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Fianchetto Variation Panno [E63]
After 6.Nc3 Nc6 7.0-0 a6 we look at a tricky line against the Panno with Re1 and Rb1 in Tkachiev - Paehtz:
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These moves do not appear to be complementary, but there is a point.
Averbakh - 6...c5 [E74-75]
The Averbakh Variation is not seen much these days, but it is flexible and dangerous.
In Fridman - Ju Wenjun Black seems to be well prepared in the line 6...c5 7.d5 h6 8.Be3 e6 9.Qd2 exd5 10.exd5 Kh7 11.h3 Re8 12.Nf3 Bf5 13.0-0 Nbd7 14.Rae1 Ne4 15.Nxe4 Bxe4 16.b3 b5!?. Later Black plays a move I mentioned before which looks sufficient, but he soon goes astray and loses quickly.
In Carlsen - Van Wely the Dutchman goes for the old line 7...e6 8.Qd2 exd5 9.exd5:
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This is considered to be suspicious for Black and Van Wely does nothing to disprove this, but perhaps it is viable after all. After 9...Qb6 10.Nf3 Bf5 11.Nh4! 13.f3! Qxb2? is the "main line" but it just looks bad. I believe that all is not lost for Black, however, see my notes.
Sämisch System - 6...Nbd7 [E81]
The game Benidze - Baryshpolets made me revisit a real classic, 6.Be3 Nbd7 7.Qd2 (for 7.Nh3!? see Jones-Gallagher below) 7...c5 8.d5 Ne5 9.h3 Nh5! 10.Bf2 f5 11.exf5 Rxf5! 12.g4 Rxf3!:
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This is all well-known from the game Beliavsky-Nunn, see the PGN Archive. It is shocking that a 2500+ player stumbled into this line as White.
Panno [E84]
A new twist on an old sacrifice is seen after 6.Be3 Nc6 7.Qd2 a6 8.Nge2 Rb8 9.h4 h5 10.Nc1 Re8 (rare, but it could transpose to the main line of the pawn sac) 11.Nb3 e5 12.d5 Nd4 13.Nxd4 exd4 14.Bxd4 c5 and here 15.Be3!? avoids the main line which would be reached after 15.dxc6 bxc6. Now 15...b5! is Gundavaa - Barcenilla.
6...e5 [E87]
In Giri - Carlsen the highest rated player in history goes for a rather passive line with ...Nh5 in the Sämisch: 8.Qd2 f5 9.0-0-0 f4 and is a little fortunate to escape.
It can hardly be surprising that Jones - Gallagher caught my attention, as the game is a battle between two players who are both King's Indian practitioners for Black, whilst Gallagher has also written a book on the Samisch. Of course they are both former ChessPub columnists, as well! 6.Be3 Nbd7 7.Nh3!? e5 8.d5 Nh5:
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Now the game's 9.g4 is critical but Black seems to hold his own.
Classical - Exchange 9...Na6 [E92]
Prusikin - Aronian is a peculiar game. Aronian plays the King's Indian only rarely, and his answer to the Exchange Variation is supposed to be insufficient. His opponent also appeared to be unaware of the theory, though. After 7.dxe5 dxe5 8.Qxd8 Rxd8 9.Bg5 the move 9...Na6 still looks a bit dubious:
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so I would not be sold by Black's easy victory in this game.
Until next month, David
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Don't hesitate to share your thoughts and suggestions with me. Any queries or comments to the KID Forum, or to me directly at david@ChessPublishing.com (subscribers only) would be most welcome.