The Dragon's Second Life: GM Sina Movahed's Engine-Era Repertoire
For decades, the Dragon existed in uncertain territory—too dangerous to die, too sharp to be trusted. Bobby Fischer declared it lost. Yet there were always believers, grandmasters who saw something the verdict missed. Now, with modern chess engines rewriting opening theory, those believers are proven right. GM Sina Movahed's new course presents the Dragon not as a rehabilitation project but as a fully operational weapon for Black, armed with the dynamic resources modern engines have finally revealed.
The Dragon's Modern Reality
What makes this course distinctive is its premise: the Dragon isn't holdable—it's dangerous. Movahed's repertoire centers on positions where Black trades material for initiative, accepts structural concessions for piece activity, and plays for wins against 9.0-0-0, the most critical test. The course doesn't promise safety. It promises practical winning chances in lines that were once considered White's strength.
The repertoire centers on 9.0-0-0 d5, the immediate central break that defines Black's response to White's most aggressive setup. Unlike the older main line 9.Bc4, where White prevents this break, casting long allows Black to strike at once. The critical continuation runs 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Bd4 e5 13.Bc5 Be6 14.Ne4 Re8 15.h4 h5 16.Bc4 Nf4 17.Bxe6 Nxe6—Black accepts having a damaged pawn structure but gains dynamic piece play and attacking chances against White's king. This isn't theory maintenance. It's a complete rethinking of the Dragon's purpose.
Completing the Sicilian Repertoire
The Dragon covers White's main Sicilian setup with Nf3, d4 and then Nc3. For Anti-Sicilian systems (2.c3, Closed Sicilian, Rossolimo, Grand Prix Attack, and others), Jospem vs the Anti-Sicilians provides a complete second-move repertoire for Black, giving you practical answers across the full 1.e4 c5 landscape.
The Dragon didn't come back from the dead. It was never dead—just waiting for the right tools to prove it. Start the course and see what Fischer missed.