Sicilian Defence (B70-B79) - Dragon - Opening Theory

 Sicilian Dragon Chess Resources

Sicilian Dragon Defence Wikipedia Page 
General Knowledge about this opening
   
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6

Bishops Bounty Sicilian Dragon Yugoslav Attack Page (B75-B79)
Bunch of Stuff below on Yugoslav (Made this other page awhile back)

BOOKS (Free)

The Sicilian Dragon (New and Revised) - 244 pg PDF
Chess Developments: The Sicilian Dragon by David Vigorito - 323 Page PDF 
Dismantling the Sicilian: A Complete Repertoire for White by Jesus de la Villa - 336 page PDF

Chessable   ( Free Sicilian Dragon Courses)

The Sicilian Dragon- Tournament Edition - 28 Variations (10 to 15 Moves Deep)
Short & Sweet: The Sicilian Dragon - 21 Trainable Variations
Short & Sweet: Dragon Sicilian - 24 Variations (41 Min Video) GM Anish Giri
     (Learn The Variations through the Course then Use the Move-trainer to practice them)

Sicilian Dragon Chess Articles

Sicilian Defense: How to Play the Sicilian Dragon - Article with a few Embedded Videos
Sicilian Dragon - Simplify Chess - How, Why , Every Move Explained and Variations.
The Sicilian Dragon Opening and Theory - Another Nice article with Embedded Videos.
Sicilian Dragon: Complete Guide - WGM Raluca Sgîrcea, IM Renier Castellanos
Dragon Sicilian Defense Guide! -  Simple Guide By IM Alberto Chueca
Basic Sicilian Dragon Lesson - Lesson with a few example games
How to Bust the Sicilian Dragon Sidelines - Article by IM Miodrag Perunovic 
Sicilian Dragon vs Fianchestto - Article by IM Miodrag Perunovic Chess.com Articles 
The Deadly Dragon - by GM Prasad and GM Panchanathan  & Silman 
Chess Opening Basics: The Sicilian Dragon - In-Depth guide Chessable Blog
Sicilian Dragon Theory - Website with Annotated games and Chessbase Downloads of Book. 

Sicilian Dragon LiChess Studies

Sicilian Dragon Quickstarter - 7 Chapter Study
Sicilian Dragon (The Complete Study) - 24 Chapter Study (329 hearts)
SicilianDragon/Yugoslav Attack: Variation -  10 Chapter Study
Sicilian Dragon  - 10 Chapter Interactive Study (6400+ Hearts)

Games Database

B70 - B79 Sicilian Dragon Page - 365Chess.com  (List of Variations and Links to games)
Sicilian Dragon Annotated Games -  28 Games - Chessgames.com
Annotated Games 
Shahade,G vs Mezentsev V. (B77) - Annotated by Boris Schipkov 
Polgar J vs Kaidanov - Annotated by Susan Polgar C

Sicilian Dragon Chess Video Lessons

Sicilian Defense Theory - 22 Video Playlist - Hanging Pawns (10 hrs Video)
Dragon Playlist - 9 Video Playlist  - Japanese Tutor
Sicilian Dragon Masterclass - 9 Video Playlist - Chessgeek

Anish Giri teaches the Sicilian Dragon | ft. Michael, Vidit, Tania - 98 Min - Chessbase India
The Dragon Sicilian - Chess Openings with GM Damian Lemos- 31 Min

Evolution of the Sicilian Dragon Chess Opening 🐉 GM Ron Henley (Master Method) - 60 min

Play The Sicilian Dragon 🐉 80/20 Tactics Multiplier with IM Valeri Lilov - 54 Min

Tactics in The Sicilian Dragon 🐉 IM Valeri Lilov - 49 Min

Reddit Opening of the Week - The Open Sicilian - Dragons - 3 hrs

Sicilian Defense Series - 22 Videos from Hanging Pawns (around 10 Hrs Worth)

Sicilian Dragon Chess Traps

EVERYONE falls for this opening TRAP in Sicilian Dragon - 12 Min

St Louis Chess Club

Ultra-Aggressive Sicilian Dragon, Yugoslav Attack - Chess Openings Explained - 45 Min
Unleash the Dragon | Kids' Class - IM Vitaly Neimer - 27 Min
Tame Your Dragon! | Chess and Psychology - IM Dorsa Derakhshani - 2 hr

Sicilian Dragon Game Videos (w/Analysis)

Sicilian Defense: Dragon  - 116 Video Playlist - Kingscrusher
Sicilian Dragon Chess Games - 38 Video playlist - Chess with Suren

Topolov vs Carlsen (Slaying the Dragon) - 10 Min Video 

Geller vs Korchnoi (Sicilian Dragon Yugoslav Attack) -10 Min Video

The Trickiest Dragon Line Brought me Sooo Many Wins!! - 33 Min

Hikaru Nakamura vs Ray Robson - Sicilian Dragon Thriller! - 2012 - Brilliancy! - 21 Min

Anatoli Karpov Vs Viktor Korchnoi - Yugoslav Attack (Sicilian Dragon) - 7 min

  

 Games PGN Mentor Downloads 

SicilianDragonOther6.pgn Download   View	Sicilian, Dragon Other 6th moves 4829 games	1.e4 c5 2.f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 f6 5.c3 g6 6.g3, f4, f3, g5
SicDragon6Be2-6Bc4.pgn Download   View	Sicilian, Dragon 6.e2 and 6.c4 5423 games	1.e4 c5 2.f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 f6 5.c3 g6 6.e2, c4
SicilianDragonYugoslav.pgn Download   View	Sicilian, Dragon Yugoslav Attack 20738 games	1.e4 c5 2.f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 f6 5.c3 g6 6.e3 g7 7.f3

Free Online Chess Study Courses

Chess Course Resources Online 

Chess Books (Free)

Chess Teaching Manual by IM Tom O'Donnell -303 page PDF
    (Produced by the Chess Federation of Canada)

A Course In Chess Tactics by Dejan Bojkov, Vladimir Georgiev - 193 Page PDF

Chess Visualization Course - Book 1: General Tactics by Ian Anderson - 328 Page PDF

Silman's Complete Endgame Course - 543 Page PDF

101 Essential Chess Tips - 101 Page PDF

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Chess.com - Chock full of Free Beginner lessons.

Chessable Free Courses - Over 100 Free Courses. You set up an account and you can use any 5  FREE courses at one time. Also allows the use of Movetrainer.
(Hands Down one of the best Free Resources Online for Chess Study)  

Lichess Learn -  Lichess (Everything here is free) full of videos, interactive lessons and study plans.

Predator at the Chessboard - A field guide to chess tactics. Lots of Lessons on tactics with practical examples and quiz's. This is a really nice free site for anyone wanting to improve their tactics.

How to Get to 1900 - (A Rapid Improvement Chess Course for all Class Players)
by John Coffee
15 Steps From Intro - 1900. Each Step is broken into 3-5 parts.(Tactics, Opening, Endgame, Critical Positions and Reviewing Games) There is a great Deal of free info here for anyone trying to improve with Hundreds of problems and Lessons.

Building Chess Habits
 -  (Link is to 31 Video Playlist) A course on Improvement from 400 ELO - 2000 ELO    
31 Videos with over 60 Hours of FREE instruction by GM Aman Hambleton

Beginner Lessons

Chesskid.com  -  Offers Instruction to help Kids learn Chess (Lessons and Videos Very nice)
Chess Lab  - Basics are covered
US Chess Federation Beginner Course
Chess Corner Learn Chess Guide - Bunch of Very nice lessons right up to intermediate stuff.

Home of the Free Chess Course

ChessCourse.com - Beginner Course - 28 Lessons
ChessCourse.com - Intermediate Course - 30 Lessons

Pretty General Lessons for the Beginning Player

Ruy Lopez (Birds Defense) (C61) - Chess Opening Theory

Ruy Lopez (Spanish) Birds Defense Resources

3....Nd4 - Bird's Defence
This variation from black is an attempt to avoid having the pinned knight which can be a bit of a problem for black. White now should exchange off the knight by playing 4. Nxd4 exd4

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nd4

BOOKS (Free)

The Modenized Ruy Lopez  Vol 1 A Complete Repertoire for White - 18 Page (Chap. 2 Birds)  PDF
500 Ruy Lopez Miniatures By Bill Wall  - 122 Page PDF
Easy Guide to Ruy Lopez by John Emms  - 74 Page PDF

Ruy Lopez (Birds Defense) Articles

Bird's Defense Bibliography (C61) - at the Kenilworthian Chess Club  
Huge amount of info and resources pointed at this opening 2008.) 
Ruy Lopez Bird's Defense (C61) Update - (Updated Info from Kenilworthian)  

Bird Defense Opening Theory   by NM Dana Mackenzie
6 Part Lesson
Bird by Bird Part 1
Bird by Bird Part 2
Bird by Bird Part 3A
Bird by Bird Part 3B
Bird by Bird Part 4
(Sunday Morning Analysis) - More Analysis on B by B Pt 3

Ruy Lopez (Birds Defense) LiChess Study

Easy Guide to the Ruy Lopez - 10 Chapters

Games Databases

Chessgames.com

Ruy Lopez Bird Defence Games - 872 Games
Ruy Lopez, Bird's Defense (C61) - 3 Annotated Games

365Chess.com

C61: Ruy Lopez, Bird's defence 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nd4 - 2400+ Games

Chess Puzzles by Opening

C61 - Bird Defence - 10 Puzzles  ( Work on those Opening Tactics )

Annotated Games

Adolf Anderssen - Max Lange, Breslau 1859 - 2 Page .Pdf Annotated move by move
Tudev Ujtumen (IM) vs. Anatoly Lein (IM) - 

Ruy Lopez (Birds Defense) Chess Video Lessons

Anderssen vs Lang - 5 Min 
Bird's Defense: Ruy Lopez Chess Opening - 12 Min
Mastering the Spanish (Ruy Lopez) - Bird Defence - 12 Min
A Short Romance - The Bird Variation (Ruy Lopez) - 14 Min GM Hansen

Birds Defense Chess Trap Videos

Spanish Bird Variation - The Birdsnathcer (trap no. 143) - 5 Min
Chess Gambit for Black that I LOVE (Against the Bird's Defense) - 8 Min NM  Lei

Birds Defense Game Videos w/analysis

Ruy Lopez, Bird's Defense: Grandmaster Leonid Shamkovich vs Bruce Carlley - 4 Min
LIVE Blitz Chess Commentary #163: Ruy Lopez - Bird's Defense - 12 Min
Gata Kamsky vs Vassily Ivanchuk (C61 Ruy Lopez Bird's Defence Tilburg - 8 Min
Ruy Lopez: Samuel Standidge Boden vs Henry Edward Bird - 6 Min  Chess School

PGN Game Downloads

Ruy Lopez Bird Defence - 602 Games (Via Univ. Of Pitt Archives)

Back Rank Weakness - Chess Tactic

Backrank Weakness:
The Most Common Chess Checkmate You NEED to Master!

This comprehensive guide equips you with the knowledge and resources to exploit and defend against a critical chess concept: the back rank weakness.

Why Learn Back Rank Weakness?

• Master the Most Common Checkmate:Backrank mates are the single most prevalent checkmate on chess training platforms like LiChess, with a staggering 94,250 problems compared to just 19,000 for all other checkmate themes combined.
  
  
• Sharpen Your Mating Skills: Learning to identify and exploit backrank weaknesses equips you to deliver swift checkmates and dominate the game.
  
  
• Fortify Your Defenses: Understanding BackRank threats empowers you to build a secure home for your king, preventing similar attacks from your opponent.
  
  
• Essential First Step: Mastering backrank weakness is a critical foundation for any chess player looking to improve their tactical prowess.

Your One-Stop Back Rank Weakness Chess Resource Hub!

Wikipedia Back Rank CheckMate Page 

 General Knowledge and info

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Backrank Weakness Chess Articles

• A Common Tactic - The Back Rank Problem - Lesson On the USCF Site by Susan Polgar - Master the basics from a chess legend.
  
  
• CHECKMATE PATTERNS: THE BACK RANK MATE - PawnBreak Article
  
  
• Back-Rank Mate - Chess.com - Explore the definition, explanation, and examples of back rank mates.
  
  
• Back-Rank Mate – Checkmate Patterns - Short Article w/ couple examples and talks about prevention.
  

Predator at the Chessboard - (54 Pages Total)
Deep-Dive

•  The Back Rank Mate Simple Cases. - 6 pages of Simple Cases (beginner)
•  The Back Rank Mate - Interpositions - 6 Pages of Interpositions - Here is a different problem to consider: he may be able to interpose a piece on the back rank, sticking it between your attacker and his king. Sometimes such interpositions will derail your plans; sometimes they won’t. 
  
•  The Back Rank Mate - Sealing off King Flight Square - 6 Pages
•  The Back Rank Mate - Drawing Defenders Forward - 5 Pages - When the enemy king’s position is well-fortified a sacrifice may be needed to loosen it up.
  The Back Rank Mate - The Role of the Bishop I: Pinning Defenders. -
• The Back Rank Mate - The Role of the Bishop I: Pinning Defenders. - 5 Pages
• The Back Rank Mate - The Role of the Bishop II: Preventing a Recapture. - 4 Pages
• The Back Rank Mate - The Role of the Bishop III: Driving Back the King - 7 Pages
• The Back Rank Mate - Applying Pressure up Close - 9 Pages - The same technique we have been studying can work well up close: your bishop or queen makes a capture on f7 or an equivalent square in front of the king. Since your capturing piece has protection the king must retreat, leaving it unable to defend itself and resulting in mate.
  
• The Back Rank Mate - Combining Back rank Themes w/ Forks - 4 Pages
• The Back Rank Mate - Combining Back rank Themes w/ Discoveries - 4 Pages
• The Back Rank Mate - Combining Back rank Themes w/ Pins - 3 Pages
• The Back Rank Mate - Combining Back rank Themes w/ Removal of the Guard - 5 Pages

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Backrank Puzzles

• 20 Back Rank Problems & Exercises  - Printable PDF
  
  
• 29 Back Rank Mate Examples from Games - Games from Alekhine ,Bird and even Polgar
  
  
• Back Rank Mates. - 8 Page PDF -  20 Detailed Examples - w/ 9 Tests and 9 Exercises

Lichess Blog

(Breaking Down the Back rank Mates into Specific types of Tactics Used)
Back Rank mate (Using X-Ray Tactic)  -  7 Puzzles 
BackRank Mate - (Queen Sac, Bishop - Rook Combo) -  12 Puzzles 
BackRank Mate (Double and Single Knight helper) - 13 Puzzles
Back Rank mate (Bishop Helper)  - 16 Puzzles
BackRank Mate - (Queen Sac, Knight - Rook Combo)  - 6 Puzzles
Back Rank mate (Attacking the a or h File)   -  8 Puzzles
Back Rank mate (Unpinning your Rook to Mate) - 7 Puzzles
Back Rank mate (High Level Puzzles)  - 17 Puzzles    (2200 - 2650 Rated Assorted Puzzles)

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Backrank Lichess Studies

New to Lichess studies? These interactive tools allow you to explore chess concepts and variations move-by-move, perfect for testing your understanding and deepening your knowledge.

• Back Rank Mates  - 24 Chapters - 6 Lessons of Different types of Backrank mate w/ 19 puzzles
  
  
• Back rank weakness: - 32 Chapter - 32 Puzzles to solve
  
  
• Back Rank Combination - 33 Chapters - 33 back rank positions

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BackRank Chess Video Lessons

Back Rank Mate - 16 Video playlist - Chessbase India (Lessons and Games)


Understanding Back Rank Checkmates | How to Spot & Exploit Back Rank Weaknesses? - 32 Min -  Covering the topic of back rank mates from the beginner level going up to the intermediate level. The video covers five powerful techniques that one must learn in order to successfully deliver back rank checkmates or gain tremendous advantage in the game because of weaknesses in the back rank. To make these techniques, easy to understand and get a through practice of the same, each of these 5 techniques is explained with the help of 5 examples taken from the games of players who played in the tournament. That means, you will get to learn from 25 different chess positions.

Learn tactics around the Back Rank | Chess Tactics 101 - 14 Min - shows Motif plus 5 guess the move type problems to solve.

Back Rank Mate Concepts + Intermediate/Advanced Exercises To Test Your Knowledge Of This Tactic -  15 Min  NM Nelson Lopez

Grandmaster Lesson 3 - 6 Min - GM Lev Alburt (Examines a weak back rank) Real Old Video - is aimed at players ready for ideas that are a bit more complex. Alburt examines the problem of a weak back rank and the tactic that often capitalizes on this weakness—deflection. Alburt also discusses good and bad double attacks and points out that sacrifices require concrete calculation-visualization at every step. He teaches some of the red flags that indicate when and where to look for tactics,

Learn Tactics #7: Back-rank Mate - 73 Min WIM Jesse February - WIM Jesse February discusses the concept of back-rank checkmates in chess, using examples from recent and historical games. includes a detailed analysis of specific chess positions where back-rank checkmates are a key factor, and Jesse provides insights into the thought processes behind certain moves.

 Back Rank Checkmates: Lecture by GM Ben Finegold-50 Min - a lecture on back rank checkmates, explaining the concept and demonstrating it through various examples and puzzles.

Trent's Tactics - Back-rank checkmate - 41 Min  IM Trent Lawrence - In this episode, Lawrence will show us different tactics about the back-rank mate. And even though we know the motif now, some of the examples which Lawrence picked are still very challenging!

Master Back-Rank- Mates with IM Sopiko Guramishvili - 14 Min - he most typical checkmate with rooks, very common in amateur and master games alike. Many teachers advice, with reason, to don't move the pawns in front of your castle, to avoid creating weaknesses around the king. But this leads to different types of back-rank mates.

St. Louis Chess Club  Video Lessons

• Back-Rank Checkmate - Beginner Breakdown - 2014.06.17  - 42 Min -  a lecture for chess beginners on how to recognize, avoid and execute back-rank checkmate.
• Exploring Back-Rank Checkmate - GM Yasser Seirawan - 2013.07.31 - 39 Min - explores the idea of back-rank check mate in an intermediate-level
• Combinations on the Back Rank | Puzzler's Paradise - IM Vitaly Neimer - 34 Min - goes over increasingly complicated combinations that attack the back rank.
• Find the Under-Defended Back Rank Weakness | Tactics Time! - 36 Min  - National Master Jim McLaughlin shows puzzles and positions from Siegbert Tarrasch that mainly deal with back-rank checkmates and attacks.
• Combinations | Beginner Breakdown - 62 Min - Alex Moellering discusses common mating combinations that exploit weaknesses on the back rank. Solve tactics with the mysterious masked Alex!