Hyper accelerated dragon

210 Pages·21.879 MB·English

by  Raja panjwani

Table of Contents

Title page
KEY TO SYMBOLS
INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1. CLASSICAL VARIATION (Be2)
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

CHAPTER 2. 7.Bc4: ANTI-YUGOSLAV VARIATION
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

CHAPTER 3. 7.Bc4: MY SYSTEM
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

CHAPTER 4. MAROCZY BIND: BREYER VARIATION
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

CHAPTER 5. MAROCZY BIND: MAIN LINE
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

CHAPTER 6. 4.Qxd4 VARIATION
Part 1 Part 2

CHAPTER 7. ANTI-SICILIANS: ALAPIN AND MORRA
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

AFTERWORD

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THE HYPER ACCELERATED website: www.thinkerspublishing.com
DRAGON

by
Raja Panjwani

www.thinkerspublishing.com

Managing Editor
Romain Edouard

Proofreading
Daniël Vanheirzeele

Graphic Artist
Philippe Tonnard

Cover design
Iwan Kerkhof

Typesetting
i-Press ‹www.i-press.pl›

Second extended edition 2018 by Thinkers
Publishing

The Hyper Accelerated Dragon
Copyright © 2018 Raja Panjwani

All rights reserved. No part of this
publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by
any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise, without the prior written
permission from the publisher.

ISBN 978-94-9251-034-1
D/2018/13730/16

All sales or enquiries should be directed to
Thinkers Publishing, 9850 Landegem, Belgium.

e-mail: [email protected]
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Key to Symbols used!

! a good move
? a weak move
!! an excellent move
?? a blunder
!? an interesting move
?! a dubious move
□ only move
= equality
∞ unclear position
⩲ White stands slightly better
⩱ Black stands slightly better
± White has a serious advantage
∓ Black has a serious advantage
+- White has a decisive advantage
-+ Black has a decisive advantage
→ with an attack↑with an initiative
⇆ with counterplay
Δ with the idea of
⌓ better is
≤ worse is
N novelty
+ check
# mate
© with compensation for thesacrificed material
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INTRODUCTION

It simply isn’t an adventure worth telling if
there aren’t any dragons.

J.R.R. Tolkien

9...Qxc3!! 10.Qxc3

My Favorite Sicilian
10.bxc3 Nxd2 11.Bxd2 bxc6µ

10...Bxc3+ 11.bxc3 bxc6µ

I was introduced to the Accelerated Dragon
Beyond simple tricks like this one, I found
when I was ten years old, more than seventeen
that the positional themes of the opening were
years ago. It was arguably my first ‘serious’
fairly easy to digest; for example, dark square
defense against 1.e4: prior to then I would develop
control, central breakthrough (especially ...d7-d5),
my pieces in a manner my father and I called
queenside expansion, as well as the typical
‘P-Play’ (the ‘P’ deriving from our family name)
favorable and unfavorable endgames which tend to
but which I later discovered is widely known as
arise. As I have matured as a player, my
the Hippopotamus Defence. He and I were of
perspective on this opening has correspondingly
similar strength at the time, and we studied the
transformed, but my respect and appreciation for
opening together from the then recently published,
its strength has only been enhanced. This book is
and now classic, Accelerated Dragons by IMs
an attempt to convey my current understanding
Donaldson and Silman.
and approach with black.
What drew me to the opening initially was
I have always felt that the Accelerated
the abundance of cheapos I could set up for my
Dragon does not get its due respect among the
opponents in the early stages of the game, which
Sicilians. Even its prodigal brother, the
even experts and masters seemed unprepared for.
un-accelerated Dragon, had its time in the
The following was always one of my favorites:
spotlight when it was used by Kasparov to twice
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Bg7
defeat (and twice draw) Anand in their 1995 PCA
5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 Qa5 8.Qd2?
World Championship match. Why then, has the

Accelerated Dragon — the theoretically no worse
8.0-0
off, and much safer of the two (I like to think of it
8...Nxe4! 9.Nxc6
as the only Sicilian where Black needn’t worry

about getting mated in 25 moves) — historically
9.Nxe4 Qxd2+ 10.Bxd2 Nxd4µ
been only an occasional guest in top events, and,
unlike every other respectable Sicilian, never
occupied the central battlefield of a World
Championship match?1 Part of the discrepancy is
a vestige of the old (pre-1970s) dogma that in the
Sicilian, to avoid suffocation, Black must prevent
White from obtaining a ‘clamp’ pawn center
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(pawns on e4 and c4). Indeed, the Maroczy Bind evaluations are more accurately ‘=’ but more
(5.c4) has always been the bane of the Accelerated importantly ‘easier to play for Black’, a factor
Dragon’s existence. However, while this attitude which should not be underestimated especially
towards the Sicilian may have been justifiable half considering the increasingly short time controls,
a century ago, Black has since demonstrated and 2) There is plenty of unexplored terrain, which
counterattacking prospects against the e4/c4 clamp cannot be easily navigated by the positional
in a variety of structures, as in the Hedgehog, dictums we are brought up with, because the
Kalashnikov, Kan, Taimanov, and certainly no less Accelerated Dragon is a genuinely nonstandard
in the Accelerated Dragon. opening. This means that there is a competitive
I suspect that computers have deterred advantage to those who work out its unusual
many potential devotees away from the nuances, unlike in, say, the Najdorf or Sveshnikov
Accelerated Dragon. Computer evaluations in the where it often feels like the strategic ideas are all
main lines tend to fluctuate between +0.25 and well known, and only concrete novelties are yet to
+0.5, which plausibly leads to the rationale that be discovered (if it is unclear what I mean by this,
playing the Accelerated Dragon instead of the I hope it isn’t by the end of the book!).
Berlin or Marshall — where evaluations are closer The Accelerated Dragon State of Mind
to +0.15 — is like playing with a small handicap
straight out of the opening. Things, however, are
not so simple. Computers evaluate each position A friend of mine (a strong IM) recently
by objective features, without regard for subjective commented to me that if he could be certain that
factors which are very often more important in his opponents wouldn’t play the Maroczy bind, he
tournament chess. Machines systematically ignore would always play the Accelerated Dragon instead
the value of, for example, being able to follow one of his usual (un-accelerated, but I sometimes
of a small number of thematic plans, irrespective teasingly prefer ‘un-playable’) Dragon, because
of what the opponent does, saving on clock time as White can’t play the critical Yugoslav Attack
well as risk of mishandling the position. This sort against the Accelerated Dragon (despite this being
of human element is unaccounted for by the lesson #1 of the Accelerated Dragon, a surprising
engine, resulting in an inflated estimation of number of masters have not gotten the memo).
White’s chances. In this regard, there are “However”, he continued, “in the Maroczy, Black
similarities between the Accelerated Dragon and is just playing for a draw, you can never win!” A
the King’s Indian Defense — another opening loyal defender of my beloved pet opening, I
notoriously bastardized by the engine. King’s insisted he had it all wrong, and that I welcome the
Indian devotees are used to seeing +0.5 computer Maroczy in must-win games with Black. “That’s
evaluations, but they are not discouraged because really weird dude, you’re probably the only one”
they recognize that there is a narrow margin of was his retort, but I think when it comes to the
error for White, and to err is human. The same can Accelerated Dragon, there’s a requisite state of
be said for the Accelerated Dragon. mind needed in order to properly handle it —
Fortunately, the tide of fashion is turning, some players have had a conversion experience
and contemporary Accelerated Dragon experts like after catching a glimpse of its incredible power,
(super) Grandmasters Tiviakov, Mamedov, while others haven’t. Plausibly as a result of this,
Iturrizaga, and Malakhov have demonstrated that from my experience there is a peculiar
this opening can be a reliable counter to 1.e4 even camaraderie among Accelerated Dragon
against top opposition. Recently, in fact, World practitioners. Whereas Najdorf ‘bros’ espouse a
Champion Magnus Carlsen upheld the Black side Darwinian angst that their novelty on move 25 in
of a Maroczy to put a halt to Caruana’s 7-0 run in the Poisoned Pawn variation will be discovered,
the 2014 Sinquefield Cup. I predict a bright future used, and rendered useless by their colleagues, I
for this opening, for many reasons, but most of all have found that Accelerated Dragon players enjoy
because 1) The resulting positions are difficult for discussing their ideas with each other. A personal
computers to properly assess- many ‘+=’ anecdote of mine is fairly typical: in the final
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round of the 2013 US Masters tournament I was in Accelerated Dragon (specifically the Black side of
a must-win ‘money game’ with Black against the Maroczy) ‘state of mind’ is, to borrow Suba’s
Cuban GM Abreu, and I noticed GM Rauf phrase, an appreciation for the “hidden dynamic
Mamedov (a leading expert on the Black side of factors” in each position which compensate for the
the Accelerated Dragon) was taking an interest in static deficiencies (again, the best way to ‘sense’
the Maroczy Bind on my board. I won the game in these is by studying the opening — the variations
a tense struggle, and afterwards when I was in this book are meant to illustrate these factors).
collecting my prize, Rauf kindly congratulated me Moreover, as a long time Hedgehog player myself,
on the win and took an interest in the 15...e6 line I I must say that in my opinion, Black has much
played (see chapter 5), which he said he hadn’t more freedom in the Maroczy than in the
studied before. I told him I was not too happy with Hedgehog; for instance, in the Hedgehog, it is
the more popular 15...Qb6, but he asserted that usually unfavorable for Black to exchange queens,
from his analysis Black has no problems there — whereas in the Maroczy (and the Accelerated
“it’s equal” he said. His confident proclamation Dragon more broadly), White often takes pains to
was just the nudge I needed to look closer into avoid exchanging queens so as to not lose the
some of the lines I thought were undesirable for initiative, and that is a liability which contributes
Black, and on closer inspection I realized to the “rigidity” (another apt term of Suba’s) of
(unsurprisingly) he was right! White’s position. Terms like ‘elastic’ and
While this elusive ‘state of mind’ is ‘counterattacking potential’ will be interspersed
somewhat ineffable, and better grasped from throughout this book — they are much more
experience than anything else (if I am successful informative than reductive evaluations like ‘=’.
then the contents of this book will convey An Inclusive Opening
precisely this), I think it is helpful to think of the
Maroczy as a close cousin of the Hedgehog. I
understand the ‘philosophy’ of the Hedgehog in One of the remarkable things about the
terms of how Mihai Suba describes it in his Accelerated Dragon is its appeal to players with
excellent Dynamic Chess Strategy. It is worth vastly different styles. Compare Bent Larsen, the
quoting him at length. epitome of dynamic, offbeat, risky chess, with
“White’s position looks ideal. That’s the Sergei Tiviakov, who claimed in an interview
naked truth about it, but the ‘ideal’ has by recently that his style has been shaped most by
definition one drawback — it cannot be improved. Petrosian (who was a great Accelerated Dragon
...In the early 1970s, the successes of Karpov and devotee himself), Smyslov, and Karpov — both
Andersson showed that [Hedgehog] positions are these players have championed the Accelerated
not only playable but offer as many winning Dragon as their main weapon against 1.e4 and yet
chances as any other opening. This was in glaring their styles are in many ways polar opposites of
conflict with classical strategy. White enjoys more each other! How can this be? I think the answer to
space, better development [and] his position has this question is subtle and instructive. I think that
no weaknesses. How is it possible that Black not when playing the Accelerated Dragon it ‘feels’
only resists in these positions but sometimes wins? like you are playing White, not Black (albeit in a
The only plausible answer lies in the hidden hypermodern manner). What I mean is, in chess,
dynamics of the positions. After the opening, White tends to be the one to control the tempo of
White’s position has all the qualities of a the game — usually it is White who chooses
successful picture, but lacks concrete possibilities whether to enter into an opposite side castling
for improvement. Within our terminology, it is situation, or to exchange pieces early on and
rigid (not elastic). Black’s position, in contrast, maneuver around in a simplified middlegame, or
‘looks’ bad but has greater scope for invoke the center as the locus of battle, ensuring
improvement.” (p. 26) king safety above all.2 Furthermore, Black usually
This description applies equally well to the needs to play accurately to not end up slightly
Maroczy. In fact, you might say that the worse, or at least give the initiative to White. The
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situation is, to the well prepared Accelerated King’s Indian:
Dragon player, precisely the reverse: in the 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6
Maroczy, for example, there are half a dozen i) 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 c5 7.0-0 cxd4 8.Nxd4
different ways for Black to develop, and players of Nc6
diverse styles can choose the one which suits them ii) 5.f3 0-0 6.Be3 c5 7.Nge2 cxd4 8.Nxd4
best (or vary their choice depending on practical Nc6
considerations). Black controls the tempo and Benoni/Benko Gambit:
determines the character of the struggle, which is 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nf3 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6
why it is so effective in must-win games. 5.Nc3 g6 6.e4
Furthermore, unlike in many 1...e5 openings, or in 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 c5 4.Nc3 (4.d5
most other Sicilians like the Kan, Sveshnikov, or either 4...b5 or 4...e6) 4...cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nc6 6.e4
even the Najdorf, White’s choices are rather Symmetrical English:
limited if he does not want to end up slightly 1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Bg7
worse out of the opening. In practice, White meets 5.e4 Nc6
the Accelerated Dragon with either the Maroczy 1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Bg7
Bind or the 7.Bc4 variation; this is simply not so in 5.e4 Nc6
the Najdorf where every single reasonable move is Of course, there is no obligation on
a viable candidate from the starting position of the Accelerated Dragon players to deploy these
Najdorf (6.h3, 6.Rg1, 6.g3, 6.f3, 6.Be3, 6.f4, defences in order to allow for transpositional
6.Be2, 6.Bc4, 6.Bg5, 6.a4, and that is not even to possibilities — Tiviakov has been a lifelong
mention variations therein), and the margin for Nimzo-Indian/Queen’s Indian devotee as a
White error is far greater (for example 6.Be2 e5 counterexample — but I have found it useful to
7.Nf3!? is a serious challenge to the Najdorf but play these systems in tandem myself.
6.Be2 Bg7 7.Nf3?! is just dubious against the One more point on the topic of move
Accelerated Dragon). orders: since the Accelerated Dragon (especially
The above may sound a little hyperbolic, the Maroczy) can come about from so many
and I would like to make it clear from the outset different move orders, I have taken some liberties
that I am not claiming that ‘Black is better’ in the with the games in this book to convert the initial
Accelerated Dragon; to do so would be dishonest. moves to the 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 ‘Hyper-Accelerated
My claim is a serious one: the character of the Dragon’ move order we will be focusing on. I
Accelerated Dragon is that of a White opening. In have done this, following a not uncommon
fact, the Accelerated Dragon reversed is a White practice, purely for didactic purposes — I don’t
opening, called the English, and is fashioned by want readers happy with their 1.d4 defenses to be
most of the top players in the world, including confused by transpositions from openings they
Carlsen, Kramnik, Aronian, Anand, Giri, and don’t play.
others: the exact piece arrangement occurs with About This Book
colors reversed (and a tempo up) after 1.c4 e5 2.g3
Nf6 3.Bg2 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Nc3,
as well as 1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 d5 This book presents a repertoire for Black
4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.g3 Nc6 6.Bg2 Nc7 7.0-0 e5 after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 — the Hyper-Accelerated
(reversed Maroczy). I have enjoyed playing this Dragon. I am relatively lax about distinguishing
‘reversed Accelerated Dragon’ with White as well. between ‘Accelerated Dragon’ (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6
In addition to being inclusive in the above 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6) and ‘Hyper-Accelerated
sense, that it can suit players of diverse styles, and Dragon’, and I use the two interchangeably unless
also that it can be a coherent complement to a 1.c4 to emphasize move order nuances, for example,
repertoire with White, there are many interesting “the Hyper-Accelerated Dragon avoids the
ways that the opening ‘fits’ with defenses against Rossolimo”. However, this is not merely ‘a’
1.d4/1.c4/1.Nf3, and can often directly transpose Hyper-Accelerated Dragon repertoire, it is my
from them. repertoire, and I present the material as such, from
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a first person perspective, making brazen use of they are free online), and search the position with
my own games and offering personal anecdotes an Accelerated Dragon player (I gave you a list
and opinions. This stylistic choice risks my above) as Black to see how they have chosen to
coming across as presumptuous and at times even play the position. Ideally you’ll find a model game
boastful, but my hope is rather that the that you can recall whenever you face the system;
conversational mode of presentation makes readers after all, when it comes to rare systems like 2.Na3
feel as though I am their tour guide through what it is foolish to memorize concrete variations since
might otherwise feel like an insurmountable you’ll never remember them anyway, but the key
labyrinth of variations. Further on the point of ideas of a model game you can. Even in the main
stylistic choices, I am regrettably not sufficiently lines of the Accelerated Dragon, don’t try to
skilled in writing without gender-specific memorize the moves given in this book as if they
pronouns, so please regard all generic references are the ultimate truth. They aren’t. Your learning
to ‘he’ as ‘s/he’ (or alternative) and so on. will be enhanced if you actively seek out novelties
I provide as much information as I think is of your own, and try to understand how the
necessary for readers to play this opening with various positional ideas for both sides fit together.
Black; however, this is absolutely not meant to be To make this book as valuable to the
an anthology on the opening. I make no claim to Petrosian-style (risk-averse) Accelerated Dragon
cover every conceivable variation White can play. player as to the Larsen-type (risk-craving), I have
Any attempt at such, couched under the heading of recommended two systems against each of the
a ‘complete repertoire’ would not only be 7.Bc4 and Maroczy Bind variations. I hope at least
misleading, but in this day and age obsolete. This one of these suits you. For those among you who
is not to say that opening books are altogether will embark on the risky course (‘My System’
obsolete; on the contrary, as inundated with against 7.Bc4 and the Breyer Variation of the
information as we all are nowadays, it can be Maroczy), may I caution you to do so with a
enormously helpful to have an author divulge realistic attitude towards the cost of risk-taking in
opening secrets from their years of experience chess. It is in the (mathematical) nature of
which would not easily be gathered from a risk-taking that it increases the variability of
database search. outcomes — both good and bad. The mature risk
What is obsolete is the attempt to taker is mindful of this, cognizant that their
thoroughly and comprehensively ‘prove equality’ risk-taking is compatible with their aims and
with Black, and more importantly for our purposes justifications. This was the attitude of Bent Larsen.
it is antagonistic to the spirit of the Accelerated If you would like to play the Accelerated Dragon
Dragon, which is that of an opening refusing to be ambitiously, with a tolerance for risk, keep in
evaluated on static grounds alone. As Jonathan mind the following description of Larsen, given by
Rowson instructs in his Seven Deadly Chess Sins, Reshevsky: “He is a firm believer in the value of
“You need to assess not only the position as it surprise. Consequently, he often resorts to dubious
stands but the position as it has changed and how variations in various openings. He also likes to
it is likely to continue to change”. (p.75) So, I am complicate positions even though it may involve
not a big fan of evaluations like ‘=’ or ‘=+’ or ‘+=’ considerable risk. He has a great deal of
(though I capitulate to these at times) because ‘=’ confidence in his game and fears no one. His
makes me think of a draw and ‘+=’ makes me feel unique style has proven extremely effective
like I ought to be satisfied with a draw as Black, against relatively weak opponents but has not been
when in reality Black can very much be optimistic too successful against top-notchers.” Alas, this is
about his position despite such evaluations, and the risk-taker’s predicament, but far from
that is why I prefer evaluations like “counterplay” discouraging it, I am thankful for the risk-takers
or “mutual chances”. among you who resist the ‘genetic’ drift of our
If you encounter a variation not covered in chess community towards timidity and
this book, for example 1.e4 c5 2.Na3, my general results-oriented pragmatism.
prescription is this: find a database (no excuses, I sincerely hope you find this to be an
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enjoyable and enriching experience.

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