It gets a whole game in Dismantling the Sicillian, with an interesting comment too - 'Nowadays, with detailed computer analysis, I think it is a question of time and fashion that this variation is discussed more frequently and by stronger players.'

Doesn't look at all tempting for black to me mind, but as de la Villa implies people have tried to defend some remarkably implausible things using computers

bragesjo wrote on 08/03/11 at 19:15:24:


As RdC says, this line was tested  in many games in the 1960s, after which the general verdict was that White's two bishops, open lines and attacking chances rather more than compensates for Black's extra pawn and sound pawn structure in the critical 9 Nf5 variation.

There have been sporadic attempts at revival since then, with the main supporters of the black side being Polish players, such as Macieja and the Sockos, and the French GM Mazé.

I guess that the line has not received more attention because:
- to reach it is not easy, so the hard work required in preparing it might not be rewarded commensurately;
- the most likely move order to reach it is via the Accelerated Dragon - 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 g6 5 Nc3 Bg7 6 Be3 Nf6 7 Bc4 d6 8 f3 - and most strong players still dislike allowing the Maroczy Bind (5 c4).
- the resulting positions from the 9 Nf5 line are passive fo Black and thus not to the taste of most Dragon players.

However, it possibly does deserve more attention than it has received, especially here at Chess Publishing, where the last reference to it seems to have been in 2001.

The sequence 

1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 g6 6 Be3 Bg7 7 f3 Nc6 8 Bc4 Qb6 or the equivalent from other move orders, hasn't been seen much since the mid-sixties. 

Main moves are Bb5 and Nf5 with the Nf5 line continuing 9 Nf5 Qxb2 10 Nxg7+ Kf8 11 Nd5.

Presumably the Nf5  line is considered a near refutation although Black does remain a pawn ahead. After 9 Bb5, Black plays Qc7 which is about level but with plenty of chances to play normally.