Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation
also known as: Dragon
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6
Named after
Named by Russian master Fyodor Dus-Chotimirsky around 1901 — an amateur astronomer, he thought Black's d6–e7–f7–g6–h7 pawn silhouette resembled the constellation Draco, the Dragon.
Origin
The fianchetto Sicilian existed in the 19th century, but the name — and the ferocious theory — are 20th-century creations.
The story
The Dragon is chess's best-named opening and its most honest: both sides announce their intentions and race. White castles long and storms the h-file ("pry open the h-file, sac, sac... mate," as Fischer cheerfully summarized his 1961 demolition of Larsen); Black's dragon bishop on g7 breathes fire down the long diagonal while the c-file counterattack arrives. The Yugoslav Attack turned the whole variation into a single forcing argument that has raged for seventy years, with computer analysis keeping both dragons and dragon-slayers in business.
Why it matters
The archetype of opposite-side castling races and the g7-bishop's power. Its theory is a shared cultural artifact — every chess generation learns the Dragon's moves the way musicians learn scales.
Notable games
- Fischer–Larsen, Portorož Interzonal 1958 ("sac, sac, mate")
- Karpov–Korchnoi, Moscow 1974 (game 2, the model h-file win)
- Topalov and Carlsen's modern Dragon revivals