Thats the way of the dragon. When it goes wrong you get smashed to pieces.
Any interest in a team match?
- Thread starter Narz
- Start date
Thats the way of the dragon. When it goes wrong you get smashed to pieces.
Mehmed100
Hunger is Distasteful
That's generally why I hate everything about the Dragon, especially as black.
Narz
keeping it real
I prefer the Accelerated Dragon. I still lose plenty but it's rarely a smashup and if I survive the opening I generally win. I like being able to play d5 in one move if I'm given the chance. I've always prefered Nc6 as opposed to d6 as black's 2nd move in the Sicilian, it just seems a more versatile choice.
In tournament play I'm 4-0 with it (Acc. Dragon).
Against the various anti-sicilians my record is much worse
, my least favorite being 2. c3 (which you think I'd be fine with since it's what I play as white). I don't usually mind the Grand Prix attack (unless col's playing it 
). Closed Sicilian type games annoy me & I occasionally push too hard to break out of the closed position & ruin my position completely.
In tournament play I'm 4-0 with it (Acc. Dragon).
Against the various anti-sicilians my record is much worse
, my least favorite being 2. c3 (which you think I'd be fine with since it's what I play as white). I don't usually mind the Grand Prix attack (unless col's playing it ). Closed Sicilian type games annoy me & I occasionally push too hard to break out of the closed position & ruin my position completely.Well, if you were sure of that then you probably did the right thing taking the draw. You must trust your own judgement in chess, there is nobody else to tell you what to do.
Even if the bishop usually is better than the knight with play on both sides, that's only a small plus for him. you also have a plus or two... as in a very nice outpost for your knight that cannot be kicked away and the extra pawn. I took a look at the position for quite a while to see if I could learn something. First without a computer for a while and then with one. The computer seems to have an even better line than I do as usual but it's line seems unintuitive and I cannot play such moves in an actual game so let's go with my lines.
First step is to exchange rooks. While I do not share your evaluation that the rook ending would be a dead draw I agree the drawing chances are very good so that's why I want to exchange rooks if possible. I "threaten" Ne2+ and Rxd1. 29. Kb1 best by a tiny margin according to my computer Rc8 30. Rc1 his rook has no other files to work on and if he does nothing I activate my king Rxc1+ 31. Kxc1 first part of the plan is complete Kc7 32. Kd2 Maybe it's a draw maybe it's a win for black but I do not see any way for white to play for a win here, does anyone? If in a line your knight gets trapped, don't play that line!
Anyway, I took an extensive gander at this position and tried to come up with a way to make progress. You'll be surprised to know that what I came up with included placing the pawns on light squares. Here's a general idea of what I want to do: If I could make several moves in a row, here's my setup: e4, b5, a6, Kd6-e5. The pawn on c5 is there to hinder white's king to advance on the queenside in some lines as well as restrict his bishop. I cannot really see what white can do to improve his position and I have some posibilities. Maybe I can place the knight on d5 and play f4, maybe I can play the knight to g4 to provoke weaknesses, maybe knight to g6 and push the h-pawn. I don't know what plan, if any of these, is the best but so far as I can see black has all the fun and will either win or draw. An extra pawn baby! Don't underestimate the extra pawn.
For general interest the computer evaluation is clear win for black. Not that that helps during the game but still.
I I don't usually mind the Grand Prix attack (unless col's playing it
So you noticed I play the Grand Prix Attack a lot. I'm about 90% in it against good players.
I was there at its inception in the 70s and got crunched a few times by the people who developedi t...
I submitted my game against the 'chick'for computer analysis. It said Iwas better (doh) but didnt see any forcing lines. I prefer to spend my efforts where it matters.
I'll take a draw against an ex-international who outgrades me by 200 points - even if the gap is closing. I think she's as good a player as I am. We exchanged a lot of comments and she knew how to play...
I'll take a draw against an ex-international who outgrades me by 200 points - even if the gap is closing. I think she's as good a player as I am. We exchanged a lot of comments and she knew how to play...
Oh right, I should have used "her" and not "him" in my previous post. Force of habbit I guess. You don't think trying to win endgames that are objectively won matters? 
I get exactly this type of endgame rather a lot in my over the board games so the better I play this type of position the better my results. For me this matters a lot. Also, my team captain would spank me hard if I accepted a draw in this position (unless it's the second team then I am the team captin and would merely have to deal with dirty looks). 
I get exactly this type of endgame rather a lot in my over the board games so the better I play this type of position the better my results. For me this matters a lot. Also, my team captain would spank me hard if I accepted a draw in this position (unless it's the second team then I am the team captin and would merely have to deal with dirty looks).
Objectively won?
Did I say objectively winning? Well... much better at least. It's hard to say exactly how good it is over the board. My computer seems to think it's winning in any case. I am not completely convinced this is so but it is usually right. In any case, without computer assistance I would still evaluate this as probably winning for black. Let's settle for probably winning...
Similar threads
