 6, this one is the most popular. White saves the Knight and plans to play g3, Bg2 and O-O next. I recommend treating this plan seriously as there won't be anything even similar to this one throughout the course. This is like the only variation in the whole Accelerated Dragon territory where White fianchettoes the Bishop. } Nf6 7. g3 { This is the starting position of the Fianchetto Variation. Black has tried a few different setups here, but there's one that not only scores very well, it's also very strong. } b5 { It has to be mentioned that the pawn is untouchable because the e4-one will fall. I will start by explaining the reasons why this move is so good. Normally, no matter if on move 7, 8 or 9, we would need to prepare ... b5 with ... Rb8. For example, after 7...O-O 8.Bg2 we can't play b5 anymore, and we need to prepare it with 8...Rb8 . Then White has the option of playing 9.a4 and after 9...a6 yes, we will get the ... b5 in, but White will go for axb5, opening up the a-file for his Rook. Going back to the text move, White won't be able to play a4 anymore since it will always run into ... b4, and our opponent has achieved nothing but a weakening of his queenside. So by putting the pawn on b5 immediately, we make sure that the a-file will remain closed. I also want you to remember one important thing. We will quite often want to push the pawn to b4, which means that White will get the opportunity to open up the a-file with a3. It is mandatory to play ... a5 before White plays a3 because then we will have ... Ba6 as an option. And that means that very often, we have to delay castling to prioritize fast queenside play. After 7...b5 , White faces a decision if he wants to allow the pawn to b4 or not. } 8. Bg2 { By far the most common move, played in around 95% of games. White just goes on with his life and allows us to grab space on the queenside. } b4 { We shouldn't give White another chance to make up his mind and get back to a3. This chance has passed! } 9. Nd5 a5 { ... Ba6 is usually our next move. Then we can proceed with castling followed by ... d6 and ... e6. 9...O-O would be too slow due to 10.a3 and we are not in time to get both ... a5 and ... Ba6 in. } 10. O-O { Let's switch our attention to the lines where White doesn't play a3. } Ba6 { We start with this idea almost everywhere, so it makes sense to stick to it. We won't analyze the lines where White plays a3 because we already checked one. } 11. Re1 { 11.Bg5 allows 11...Ng4 12.h3 h6! . } O-O { Note that without axb4 axb4 included, I am completely unimpressed by White's Bg5 because the Knight will go to g4 then e5 and c4, from where it will exert annoying pressure on White's queenside. After 11...O-O , we want to continue with ... d6, ... Nd7 and then ... e6. The other option is to play ... e6 immediately. } 12. Be3 { This is White's usual reaction. He wants to somehow use the b6-square to force some concessions. } Ng4 { We are ready to take up the challenge! A safer option is 12...e6 13.Nxf6+ Qxf6 but not 13...Bxf6? 14.Nd4 . Still, I genuinely believe that the text move is just stronger. } 13. Bb6 { 13.Bc5 allows simple 13...Bxb2 . } Qb8 { We just want to hit the Knight with ... e6 or play ... Nge5. White has to prove somehow that he has compensation @@StartBracket@@he doesn't@@EndBracket@@. } 14. Nd4 { This is the way to muddy the waters. Both Qxg4 and Nxc6 followed by Nxe7+ are threatened. } e6 { We create threats of our own! We want to take the d5-Knight, and then the b6-Bishop loses its protection, and then the d4-Knight loses its protection, and then White loses most of his minor pieces. Life is good. } *