I can safely say that the Yugoslav Attack is the ultimate test of the Dragon. White quickly develops his and castles long before turning his attentions to an all-out assault on the black king. To the untrained eye, this attack can look both awesome and unnerving.
Statistically, Chessgames.com's database of nearly 1500 master games shows win–draw–loss percentages for White to be: 46%–25%–29%. Mega Database 2002 indicates that White scores 52% while 66% of the over 1200 games were decisive. The ECO code for the Sicilian Dragon, Yugoslav Attack, 9.Bc4 is B77.
Overview
White tries to break open the black and deliver checkmate down the h-, while Black seeks counterplay on the queenside with sacrificial attacks. Typical white strategies are exchanging dark squared bishops by Be3–h6, sacrificing a pawn and sometimes an exchange on h5, exploiting pressure on the a2–g8 diagonal, and the weakness of the d5-square. Some typical themes for Black are exchanging White's light-square bishop by...Nc6–e5–c4, pressure on the c-file, sacrificing the exchange on c3, advancing the b-pawn and pressuring the long diagonal. White will normally conduct a straight pawn attack, because Black has given White a pawn on g6 to attack. Generally, White will avoid moving their pawns on a2/b2/c2, and so Black's pawn storm is nearly always slower than White's. Black can sometimes obtain an acceptable endgame even after sacrificing the exchange, because of White's h-pawn sacrifice and doubled pawns. The Yugoslav Attack with 9. Bc4 results in extremely tactical and decisive battles. White keeps a firm grip on the center while advancing aggressively towards the enemy king with f3–f4–f5 and even g2–g3–g4. However, danger exists in overextending and allowing Black to gain the initiative with a deadly counterattack. Black's strategy is centered around the half-open c-file and their ability to push the a- and b-pawns. Throughout the entire course of the battle, Black will be looking to break the center with an advance...d6–d5.
The main line runs: 9. Bc4 Bd7 10. 0-0-0 Qa5 11. Bb3 Rfc8 12. h4 Ne5. This approach was originally considered the main variation and was thus given the ECO code B79. It was advocated by GM Chris Ward in his books Winning with the Dragon and Winning with the Dragon 2. This line has fallen slightly out of favour due to difficulties encountered in white's 12.Kb1 and the credibility of the Soltis variation in Rc8 lines mentioned above.
The main line with 10. 0-0-0 Rc8 11. Bb3 Ne5 12. Kb1 has proven to be so effective over time that some Dragon players have attempted to dodge the line with the interesting 10... Rb8. This complicated line is known as the Chinese Dragon. The most topical line is currently 11. Bb3 which is really a degree of prophylaxis designed to prevent the sacrifice of the b-pawn immediately whilst buying time for White. Black now has the move 11... Na5 which both threatens to play 12...Nc4 13.Bxc4 bxc4, opening the b-file or just removing the bishop straight off with...Nxb3. Originally h4 was played in this position, but recently the move 12. Bh6 has come to prominence, leading to a sharp and double-edged game in which Black has good practical chances.
