DragonMasters II : Resurrection - The Life and Times of the Fiercest Opening in Chess

When 1975 dawned, the Sicilian Dragon, the most ferocious and exciting of openings the chess world had ever known, was on its knees begging for mercy.

Anatoly Karpov had just slain Viktor Korchnoi and Fischer’s contemptuous approach — "open the h-file, sac, sac, mate!" — seemed to have spelled the Dragon’s end. But already in the background there were acolytes attempting to repair the damage, to replace the beast’s scales and recharge its fiery breath.

DragonMasters Volume 2 covers the tempestuous two decades that followed, pitting the world’s deadliest attackers against each other: tactical brutes such as Planinc and Velimirovic, Miles and Mestel, Short and Tiviakov — all choosing sides in the greatest opening debate of all.

Would the sword-and-spear DragonSlayer followers of Karpov and Fischer prevail once again? Or would the reinvigorated DragonMasters prove that myth and legend could survive in a modern setting? The final answer would arrive at the very top of the world...

Andrew Burnett is a Scottish FM who represented his country on several occasions. He is the author of cult classic Streetfighting Chess and his love of the Dragon opening stretches back to his teenage years when he was looking to escape 1.e4 e5! He is currently working on the second volume of DragonMasters.