The Dragon Variation of the Sicilian Defense is one of the most feared variations in chess! GM Jan Timman once said that he would never want to get into the Dragon, from either side! World Champion Garry Kasparov had never used the Dragon before his 1995 title defense match against Vishy Anand, but then played it several times against Anand, winning some crushing victories, which is the main reason Kasparov is still World Champion today!

The Dragon is part of the Open Sicilian, and arises after the moves 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 g6!, and gets its name from Black's pawn structure, which resembles (to some) the scales on a dragon's back. Against the Dragon, White's three main choices are (a) the Levenfish 6 f4, with the idea of a quick e4-e5, although this is rarely seen these days, (b) the Classical 6 Be2, planning to castle kingside, and play for central control ultimately with f2-f4, and (c) the Yugoslav Attack, starting with either 6 Be3 or 6 f3, where White plans to castle Queenside and launch his kingside pawns forward to storm the fianchetto protecting the Black king. The amazing tactical lines which most people associate with the Dragon Variation stem from the Yugoslav Attack.