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37-520: In the Dragon, Black's bishop is fianchettoed on g7, castling on the king's side while aiming the bishop at the center and queenside . In one of the most popular and theoretically important lines, the Yugoslav Variation, White meets Black's setup with Be3, Qd2 and Bh6, exchanging off the Dragon bishop, followed by launching a kingside pawn storm with h4–h5 and g4. To involve

74-477: A long fianchetto . The b-pawn also controls the c4-square, which is often advantageous. If White plays the King's Indian Attack 1.Nf3 2.g3, Black may play a long queenside fianchetto to oppose White's bishop and make it more difficult for White to play a c4 pawn break . A long fianchetto on the kingside is more rarely played, because it weakens the pawn shield in front of the castled position and controls

111-1129: A World Chess Champion was named Book of the Year by the Chess Journalists of America and the English Chess Federation . Other honors for his books include the 1994 British Chess Federation award for Frank Marshall , United States Champion and the Cramer Award in 2006 for Soviet Chess 1917–1991 and in 2006 for Why Lasker Matters . He is credited with the Soltis Variation of the Sicilian Dragon Yugoslav Attack , characterized by 12...h5, after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.Bc4 Bd7 10.0-0-0 Rc8 11.Bb3 Ne5 12.h4 h5. Previous experience showed that Black ran good chances of getting mated if he allowed 13.h5. He also gave names to chess openings such as

148-540: A Yugoslav-style attack is still playable after both 6.Be2 g6 or 6.f4 g6. Some famous exponents of the Dragon are Veselin Topalov , Andrew Soltis , Jonathan Mestel , Chris Ward , Sergei Tiviakov , Alexei Fedorov , Mikhail Golubev , the late Tony Miles and Eduard Gufeld . Garry Kasparov used the Dragon with success as a surprise weapon against world title challenger Viswanathan Anand in 1995 but did not use it subsequently. The Dragon saw its popularity declining in

185-547: A clear conscience, for not even the most hypermodern pair of masters can produce more than four fianchettoed Bishops!" Bibliography Andy Soltis Andrew Eden Soltis (born May 28, 1947) is an American chess grandmaster , author and columnist. He was inducted into the United States Chess Hall of Fame in September 2011. Soltis learned how the chess pieces moved at age 10 when he came upon

222-676: A competitive player when he was rated the 74th best player in the world, in January 1971. He has written a weekly chess column for the New York Post since 1972. His monthly column "Chess to Enjoy" in Chess Life , the official publication of the United States Chess Federation , began in 1979 and is the longest-running column in that magazine. He was named "Chess Journalist of the Year" in 1988 and 2002 by

259-540: A how-to-play book in the public library in Astoria, Queens where he grew up. He took no further interest in the game until he was 14, when he joined an Astoria chess club, then the Marshall Chess Club and competed in his first tournament, the 1961 New York City Junior Championship. In 1970, Soltis played second board on the gold-medal winning US team in the 17th World Student Team Championship and tied for

296-571: A less important square. Nevertheless, Grob's Attack 1.g4 and the Borg Defence ("Grob" backwards) 1.e4 g5 ?! are sometimes played by players such as IM Michael Basman . White's queen bishop has moved to a3 in what is sometimes called an extended fianchetto . Rather than control the long diagonal, it takes aim at Black's f8-square. If Black moves his e-pawn, White can play Bxf8, after which Black will have to waste time on artificial castling after recapturing with his king. This tactic

333-457: A pair of very potent bishops which, together with the queen on c7, will cause trouble for the White king. Better (and the main line) is 12. Bd4 e5 13. Bc5 Be6!! Capturing the exchange after 14. Bxf8? relinquishes too much control of the dark squares after 14...Qxf8. Instead, the theory continues 14. Ne4 Re8 with a complex positional battle ahead. The purpose of 9.Bc4 is to prevent Black from playing

370-505: A queen sacrifice - Golubev credits "J. Diaz" and himself with discovering it independently in 1996: 9.0-0-0 d5!? 10.Kb1!? Nxd4 11.e5! Nf5! 12.exf6 Bxf6 13.Nxd5 Qxd5! 14.Qxd5 Nxe3 15.Qd3 Nxd1 16.Qxd1 Be6!, where Black has almost sufficient compensation for the queen. Instead of 10. Kb1!?, the main line continues 10. exd5 Nxd5 11. Nxc6 bxc6. While the pawn on d5 appears to be hanging, the seemingly obvious 12. Nxd5? runs into 12...cxd5 13. Qxd5 Qc7! when 14. Qxa8 Bf5 15. Qxf8+ Kxf8 leaves Black with

407-399: A time of difficulty in the 9...d5 line facing a brilliant idea by Ivanchuk which seemed to give White the advantage. Some Black players began experimenting with 9...Bd7 and 9...Nxd4. A brilliancy found for White one day is soon enough overturned by some new resource for Black. A case in point is the following line where the evaluation of a major line was turned upside down overnight because of

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444-408: Is an exchange sacrifice on c3 by Black to break up White's queenside pawns, and sacrifices to open up the long diagonal for Black's bishop on g7 are also common. An example of both ideas is the line 9.Bc4 Bd7 10.0-0-0 Rc8 11.Bb3 Ne5 12.h4 Nc4 13.Bxc4 Rxc4 14.h5 Nxh5 15.g4 Nf6 16.Bh6 Nxe4! 17.Qe3 Rxc3!. The Soltis Variation was the main line of the Dragon up until the late 1990s. Garry Kasparov played

481-481: Is by far the most common type of fianchetto, seen in the Sicilian Dragon , Pirc Defence , Modern Defence , Modern Benoni , Grünfeld Defence , Nimzo-Indian , and King's Indian Defence , among other openings. The regular fianchetto of both bishops by a player is called a double fianchetto . Black's queen bishop is also fianchettoed, but the knight pawn has moved forward two squares, making this

518-442: Is considered mandatory, as after 6...Bg7 7.e5 Nh5 8.Bb5+ Bd7 9.Qe2 Bxb5 10.Qxb5+ Nd7 11.Nf3 dxe5 12.fxe5 a6 13.Qe2 Qb6 14.Bd2 Qe6 15.0-0-0 Nxe5 16.Rhe1 White has some initiative. The Harrington–Glek Variation is another option for White. Named for Grandmaster Igor Glek , who has devoted considerable effort evaluating the resulting positions for White. 6.Be3 Bg7 7.Be2 0-0 8.Qd2!? GM John Emms wrote, "Although it's difficult to beat

555-816: Is often seen in the Evans Gambit and gives the Benko Gambit much of its bite. Black often plays ...Ba6 in the French Defence , and in the Queen's Indian Defence if White plays g3 in order to fianchetto his own bishop ( Aron Nimzowitsch 's move against the classical main line ). The game Rubinstein – Nimzowitsch , Marienbad 1925, had four fianchettoed bishops, two developed knights, and two on their home squares. In this position, Nimzowitsch humorously pointed out in My System : "Each side castles now with

592-628: Is to delay direct occupation of the centre with the plan of undermining and destroying the opponent's occupied centre. It also regularly occurs in Indian defences . The fianchetto is less common in Open Games (1.e4 e5), but the king bishop is sometimes fianchettoed by Black in the Ruy Lopez or by White in an uncommon variation of the Vienna Game . One of the major benefits of

629-570: The International Grandmaster title in 1980 (which is commonly referred to as "Grandmaster"). Soltis won the championship of the prestigious Marshall Chess Club a record nine times: in 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1974, 1977, 1979, 1986, and 1989. He also competed in four US (closed) Championships, in 1974, 1977, 1978 and 1983. Soltis tied for first prize in the 1977 and 1982 US Open Championships . Soltis has been inactive in tournaments since 2002. He reached his playing peak as

666-876: The Nimzo-Larsen Attack , the Baltic Defense and the Chameleon Sicilian. Several names for pawn structures and moves, such as the Marco Hop and the Boleslavsky Hole, were popularized by his book Pawn Structure Chess . He introduced the Russian chess term priyome to English literature in Studying Chess Made Easy . Soltis graduated from City College of New York in 1969. He has been married to Marcy Soltis,

703-453: The fianchetto ( English: / ˌ f i ə n ˈ k ɛ t oʊ / or / ˌ f i ə n ˈ tʃ ɛ t oʊ / ; Italian: [fjaŋˈketto] "little flank") is a pattern of development wherein a bishop is developed to the second rank of the adjacent b- or g- file , the knight pawn having been moved one or two squares forward. The fianchetto is a staple of many " hypermodern " openings , whose philosophy

740-755: The Chess Journalists of America. Soltis was one of the few Americans in the 20th century who earned the International Grandmaster title but was not a professional chess player. He worked as a news reporter and editor for the New York Post from 1969 until he retired in 2014. He continued writing his weekly chess column for the Post after he retired. He is considered one of the most prolific chess writers, having authored or coauthored more than 100 books and opening monographs on chess. His books have been translated into Spanish, French, German, Italian and Polish. In 2014 his work Mikhail Botvinnik : The Life and Games of

777-623: The Chinese Dragon. The Classical Variation, 6.Be2, is the oldest White response to the Dragon. It is the second most common White response behind the Yugoslav Attack. After 6...Bg7, White has two main continuations: The Levenfish Attack, 6.f4, is named after Russian GM Grigory Levenfish who recommended it in the 1937 Russian Chess Yearbook. It is not currently very common in the highest levels in chess. White prepares 7.e5, attacking Black's f6-knight. Therefore, 6...Nc6 or 6...Nbd7

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814-575: The Dragon formation without 2...d6, White must watch out for ...d5 which often immediately equalises. Lines where Black does this include the Accelerated Dragon (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6) and Hyper-Accelerated Dragon (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6). Another option for Black is to play what has been called the "Dragodorf", which combines ideas from the Dragon with those of the Najdorf Variation . While this line may be played via

851-416: The Dragon move order (see the Yugoslav Attack with 9.Bc4). Black can arrive at it with a Najdorf move order: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 g6 (or 5...g6 6.Be3 a6), with the idea of Bg7 and Nbd7. Such a move order would be used to try to avoid a Yugoslav type attack; for instance, after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6, White could play 6.Be2 or 6.f4. In both cases, especially

888-561: The Russian chess master and amateur astronomer Fyodor Dus-Chotimirsky claimed that he coined the name "Dragon Variation" in 1901, after the fancied resemblance between Black's kingside pawn structure and the constellation Draco . The earliest known printed reference, found by chess historian Edward Winter , is in the Jan-Feb 1914 issue of Wiener Schachzeitung . The main line of the Dragon continues: 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 7... 0-0 8. Qd2 Nc6 The Yugoslav Attack with 9.Bc4 exemplifies

925-559: The Yugoslav in terms of sharp, aggressive play, 7.Be2 0-0 8.Qd2!? also contains a fair amount of venom ... White's plans include queenside castling and a kingside attack. And there's a major plus point in that it's much, much less theoretical!" After the main moves 8...Nc6 9.0-0-0 we reach a tabiya for the position. Here, Black has several options for continuation, listed in order of popularity: Other options on White's sixth move include 6.Bc4, 6.f3, and 6.g3. When Black adopts

962-555: The a1-rook in the attack, White usually castles queenside, placing the white king on the semi-open c-file. The result is often both sides attacking the other's king with all available resources. The line is considered one of the sharpest of all chess openings . The modern form of the Dragon was originated by German master Louis Paulsen around 1880. It was played frequently by Henry Bird that decade, then received general acceptance around 1900 when played by Harry Nelson Pillsbury and other masters. In his 1953 autobiography,

999-406: The b-pawn and pressure on the long diagonal. Black will generally omit ...a6 because White will generally win in a straight pawn attack since Black has given White a hook on g6 to attack. In general, White will avoid moving the pawns on a2/b2/c2, and so Black's pawn storm will nearly always be slower than White's on the kingside. Black can frequently obtain an acceptable endgame even after sacrificing

1036-534: The best overall score, 8–1. He was also a member of the silver-medal winning US teams in the 14th and the 18th World Student Team Championships. Soltis won the annual international tournament at Reggio Emilia, Italy, in 1972 and was awarded the International Master title two years later. His first-place finishes in New York international tournaments in 1977 and 1980 resulted in his being awarded

1073-469: The exchange because of White's h-pawn sacrifice and doubled pawns. After years of players believing that White's best play and chance for advantage lay in the main line with 9. Bc4, this older main line made a major comeback. White omits Bc4 in order to speed up the attack. It used to be thought that allowing 9...d5 here allows Black to equalize easily but further analysis and play have proven that things are not so clear cut. In fact, recently Black experienced

1110-421: The fianchetto is that it often allows the fianchettoed bishop to become more active. A fianchettoed position, however, also presents some opportunities for the opponent: if the fianchettoed bishop can be exchanged , the squares the bishop was formerly protecting will become weak (see hole ) and can form the basis of an attack (particularly if the fianchetto was performed on the kingside ). Exchanging

1147-419: The fianchettoed bishop should not be done lightly, therefore, especially if the enemy bishop on same-coloured squares is still on the board. The diagram shows three different sorts of fianchetti (not from an actual game, but as examples collapsed into a single diagram). White's king bishop is in a regular fianchetto, with the knight pawn advanced one square and the bishop occupying the long diagonal . This

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1184-429: The freeing move ...d6–d5. The variations resulting from this move are notorious for having been heavily analysed. In addition to covering d5, White's light-squared bishop helps cover White's queenside and controls the a2–g8 diagonal leading to Black's king. However, the bishop is exposed on c4 to an attack by a rook on c8, and usually has to retreat to b3, giving more time for Black to organize an attack. Common in this line

1221-473: The late 1990s as a result of White resuscitating the old line with 9.0-0-0; however, recently there has been a resurgence after a number of new ideas in the 9.0-0-0 line were formulated by Dragon devotees. The Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings ( ECO ) has ten codes for the Dragon Variation, B70 through B79. After 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6, there is: Fianchetto In chess ,

1258-439: The latter, a Yugoslav-style attack loses some momentum. Usually the bishop is more ideally placed on c4, where it can pressure f7 and help defend the white king (though the 9.0-0-0 variation of the Dragon shows that this is not completely necessary), and if White plays f4 and then castles queenside, they must always be on guard for Ng4 ideas, something which the move f3 in traditional Dragon positions usually discourages. Nonetheless,

1295-525: The move three times in the 1995 World Championship against Viswanathan Anand, scoring two wins and a draw. The line goes 9.Bc4 Bd7 10.0-0-0 Rc8 11.Bb3 Ne5 12.h4 h5 (the key move, holding up White's kingside pawn advance). Other important deviations for Black are 12...Qa5 and 12...Nc4. More recently, White players have often avoided the Soltis by playing 12.Kb1, which has proven so effective that Black players have in turn tried to dodge this with 10...Rb8, known as

1332-455: The spirit of the Dragon with race-to-mate pawn storms on opposite sides of the board. White tries to break open the Black kingside and deliver mate down the h-file, while Black seeks counterplay on the queenside with sacrificial attacks. Typical White strategies are exchanging dark-squared bishops by Be3–h6, sacrificing material to open the h-file, and exploiting pressure on the a2–g8 diagonal and

1369-466: The weakness of the d5 square. Black will typically counterattack on the queenside, using the queenside pawns, rooks, and dark squared bishop. Black sometimes plays ...h5 (the Soltis Variation) to defend against White's kingside attack. Other typical themes for Black are exchanging White's light-squared bishop by ...Nc6–e5–c4, pressure on the c-file, sacrificing the exchange on c3, advancing

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