Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack, Panov Variation

The Panov Variation is the most direct approach in the Yugoslav Attack. 9. g4 starts the kingside pawn storm immediately and postpones both O-O-O and Bc4. The play is very sharp for both sides, but engine analysis indicates that Black's central counterplay is sufficient, and the evaluation is close to balance. The most common reply is 9...Nxd4. 9...Bd7 and 9...Be6 are also frequent, and the latter scores well for Black.