Sicilian Defense: Accelerated Dragon

Main line

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 O-O

Diagram shows the position after 6 half-moves of the main line. On SpeakChess you can drill this line move by move — the trainer plays the other side and corrects you instantly, then spaced repetition schedules each variation so you review it right before you would forget it.

Move by move

The first 12 moves of the main line, explained one at a time. Every move of every variation is annotated like this inside the trainer — this page shows the opening moves so you can judge the explanations before signing up.

1. 1.e4 What a great way to begin! The pawn steps boldly out to e4, a light square right in the middle of the board. This is one of the most popular first moves ever, and it gives your other pieces room to wake up and join the fun.
2. 1...c5 Black plays c5, advancing the pawn two squares from its starting square. This is the Sicilian Defense, a standard response that indirectly challenges White's center.
3. 2.Nf3 White moves their knight from g1 to f3. This is a good developing move that helps get your pieces into the game.
4. 2...Nc6 Black moves their knight out from the side to a new, more active square. This is a good development move.
5. 3.d4 Now the d-pawn marches up to d4, a dark square in the center. With pawns standing proudly on d4 and e4, you have grabbed a big chunk of the middle. The knight on f3 is already out and ready to help too. Nice work building your space!
6. 3...cxd4 Black's pawn captures White's pawn on d4, opening the c-file and challenging White's central control.
7. 4.Nxd4 The knight moves from f3 to d4 and takes a pawn. This is a great move because it puts your knight in the middle of the board, controlling lots of important squares.
8. 4...g6 Black plays g6, preparing to fianchetto the bishop to g7. This weakens the dark squares on the kingside.
9. 5.Nc3 You moved your knight from b1 to c3. This is a great developing move! It gets your knight into the game and closer to the middle of the board.
10. 5...Bg7 The bishop moves to g7, developing it from its home square. From this diagonal, it now exerts pressure on the central dark squares.
11. 6.Be3 White moves their bishop from c1 to e3. This is a good developing move. It gets a strong piece into the game and helps control the middle of the board.
12. 6...Nf6 Black moves their knight from g8 to f6. This is a good developing move, bringing a piece into the game.

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Win rates by rating

Results from real online games, measured after the line shown in each row. Most opening sites show one aggregate number — how an opening scores depends heavily on who is playing it.

Most played continuations (1400-1600 rating)

After 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6:

• f3 — played 27.7% of the time (White wins 49.8%, draws 3.3%, Black wins 46.9%)
• Bc4 — played 17% of the time (White wins 48.2%, draws 3.1%, Black wins 48.7%)
• Qd2 — played 13.2% of the time (White wins 50.3%, draws 2.6%, Black wins 47.1%)

Related openings

• Sicilian Defense
• Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation
• Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation
• Sicilian Defense: Alapin Variation
• Sicilian Defense: Closed Variation
• Sicilian Defense: Taimanov Variation
• Sicilian Defense: Kan Variation
• Sicilian Defense: Rossolimo Attack
• Sicilian Defense: French Variation
• Sicilian Defense: Moscow Variation
• Sicilian Defense: Modern Variations
• Sicilian Defense: O'Kelly Variation
• Sicilian Defense: Scheveningen Variation
• Sicilian Defense: Old Sicilian
• Sicilian Defense: Nimzowitsch Variation

Frequently asked questions

How is the Accelerated Dragon different from the regular Dragon?

Black delays ...d6, so the Yugoslav Attack setup loses its sting — White's Qd2/0-0-0 plan no longer works well because ...d5 comes in one tempo. In exchange, White gets the option of the Maroczy Bind with c4, which the normal Dragon move order prevents.

Should Black fear the Maroczy Bind?

It concedes space but modern theory shows Black is structurally sound: exchanges of dark-squared bishops via ...Bg7-d4 or the ...Nxd4 and ...Bc5 plans, plus the ...b5 or ...f5 breaks, give real counterplay. Many strong players now enter the Bind willingly as Black.