Oups, sorry, I didn't see that Willempie already recommended the Grunfeld.
Anyhow, this is beyond me why someone would recommend him to play the Slav: of course, the Salv is a great opening, very trendy, but it is soooooo different from the Dragon that I can't see the point.

If I were to recommend a closed opening, it would be the semi-slav which usuallu leads to very complicated games, one could even say wild crazy games in the botvinnik. But there are many dull lines if white wishes so.

I don't really see the appeal of the Benko either. It's all about queenside pressure, and not very varied. The big advantage is that it is easy to grasp. Well, relatively easy of course...
But it's not very "dynamic" in my opinion, and you are never going to attack the king if that's what you like. Never.

This leaves a choice between the Leningrad, the KID, the Benoni and the Grunfeld.

The KID is very complicated and actually very different from the Dragon since the centre tends to be very closed. The only similarity is of course the dragon bishop and that you sometimes get to attack the king. There are also some opposite-side castling variations, in the Saemisch for instance.

The Benoni is a good choice I think, but it is very risky positionnaly speaking and hard to play. Additionnaly, you can't force a benoni.

As to the Grunfeld: there is also the drawback that you can't force a Grunfeld, but I think most of the sidelines tend to give rise to a rather similar game to the main lines, i.e. fluid center, open lines and diagonals...
The Grunfeld it very dynamic, i.e. see the games of Sutovsky and Svidler although it tends to be a rather diffeent kind of dynamism than in the Dragon. Of course, it can also be argued that lots of line lead to queenless middlegames which might not be to everyone's taste.
One advantage of the Grunfeld is that there is an abundant literature, and arguably the best opening book ever written, i.e. "Understanding the Grunfeld" by Jonathan Rowson. There is also a forthcoming book by Dembo which is going to be, I hope, up-to-date. There are also very thorough books by Sakaev and Dearing on the 7. Bc4 and 8. Rb1 lines respectively.

Hope this helps

I am a bit surprised that no one recommended the Grunfeld. Of course, it depends on what kind of positions you like, but in the Grunbfeld you've got very dynamic lines with an open centre and lots of open lines for you g7 bishop.

Of course, there are a lot of lines that end in an endgame, so to speak
But these are unbalanced endgames, and there are also many unbalanced endgames in the dragon.

For me, the Gurnfeld is THE dynamic opening against 1.d4. I have to admit though that I have always had trouble playing it; but I keep trying.

I'd second that.. I read 60% of this book past summer and was able to play the Leningrad (plus all these anti-Dutch lines) throughout the season with more success than I was expecting.

The Leningrad is a good choice for players that like active play (I think even better than the KID). However, I agree with Willempie in that you should not expect the defence you ultimately choose to have many similarities with the Dragon, e.g. comparing the Leningrad with the Dragon, I notice that:

a. You have a fianchettoed Bishop, however it acts in a different way,

b. You mostly attack in the K-side.

c. There are other special features in the Leningrand like: no semi-open lines readily available, different use of the King, lots of 'weakening' moves in the K-side, White usually plays with a fiancheto too, the value of each tempo is nothing near the Yugoslav attack, etc. etc.

d. The anti- lines you face are quite different.

All in all I have the feeling that these two openings (and the KID) are for players of the same taste.

Smyslov_Fan wrote on 06/18/07 at 12:24:25:

Hi Smyslov_Fan,

My questions were mainly du to;

i)
I am not a subscriber, for the time being, but after Radjabov's performance with the KID in Corus earlier this year - I would have thought the KID to be very much alive.

ii)
I was a bit surprised to see you recommending the Leningrad dutch over the KID. From what you said I came to the conclusion that you felt the Leningrad dutch is in better theoretical shape than the KID... I am not up to date on the lastest theory - I have to admit. You might be right. 

If you are right: Why dont more players prefer the Leningrad? Fashion? I dont hink so. Other unavoidable dutch variations? - maybe.

The Leningrad system is my personal choice btw (I dont play the dragon)...

Smyslov_Fan wrote on 06/18/07 at 12:24:25:



I'd like to take you up on that offer, if you don't mind.  I gave up the Samisch because of the 6...c5 gambit.  If you can demonstrate a good line for White, I'd be much obliged.

Thanks.

@Viking:

The KID section here at the Chess Pub has quite a bit of discussion about why theory favors White and what Black should play in various lines.  Suffice it to say that White seems to be winning the theoretical duels in the Saemisch and especially in the Classical right now.   

If you have specific questions on the KID, we can continue those discussions in the relevant threads in that section.

Cheers!

Someone said earlier that they recommended the Benko and I agree. I am a Benko player and have been hearing the call of the dragon lately, but resisted because of all the drawing lines after 0-0-0. 

The most obvious fit for a Dragon player is the KID, but theory doesn't like the KID right now.

I like TalJechin's idea of the Leningrad Dutch for Black, but don't really have faith in the Modern Benoni as a long-term answer to 1.d4.

If you play the Accelerated Dragon, you could play 1.d4 g6 (not worrying too much about 2.e4) 2.c4 Bg7 3.Nf3 c5.  That will be worth a few free points and will often transpose to the Maroczy Bind, which shouldn't bother you.

Another interesting opening that is almost playable and has considerable piece-play is the Chigorin, which might be worth a look.  Unfortunately, it doesn't have much that is directly in common with the Dragon.

So right now, I'd recommend the Leningrad Dutch until you've learned all you can about either the Slav or the QID/Nimzo-Indian complex!