1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. Bc4 Bd7 10. g4

Why is this variation rarely ever played? It's hard to find any information on it online, in example a refutation. MCO-14 has a side-line that resembles this, yet it is not quite the same: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. Bc4 Bd7 (here is where it differs) 10. O-O-O Rc8 11. Bb3 Ne5 12. g4?! b5! saying that black has immediate queen side counter play.

I know there has to be a refutation to this line, otherwise it would be played often, so I am wondering if anyone has any ideas as to what it could be.

Here's the thing with the dragon -

There are a lot of transpositions. White can mix up g4, h4, 0-0-0, and Kb1 in a variety of ways.

Looking for a "refutation" here is pointless. There isn't one. White's position is fundamentally solid and all he's done is tinker move-orders. What you should play defends on which variation you want to play.

White can elect to omit h4 altogether. 10. ... Ne5 11.Bb3 Qa5 12.0-0-0 (white's not going to get any sort of kindside attack going without this move) Rfc8 13.Kb1 when ...b5! seems like the right move - not with the idea of b4, but rather, with the idea of Nc4, Bxc4, bxc4, switching the attack to the b-file. (If you don't normally play Qa5 and Rfc8, then Rac8 is appropriate, instead, leading to the line you found in MCO).

13. ... b5 and 14.g5 is not scary (Ne8, and where's white's attack?) and neither is Nd5. White's adopted a slowish plan here, so it's not suprising that white is doing fine. See leygue-rausis Creon 1999.

The issue here is that you need to understand the key ideas in the openings you play - particularly in the dragon, for crying out loud - so that you're not thrown by what really amounts to little more than a transposition.

And playing the dragon relying on MCO as your main source ... well, that's just playing russian roulette.

Sometime it is not that black has a refutation, but white will find better alternatives to the Opening line. I play the Yugoslav Attack vs. the Dragon and a similar attacking formation vs. the Najdorf.
I believe white's 10th move is better with 0-0-0 completing development and connecting both rooks. This 10th move take you into a ECO-Code of (B78).
A typical black reply would be ...Qa5 11. Bb3 Rfc8, taking you to a (B79) variation.

Ronaldinho:

I can't quite seem to find the leygue-rausis Creon 1999 game; are you sure you have all the information right?

About using MCO as a guide to the dragon; I plan on buying a book on the dragon, specifically "Play the Sicilian Dragon" by Edward J. Dearing. I've read, but don't own, a book by Steve Mayer called "The Soltis Variation of the Yugoslav Attack," so I am pretty familiar with the 12. h4 territory. I've also read "Starting Out: The Sicilian" by John Emms, though it hasn't really helped for the Dragon, but more for playing the Sicilian with the white pieces.

Najdork:
That variation of the Najdorf you are talking about is the English attack, right?

Since in the Sicilian Dragon black is supposed to have the better pawn structure, and after the exchange sac on c3, white's pawn structure can become worse, and since there aren't many open files on the board, you should be able to safely commit such an exchange sacrifice for that positional gain. Thus I came up with a line to counter this:
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. Bc4 Bd7 10. g4 Qa5 (I believe this move isn't highly respected, but it seems to work here) 11. h4 Rfc8 12. Bb3 Ne5 13. h5 (pry open the h-file) ... Rxc3 (to shatter the queen-side pawn structure) 14. Qxc3 (an attempt to avoid the bad pawn structure) ... Qxc3 15. bxc3 Rc8 16. hxg6 hxg6 (Black can safely open the h-file as the queens are off the board).

1. The c3-Knight has been removed, thus making the d5 pawn break easier.
2. The pawn's on the queen side have become isolated and targets of attack (especially after a possible 17. ... Nc4 18. Bxc4 Rxc4). And black only has two pawn islands, as opposed two white's three.
3. Black should be able to get into an endgame with a bishop vs. a rook, which can be much more promising then a knight vs. a rook
4. Black still has his/her powerful dark-squared bishop, and the bishop pair.

I think this looks promising for black. If anyone has any comments on this, I would appreciate it.

Is that position promising for black? Well, sure. It's also promising for white. Generally most people don't go for the exchange sac unless they've at least netted a pawn out of it first, but the key to that position is that you can't look at it as won or lost yet. You have to like the idea of playing out that endgame, or a similar, following position where black plays Bxg4 and ends up with a whole slew of pawns for a rook.

It's pretty rare that you'll see white defer castling for that long, however.

More to the point, really, though, is that black actually usually wants both rooks on the board in those endings. Simplifications help white. This is particularly true in amateur play when one less rook means one less target for a knight ending. In the position you give, simplification to a R. v. B ending looks like an easy win for white. In fact, that's his strategy.

Ultimately, I feel like the exchange sac may be slightly premature in that position. It feels a little robotic, although examining the truth of that position is beyond my ability. Nd5 isn't a threat yet (while Rxc3 is a move you should constantly be considering, I might consider Rc4 here - a different exchange sac, to net your the dark-square bishop).

The game Leygue-Rausis is given in Ward's "Winning with the Dragon 2."

6. Be3 ... The english attack does setup this way but I perfer the move 6. Bc4 ... The Sozin Variation a little better.

Two reasons I don't play 6. Be3 is because i don't like the replys I get with 6. Be3 Ng4 and I don't like 6. Be3 e5 7. Nb3 b5 which I play as black to stop the
white bishop getting the nice a2-g8 diagonal.

So I play Bc4 first then set up an english type attack starting with f3 then Be3.

There's nothing wrong with the immediate g4 line, except that it's a lot less sharp and often leads quickly to the endgame (where white retains some edge).

I just bought "Play the Sicilian Dragon" by Edward Dearing, and though I' not very far into it, it seems pretty good. Anyway, I have found/developed a few lines/ideas, of which two are interesting, in this 10. g4 variation.

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. Bc4 Bd7 10. g4 Rc8 11. Bb3 Ne5. We now a few options:

12. O-O-O:
This just simply transposing into the sideline in MCO after 12. ... b5. There is also the option of attempting the exchange sacrifice (12. ... Rc4) that occurs in the next line. Black has good chances.

12. h4:
This is the interesting line, it goes 12. ... Rc4 13. Bxc4 Nxc4 13. Qc1 Qb6 Black has a reasonable game since white's king-side pawns are weak and vulnerable to attack (for example: 14. ... Nxe3 15. Qxe3 Nxg416. fxg4 Bxd4, and white won a pawn and the new g-pawn will likely drop too), white's rooks (especially his queen rook; look at how it's currently buried!) will be harder to mobilize since he never caslted, also leaving his king prone to attack, black still have a bishop pair, he has a nice knight at c4, his pawn structure is better, and finally he pieces seem to have more potential.

12. g5:
The king-side attack seems to fade away, and help give the Dragon Bishop more life after 12. ... Nh5. Black seems to have good chances, once again.

12. Bh6
I saw an interesting queen sacrifice, though I doubt it is worth anything. 12. ... Qb6 13. O-O-O Qxd4!!?? The game ("Olsson R - Jiretorn Eva Cup Rilton Stockholm (Sweden) 1994" is the information I get, yet I can't seem to find the game online) coutinued: 14. Qxd4 Bxh6+ 15. Kb1 Nxf3 16. Qf2 Bxg4 17. h3 Bh5 18. Rd3 Ne5 19. Nd5 Nxd3 20. Nxe7+ Kg7 21. cxd3 Rc7 22. Rf1 Bg5 23. h4 Rxe7 24. hxg5 Ne8 25. Qxa7 Kg2 26. Qf2 Nc7 27. Qf6 Rd7 28. Rf2 Ne8 29. Qd4 30. Nc7 30. Qf6 Ne8 31. Qf4 Ng7 32. a3 Ne8 33. Bc4 Nc7 34. Bb3 Na6 35. d4 Nc7 36. a4 d5 37. exd5 Nxd5 38. Qe5 Ne7 39. Qf6 Nf5 40. d5 Rd6 41. Qe5 Rfd8 42. Bc4 h6 43. Qf4 hxg5 44. Qxg5 f6 45. Qf4 Kg7 46. b3 g5 47. Qd2 Ne7 48. Qc3 Bf7 49. Rg2 Nxg5 50. Rxg5+ Bg6+ 51. Rxg6+ Kxg6 52. Qg3+ The game then ended in a draw.

Any analysis/ideas? Crafty, after 6 minutes, gives me the line: 14. Qxd4 Bxh6+ 15. Kb1 Nxf3 16. Qf2 Bxg4 17. Ka1 Ne5 18. Rd4 Bf3 19. Re1 Kh8 20. h3 a5 21. Qh4 Qh4 Ng8 22. Nb5 Rfd8 giving a score of +2.17, which means it's better for white. I'd appreciate some ideas on this line, and all the other lines/ideas.

I hope I didn't make any typos when typing out all that notation...