flaviddude wrote on 10/22/08 at 01:49:39:


if that does not work, i can always try the najdorf    

however is that why Carlsen plays the dragon because its sharp, but you can still get the draw?

those 3 points are very good.

Quote:


Agreed. I forgot to include that in my short appendix.

Tops

gewgaw wrote on 10/21/08 at 11:47:24:


lol, you might be right but the dragon is a lot more fun.  along the way i can learn japanese, russian, and instead of chinese, korean.    i do wonder what made Carlsen to go with the dragon instead of najdorf or the other sicilians?

btw, i did not know that Ward's WWTD 2 was such a collecters item, it is $39 used on amazon, WWTD 1 is just $4

Best repertoure book is probebly Dearings book "Play the sicilian Dragon". For themes for both sides there is for example Gufelds "Secrets of the Sicilian Dragon". Martins book "Starting out the sicilian Dragon" is a good introduction to Chinese variation and a few other key lines but thats about it.

EDIT While I still think Dearings book is the best book, I do not follow hes recommendations in every line. Best way to learn a opening is to play it and analyse every game you played (even internet blitz/bullet games).

wcywing wrote on 10/20/08 at 23:12:59:


If you want to learn the spirit, themes, do's and dont's of the Dragon, start With Chris Ward's Winning With The Dragon 1. Continue the journey with Winning With The Dragon 2 by the same author, after which you should be imbued with the thought process and armed with the tools neccessary to play the Dragon successfully.

Further recommended reading could be: 

Easy Guide to the Dragon by Golubev - A concise but remarkably useful and accurate (for the most part) reference work.

Sicilian Dragon by Goran Kosanovic - A little known but quite good repertoire book on the Dragon, also very concise.

Play The Sicilian Dragon by Eddie Dearing - Quite a good book, well laid out, and the most current in print at the moment. Although its ostensibly a repertoire book, it does provide an overview on many topical and alternative lines to the ones suggested. Highly recommended despite Tiviakov's scathing condemnation of it.

Gufeld & Stetsko - Useless as a learning text and almost useless as a reference one.

Attila Schneider's two volume work - Clearly a labor of love and quite inspirational, but be warned many of his original analyses and conclusions have been proven to be incorrect over time in the sharper Yugoslav lines. Verdict, good but not great.

I don't have Andrew Martin's book on the Dragon, but if you are a fan of his style then by all means indulge yourself.

Hope that helps.

Toppy  

It looks like you need some decent overview. As far as I know the latest books are repertoire books. I use Gufeld/Stetsko, which is usually heavily criticised, but is useful as an introduction (and nothing more).