Daniel Spohn 01/06/2005 17 comments
As a beginning/intermediate player I have come up against the Dragon Sicilian in many encounters and decided that I needed to find a way to tackle it. At first I looked at the Yugoslav Attack, but realized that against a Dragoneer who knew not to let me open the h-file I was hard pressed to find a devastating attack. About 3 months ago I came across the Levenfish variation and have found that I am able to use it to effect against those same Dragoneers with whom the Yugoslav failed. The Levenfish turns the board into a minefield of tactical traps along with chances to sacrifice material for an overwhelming attack like you will see in my game. If someone is playing the Dragon and is unprepared to meet this attack he should think twice.
1.
14...')">Nxd1 15.')">Bxd5 ')"> Bxd5 (15...')">Nxe3 16.')">Bxe6 ')"> Nf5 17.')">Bxf5 (17.')">Qxb7 ')"> fxe6 with both threats of ')"> Qxa8 and ')"> g4) 17...')">Nc6 18.')">Bxg6 ')"> f6 19.')">Bh5 looking at either 20.Qb3 or 20.Qd5 and mate at f7) 16.')">Qxd5 ')"> f6 17.')">exf6 ')"> Bxf6 (17...')">exf6 18.')">Bc5+ ')"> Ke8 19.')">Re1+ with mate; 17...')">Nxe3 18.')">fxe7+ ')"> Kxe7 19.')">Rf7+ ')"> Ke8 20.')">Qe6+ with mate) 18.')">Bh6+ ')"> Ke8 19.')">Qxb7 with a big plus for white.
14...')">Qxd1 15.')">Rxd1 ')"> Nxd1 16.')">Bxe6 ')"> f6 (16...')">Ke8 17.')">Bxf7+ ')"> Kd8 (17...')">Kf8 18.')">Bxg6+ with mate; 17...')">Kd7 18.')">Qxb7+ ')"> Kd8 19.')">Qxa8 with a massive plus for white.) 18.')">Qxb7 ')"> Nxe3 19.')">Qxa8 ')">Kc8 (19...')">Kd7 20.')">Qxa7+ ')"> Kc6 21.')">Qxe3) 20.')">Be6+ ')"> Kc7 21.')">Qxa7+ ')"> Kc6 22.')">Qxe3) 17.')">Qxd1 ')"> Nc6 18.')">exf6 ')"> exf6 (18...')">Bxf6 19.')">Bh6+ ')"> Bg7 (19...')">Ke8 20.')">Qd7#) 20.')">Qf3+ ')"> Ke8 21.')">Bxg7) 19.')">Bc5+ ')"> Ne7 20.')">Qd6 ')"> Re8 21.')">Bd7 with white having an advantage.
Third and finally, the worst of the 3 options 14...')">Qa5 15.')">Bxe6 (Either ')"> f6 or ')"> f5) 16.')">Qxb7 and mate happens because of the weak back rank.
14. ')"> Qxf7# 1-0
The games like the one I played in my High School match are rare now because white gains such a great game that black plays 6...')">Nc6 or 6...')">Nd7
as in this Grandmaster game:
1. ')"> e4 ')"> c5 2. ')"> Nf3 ')"> d6 3. ')"> d4 ')"> cxd4 4. ')"> Nxd4 ')"> Nf6 5. ')"> Nc3 ')"> g6 6. ')"> f4 ')"> Nc6 This is played to prevent an immediate e5 push, but is not foolproof and e5 is still usually played after exchanging a pair of Knights. 7. ')"> Nxc6 ')"> bxc6 8. ')"> e5 ')"> Nd7 The d6 pawn is pinned to black's queen. 9. ')"> Bc4 ')"> Nb6 10. ')"> Qd4 Both protecting the Bishop and threatening exd6 which would leave blacks rook attacked. 10... ')"> Bg7 11. ')"> 0-0 ')"> 0-0 Right here the opening is over and the game is in play but the end of the game is quite interesting so I will include the whole game for reference. 12. ')"> Bb3 ')"> Ba6 13. ')"> Re1 ')"> c5 14. ')"> Qe3 ')"> c4 15. ')"> Ba4 ')"> Nxa4 16. ')"> Nxa4 ')"> Qd7 17. ')"> Nc3 ')"> Rad8 18. ')"> Qf2 ')"> Bb7 19. ')"> exd6 ')"> Qxd6 20. ')"> Be3 ')"> Qc6 Building a Queen-Bishop battery aimed at g2. 21. ')"> Bxa7 ')"> Rd4 Which can't be taken (22.')">Bxd4 ')"> Bxd4 and the queen in lost because after 23.')">Qxd4 ')"> Qxg2#) 22. ')"> Re2 ')"> Rfd8 23. ')"> Kh1 Breaking the pin. 23... ')"> R4d7 24. ')"> Be3 ')"> Ba8 25. ')"> Rae1 ')"> Qb7 26. ')"> Bc1 ')"> Bxc3 27. ')"> bxc3 ')"> Qb1 28. ')"> Be3 ')"> Qxa2 29. ')"> Bd4 Don’t underestimate this move it grabs the diagonal that cuts right across the king! 29... ')"> Qa3 30. ')"> f5 ')"> Qd6 31. ')"> fxg6 ')"> hxg6 32. ')"> Qh4 ')"> f6 33. ')"> Re6 ')"> Qd5 34. ')"> Qf2 ')"> Rb8 35. ')"> h3 ')"> Qf5 36. ')"> Qg3 ')"> Rb2 37. ')"> Rxe7 ')"> Rxe7 38. ')"> Rxe7 ')"> Bd5 39. ')"> Qe3 1-0
In conclusion the Levenfish can help you to slay the dragon who is not prepared to meet it and the plus is that there is not a lot of theory to it, because it is mostly made up of tactics. This allows players to play it with minimum study. If you went through my annotation closely you should be ready to start trying out this fascinating line. Good luck!
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