Annotated chess game

If you want to play the Dragon Defence or the Najdorf, you pretty much have to play ...d6 at move 2.

But I don't - I used to play the Dragon, but after losing to the Yugoslav attack I gave it up. I was intending to transpose into the main line with ....Nc6

I rarely play dragons anymore. In fact I rarely see them played at my level. Interesting.

I think so, too. But the first time I ever faced this line, I played 3...Nc6. I reckon it is quite playable. Also worth more than a second glance is 3...Nd7.

3.....Nd7 may be better if black is playing for a win and wanting to keep pieces on. I would have been happy to draw.

3...Nc6 is perfectly playable. I don't like blocking my bishop in with Nd7 but it's perfectly playable as well.

The bishop was not played to b5 in order to retreat, so any alternatives to exchanging on d7 must come into consideration. But neither a4 nor c4 get played all that often. The comparative database success of either against the exchange has, therefore, to be taken somewhat 'cum grano salis'.

Also possible here was 6.e5.

The game has gone through fairly well-established lanes this far, but taking white's bishop here is - I think - a mistake. A cool castling had been much better, or 8. ...a6

Maybe, but I didn't want to allow him to my bishop for his knight.

The reason why I think I would have castled at move 8 as Black is that I don't like Black's position after this move. The pawn places Black's Q-side under considerable constraint.

I now see that my above comment of move 8 coincides with archduke's opinion

Am in agreement with both archduke_piccolo and stalhandke. Black's position looks a bit awkward after the bishop exchange. Meanwhile it will be interesting how white proceeds given the spacial advantage.

Counter-intuitive, to my mind. I would have thought 10.Nc4 was the way to go, and start developing serious Q-side operations. E.g. 10.Nc4 0-0 (say) 11.Qf3 ... and really lay siege to the Black a- and b-pawns.

I completely agree!! This move by white equalises the position.

10. Nc4 was definitely the better move

The situation looks fairly even at the moment. Black can worry a little about a7, but for the moment has the more active minor pieces at least.