Sicilian Dragon Powerbook 2022

In the Sicilian Dragon Powerbook 2022 too, nice discoveries await you. The numbers confirm that White should aim to castle long with 6.Be3, since the alternatives are harmless. After 6...Bg7 7.f3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nc6 you are faced with the next decision. In modern tournament practice there is a slight trend to 9.0-0-0, which is also confirmed by the statistics in the Powerbook. To be sure, the exciting variations occur after 9.Bc4 Bd7 10.0-0-0 Rc8 11.Bb3 Ne5

Here the statistics also confirm that the waiting move 12.Kb1 is much stronger than the alternatives. Black must deviate beforehand and there is, e.g., the very popular, Topalov Variation 11...Nxd4 12.Bxd4 b5.

However, the pretty picture from White’s point of view is contradicted by unsatisfactory evaluations in human practice.