Accelerated Dragons and Theory Hounds

Accelerated Dragons by John Donaldson and Jeremy Silman, 1998
Cadogan, Figurine Algebraic Notation, Softcover, 320pp., $26.95

Reviewed by Glenn Budzinski

For those of you who are regular readers of The Chess Cafe's
Book Reviews, this particular book may seem like dejavu. There's
a good reason for feeling like you've been here before, too; we did,
in fact, recently review a book by Silman that featured the
Accelerated Dragon variation. The title and subject of both works
are not identical, however. In Winning With the Sicilian Defence, A
Complete Rertoire Against 1 e4, Revised 2nd Edition (1998), a
repertoire book, Silman examined many possible Black replies to
White systems of play in the Sicilian Defense after 1 e4 c5. In that
work, the principal Black response advocated after the common
move order 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cd4 4 Nd4 was 4...g6, the
Accelerated Dragon. On the other hand, Donaldson and Silman's
Accelerated Dragons, the subject of the present review, focuses
entirely on the Accelerated Dragon, 4...g6, as well as derivatives
such as 2...g6. As noted by Silman in the Foreword to Accelerated
Dragons, "This book is not a 'winning repertoire for Black' tome. It
is an honest appraisal of an opening system."

That it is a comprehensive examination of an opening system, is
indisputable. Again quoting Silman, "No book has ever given so
much material on this line...the variations are...covered with such
thoroughness that the sheer mass of information may actually
become rather daunting!"

Material is segregated into sixteen chapters, plus an Introduction
intended for the "average tournament player", which covers general
plans and ideas in the opening; a Foreword, a Table of Contents
and an Index of Variations. 

Each of the chapters focuses on a separate variation or
sub-variation. Chapter 1 covers Black responses to 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3
Nc6 3 d4 cd4 4 Nd4 g6 5 Nc3 Bg7 when White plays Be2; replies
to the White moves f3 and Bc4, known as the "Weekend
Variation" can be found in Chapter 2; Chapter 3 covers the main
line of the Uogele, 6 Be3 Nf6 7 Bc4 0-0, while Chapter 4 and 5
look at 7...Qa5 and 7...Na5; 5 Bc4 is the subject of Chapter 6; and
5 Nxc6 is Chapter 7; Nearly one-half of the book is contained
under Chapters 8 through 13, the Maroczy Bind, 5 c4, with the
Gurgenidze System, 5...Nf6, occupying more than 50 pages; the
Semi-Accelerated Dragon, 4...Nf6 5 Nc3 g6 is examined under
Chapter 14; the Hyper-Accelerated (2...g6) under Chapter 15 and
the Chameleon, 6 Nde2 and g3, is covered in Chapter 16. 

Since the Maroczy Bind occupies a good chunk of the book and "is
without a doubt, White's best answer" to the Accelerated Dragon,
according to Silman in Winning With the Sicilian Defence
(Donaldson & Silman call it "one of White's very best set-ups",
page 137), much of this review will be devoted to examining the D
& S analysis and recommendations against 5 c4. Encyclopedia of
Chess Openings, Volume B 1997 edition (ECO), covers the
Accelerated in variations B34 - B39, and the Maroczy Bind
specifically in B36 - B39.

Looking first at the Gurgenidze System of the Maroczy after the
moves 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 g6 5 c4 Nf6 6 Nc3 d6
7 f3 Bg7 8 Be3 0-0 9 Qd2 Nxd4 10 Bxd4 Be6 11 Be2 Qa5 12 Rc1
Rfc8 13 b3 a6 14 Be3 b5 15 Nd5 Qxd2+ 16 Kxd2 Nxd5 17 cxd5, a
position in the Samisch Variation of the King's Indian Defense is
reached by transposition. The D & S commentary and analysis are
virtually identical to that contained in Silman's book. (The reader
may wish to take a look at our review of Winning With the Sicilian
Defence in The Chess Cafe Book Reviews Archives section.)
One of the only differences between the two books' coverage of
this particular line appears to be the addition by D & S of two
alternatives to 14 Be3. For the record, 14 a4 led to equality in
Stefansson-Tiviakov, 1991 Mamaia Jr World Championship and
14 Qb2 was advantageous to White in Lautier-Topalov, 1994 Cap
d'Argde Rapids, although Black missed an opportunity to turn the
tide on his 18th move. The main line for both D & S and Silman,
14 Be3, is based upon the game Ernst-Petursson, 1994 Reykjavik,
a 20-move draw.

(See Diagram) Given its prominence in the book, the D & S
coverage of the Gurgenidze is worthy of additional scrutiny.
Stepping back to White's 7th move, there are two alternatives to
review, 7 f3 of Ernst-Petursson as given above and 7 Be2. Looking
at the latter move, while D & S offer similar coverage to that found
in the Silman book, it is not identical. For instance, Silman
immediately jumps to the two White options after 7 Be2 Nxd4 8
Qxd4 Bg7 9 Bg5 0-0. D & S consider three additional choices for
Black on his 9th move: 9...Be6, 9...h6 and 9...Qa5. Thus, after 5 c4
Nf6 6 Nc3 d6 7 Be2 Nxd4 8 Qxd4 Bg7 9 Bg5 0-0, the two options
for White are 10 Qd2 and 10 Qe3. All three sources, D & S,
Silman and ECO, are in agreement here.

Examining 10 Qd2 leads to yet another fork in the road. There are
now at least three ways for Black to go: 10...Be6, 10...a6 or
10...Bd7. According to ECO, 10...Be6 leads to a small White plus
after 11 Rc1 Qa5 12 f3 Rfc8 13 b3 a6 14 Na4 Qd2 15 Kd2 Nd7 16
g4 Kf8 17 h4 Rc6, as in Wang Zili-Alterman, 1995 Beijing, or
Averbakh-L. Popov, 1976 Polanica Zdroj.

D & S/Silman mirror ECO through 16 g4 but continue with 16...f6.
This is not an insignificant difference, since 16...f6 was previously
considered to be unsatisfactory for Black due to 17 Be3 f5 18 ef5
gf5 19 h3 Rf8 20 f4 d5 21 cd5 which was better for White in
Beliavsky - Tiviakov, 1993 Groningen. This line is given by ECO
and is, presumably, the reason for its recommendation of 16...Kf8.
It is also cited in a note by D & S.

But, according to D & S and Silman, after 16...f6 17 Be3 f5 18 ef5
gf5 19 h3 Rf8 20 f4, Black now replies with the improvement
20...Rad8!, rather than 20...d5, transposing to the
theoretically-important game Am. Rodriguez-Antunes, 1994
Matanzas, which produced an equal position after 21 Nc3 d5 22
gf5 Bf5 23 cd5 Nf6 24 Bb6 Rd7 25 Ke3 Rc8.

Another choice for Black after 10 Qd2 is 10...a6. (There is no
coverage offered by ECO for this move in the sequence 9 Bg5 0-0
10 Qd2, although 10...a6 is addressed in a similar line after 9 Be3.)
Once more, D & S and Silman reach an identical assessment:
10...a6 has been busted after the lengthy 11 f3 Be6 12 Rc1 Rc8 13
b3 b5 14 cb5 ab5 15 Nb5 Rc1+ 16 Qc1 Qa5+ 17 Qd2 Ra8 18 a3
Bb3 19 Qa5 Ra5 20 0-0 Ba4 21 Rb1 Bb5 22 Rb5 Ra3 23 Rb8+ Bf8
24 Bh6 Nd7 25 Rd8 Ra1+ 26 Kf2 Ra2 27 g4 f6 and now, rather
than 28 Ke3 which led to a draw in Mokry-Kallai, 1985 Trnava,
White has David Strauss' improvement 28 e5!! fe5 29 g5 and Black
is doomed since 29...Ra7 falls victim to 30 Bc4+" (page 156).
Forgive our cynicism for wondering about the practical
opportunities for mere mortals (other than in correspondence play)
of having a chance to use a theoretical innovation that occurs on
28th move of the game. The move 28 e5 is an example of just how
deep theory can go in the Accelerated Dragon.

(See Diagram) Turning to 10 Qe3 instead of 10 Qd2, after 10...Be6
11 0-0 Qb6, ECO and D & S/Silman provide the following
choices: 12 b3 Qe3 13 Be3 Nd7 14 Rac1 Rfc8 15 Nd5 Kf8 16 f4
a5 17 f5 Bd5 (ECO) and 12 Rab1 Qe3 13 Be3 Rfc8 14 b3 Ng4 15
Bd2 Be5 16 Nd5 Kf8 17 h3 Nf6 (D & S/Silman). Both lines are
okay for Black. The ECO source game is Dolmatov-Tiviakov,
1993 Rostov-on-Don, also cited by D & S/ Silman in notes. D &
S/Silman's analysis is, again, nearly identical and appears to be
based primarily upon recommendations of Christiansen. 

Curiously, however, while ECO includes D & S/Silman's 12 Rab1
(referencing Christiansen - Dzindzichashvili, 1990 US CH as the
source through 14 b3), it continues with 14...Ng4 15 Bd2 Bc3 16
Bc3 b5 with an unclear position, stopping short of 17 f4, which
leads to a White advantage according to Christiansen, and provided
in D & S/Silman. Thus, given the accuracy of Christiansen's
assessment, it would appear that D & S/Silman's 15...Be5 is the
way to go rather than ECO's 15...Bc3, allowing Black to maintain
the balance. 

(See Diagram) Of course, all of this assumes that White will opt to
enter the complexities of the Maroczy Bind with 5 c4. Another
popular main line, however, is 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cd4 4 Nd4
g6 5 Nc3 Bg7 6 Be3 Nf6 7 Bc4, which D & S consider "the meat
of the Accelerated Dragon) (page 37). Black's reply 7...Qa5 leads
to ECO B35 and Chapter 4 of D & S.

After 8 0-0 0-0 9 Bb3 d6 10 h3 Bd7 11 f4, ECO offers three
possibilities, each of which gives White a minimal advantage:
11...Rac8 12 Nf3 Rcd8 13 Qe1 Bc8 14 Rd1 e6 15 Qh4 Qh5;
11...Nd4 12 Bd4 Bc6 13 Nd5 Bd5 14 ed5 Nd7 15 Bg7 Kg7 16 Qd4
Kg8 17 Rac1 Rae8 18 Kh2, Vasiukov-Ciocaltea, 1967 Bucharest;
11...Qh5 12 Nf3 b5 13 a3 a5 14 Qd3 a4 Bd5 e6 16 Bc6 Bc6 17
Bd4 , as suggested by Piket.

D & S, on the other hand, give no less than six potential Black 11th
move responses, including ECO's 11...Rac8, Nd4 and Qh5. Silman,
in his own book, discusses only 11...Nd4; the identical comment
that "This is Black's soundest continuation" can be found in both D
& S (page 96) and Silman. ECO's 11...Nd4 is followed through 13
Nd5, when D & S/Silman deviate with 13...Rae8, which looks to
be an improvement for Black since they assess the position as
equal after 14 Qd3 Nd5 15 ed5 Bb5 16 c4 Bd4+ 17 Qd4 Bd7 18
Kh2 Qc5 19 Qd2 e6.

A curiosity is the D & S recommendation of 13 Qd3 ("This is the
strongest test of Black's set-up."- page 99), rather than 13 Nd5 in
the 11...Nd4 sub-variation. Thus, after 11...Nd4 12 Bd4 Bc6 13
Nd5, they continue by following the game Martin
Gonzalez-Bellon, 1974 Olot, through 13...Rad8 14 Rad1 Nd7 15
Bg7 Kg7 16 Kh1 Nc5 17 Qd4+ e5 18 fe5 Nb3 19 ab3 de5 20 Qe2
e5 21 b4 Qb4 22 Rd8 Rd8 23 ef5 g5 and conclude that "Black's
powerful bishop gives him the advantage" (page 102). Since there
are no improvements cited for White, with the possible exception
of 16 Qd4+, why is 13 Qd3 "stronger" than 13 Nd5, a move that
gives White no worse than equality, regardless of the source?

The D & S analysis of 11...Qh5 is very thorough, considerably
more comprehensive than ECO's mere footnote. The upshot is that
Black should be able to at least hold his own, whether White
follows ECO's 12 Nf3 or the D & S 12 Qd3 (see below). While D
& S agree that White is for choice in Piket's ECO line (although it's
unclear whether Piket's analysis consists of ECO's 17 Bd4 or D &
S' 17 Nd4, since both the B and N can go to the d4 square), ECO
omits Dzindzichashvili's 14...b4, which may turn the tide in favor
of Black.

As mentioned above, after 11...Qh5, there is the move 12 Qd3
offered by D & S, which leads to an interesting sacrifice of the
queen after 12...a5 13 a4 Nb4 14 Qd2 Rac8 15 f5 Rc3 16 bc3 Ne4
17 Qe1 Na6 18 Ne2 Nac5 19 Nf4 Qf5 20 Ne6 Qf1+ 21 Qf1 fe6,
when "Black's active pieces give him plenty of compensation for
the sacrificed queen" (page 96). Among White's other troubles in
this position is the difficulty in finding a good square for his own
queen.

There is little doubt that Accelerated Dragons represents about as
current, accurate and complete of a source on this opening as one
could ever expect to find. In fact, this is probably the most
comprehensive work ever written on the Accelerated Dragon.
Perhaps there are a few more suggestions given for the player of
the Black pieces, but one would be hard-pressed to not consider the
book to present a balanced view.

Concerning the obvious overlap of material between Accelerated
Dragons and Silman's Winning With the Sicilian Defence, we take
no position on the ramifications (if any) of identical material by the
same author appearing in two separate books by two different
publishers. As long as you understand that both books have
different goals and are aware of the overlap, we have done our job.

We would very much want to recommend this book without
qualification. Certainly, Accelerated Dragons will become an
integral part of our own opening library. But, at the same time, we
would be remiss in our duties if we did not emphasize that this is a
book that is chock-full of theory. In fact, including the
Introduction, which discusses a few general plans, over 300 of the
book's 320 pages are crammed with theory. So, unless you're a
theory hound (or a theory hound "wannabe"), as good as this book
is, it might not be your cup of tea.