Re: Better than the Dragon Sicilian?

On Tue, 2 Jun 2009 19:22:37 +0000 (UTC), gaillard@xxxxxxxxx (Ed
Gaillard) wrote:

One variation that caught my attention had Black's king remaining in
the centre behind pawns at d6 e6 f7 and f6. Not sure of its name. I
saw it in a video where a knowledgeable bloke went through nearly all
the variations of the Sicilian in about 20 minutes. Did it for a bet
made while having a few beers apparently. It was a great demo but too
fast to keep up with details and names.

Sounds like a line of the Richter-Rauzer (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4
4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 (this position is called the "Classical"
Sicilian) 6.Bg5 (The Richter-Rauzer)) or the Narjdorf (5...a6).

Hi Ed,

Thanks. It has given me something to track down.

The Classical Sicilian is quite sound as well (though I don't know of
any club-level repertoire books). White's main alternatives to 6.Bg5
are 6. Be2 (after which you can play the Dragon!) and 6.Bc4 (teh
Sozin, which is a complicated line in its own right).

Those variations that are complicated in their own right are things I
want to avoid at the moment.

Playing correspondence, you'll have access to books as well as the
opponent. That means you don't need to worry about forgetting theory
in the tactical lines. The regular Dragon can still be a bit of a
problem--one often winds up following grandmaster games for 20 or even
30 moves, which is not everyone's idea of a good time.

Good point. I'd like something that leads to a quick reduction of
pieces by numerous exchanges so I can have the opportunity to develop
some end play skills.

That's hard to arrange, and exchanging indiscriminately is likely to
lead to trouble.. A lot of the art of positional play is in figuring
out which exchanges you should make.

Good point. A very good point that I need to give more attention to.
Frankly it seems like the sort of thing that would pay dividends to
put in study time. Having winning positional play as one's plan B
seems like the way to go. So exchange with more thought is the way to
go.

The Accelerated Dragon is much less theoretical.

Does that mean it is more slash and burn with wild tactical play?
Not sure I understand what "less theoretical" means.
Less researched perhaps.

Less researched. The body of master games and analysis of the
openings is usually called "theory". "Less theoretical" means there
is less analysis, or that the exact move orders in the analysis are
less "critical" (deviations less likely to get you a bad position).

That I like. The people I play are likely to not follow the book so
variations that are "tolerant" appeal. By tolerant I mean where the
exact order of moves isn't critical. What is more important is
achieving a certain set up, if you see what I mean.

I do love the Caro-Kann. My posts concentrated on the Dragon and Accelerated
Dragon since it seemed to me that you found it attractive from the
Horowitz book.

What I found attractive is the possibility of reducing the amount of
study I'd need to put into responding to 1. e4 by white.

The Caro-Kann i sless theoretical than the Dragon, but probably not
less than the Accelerated Dragon (or the Taimanov Sicilain, which you
mentioned in another post).

There hasn't been a club-player repertoire book for the Caro-Kann in

Actually, I am told that "Starting Out: the Caro-Kann" is good for
club players. Haven't read it, myself.

OK. Buying chess books in New Zealand is difficult. I ordered Susan
Polgars book on combination play. The book cost $13 US but by the
time I'd paid for the cheapest postage taking 8 weeks it cost $25 US.
Put simply the cost of single books is doubled by post and packaging.

If I could afford three books at a time then the postage portion would
be less. Books are my friends. I make a practice of precis-ing them.
My precised version I pass on to my friends and grandchildren. OK,
I'm a C-grade chess player but I was in the top 2% of tertiary tutors.
What I do best is explaining complex concepts in simple ways.

quite a while (unlike for example the Accelerated Dragon, where
there's the _Chess Openings For Black Explained_ book).

Seems like the Accelerated Dragon would make a worthwhile starting
point if I'm reading between the lines correctly.

It's certainly one good choice.

Regards,
Ed

Thanks Ed,

I really appreciate your thoughtful comments. It has saved me from
several foolish assumptions.

Best wishes,
--
Quentin Grady ^ ^ /
New Zealand, >#,#< [
/ \ /\
"... and the blind dog was leading."

http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/quentin
.

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