I found a couple of other posts here on the forum that discuss the position after 20.Rhe1.
Mikhail Golubev wrote,
"At http://www.jeremysilman.com/book_reviews_jd/jd_play_the_sicilian_dragon.html there is review by John Donaldson, who compared Dearing's book and my chapter on the Dragon in "Experts vs the Sicilian".
"The critical point seems to be reached after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.0-0-0 d5 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.exd5 Nxd5 12.Bd4 e5 13.Bc5 Be6 14.Ne4 Re8 15.h4 h6 16.g4 Qc7 17.g5 h5 18.Bc4 Red8 19.Qf2 Qb7 20.Rhe1 Nf4 21.Bxe6 Nxe6 " (Donaldson) - you can read his article.
The position after 19...Qb7 is little explored. Also, there is immediate 19...Nf4. In practice, Black usually played 19...a5, but maybe it is better to do without this move? Also, 16...Nf4 (instead of 16...h6) is a curious line which is not really refuted. "
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Madhacker wrote the following,
" Mikhail - your piece in "Experts" was superb, but there's an assessment I'm not too sure about near the end. After 9.0-0-0 d5 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.exd5 Nxd5 12.Bd4 e5 13.Bc5 Be6 14.Ne4 Re8 15.h4 h6 16.g4 Qc7 17.g5 h5 18.Bc4 Red8 19.Qf2 Qb7 20.Rhe1 Nf4 21.Bxe6 Nxe6, you give 22. Bd6 Rd7 23. Rd2 Rad8 24. Red1 "+/=" (at least, if memory serves; I don't have the book to hand). The thing is, I don't see Black as being any worse here; I felt that after 24...Qb6, Black is fine because he develops a lot of play. If White tries to swap queens and pick up the e-pawn, a combination of ...Nd4 threats and tricks with ...f5 and ...e4 seemed to hold the balance, in my analysis; ...f5 becomes a very useful move when Black can react to gxf6 with ...Bh6.
A sample line is 25. Qxb6 axb6 26. c3 (26. Nf6+? Bxf6 27. gf Nd4! -/+, as 28. Bxe5 Ne2+ wins, and Black should win the ending following 28. Bb4 Ne2+ 29. Kb1 after the rooks come off - the pawns are too weak) 26...f5! 27. Nf6+ (what else? 27. ef Bh6 28. Bxe5 Bxd2+ 29. Rxd2 Rxd2 30. Nxd2 Ra8 31. a3 Ra5 32. f4 Ra4 -/+) Bxf6 28. gf e4!, and Black should be fine. Alternatively, 25. c3 (no queen moves seem fully satisfactory because of Nd4/f4, which has the bonus of often preventing Bc5 due to ...Ne2+) 25...f5, and again, I feel Black should be fine; he doesn't have the easy solution of ...e4 after a knight retreat, but after 26. Ng3 Nd4! Black is in good shape because a bishop retreat is hit with ...Nb3+, swapping queens, and winning the d1-rook.
Can anyone improve on this? Sorry to make the thread full of analysis starting at move 25 - which of course is not like the Dragon stereotype at all... "
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