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In my youth I was a fan of the Simagin Variation against the Classical, which goes 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 Bg4. Actually, I thought there were some plus points to playing 5...Bg4, though then you need White to put his knight on f3 rather than play 5.Be2. So it came as a shock when I saw that the line 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Bd3 had become popular, with one of the points being to reach a Simagin a tempo down after 6...Bg4 7.Be2. I did struggle to believe that Black shouldn’t be fine, but he doesn’t have an obvious way to reaching a good game. In fact, Sam Shankland, when playing against this line as Black, spurned 6...Bg4 altogether in favour of 6...e5.

Download PGN of September ’25 KID games

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This month’s other topic is on the latest way to combat the Classical Variation. My HIARCS Chess Explorer Pro database lists 13 different moves for Black after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 and coming in bottom is the move 7...Re8:

We have been told for many years that such moves are bad because of 8.d5, when the rook move is worse than pointless because f8 is a better square. On the other hand, Black has spent years figuring out ways to try and activate his e7 knight after 7...Nc6 8.d5 Ne7, so how much worse can it be? This may be why some really strong young players have started using it.

King’s Indian Defence with 5.Nf3 and 6.Bd3 [E90]

The development of this line has been quite a shock, could a tempo up Simagin still fail to equalize? In Suleymanli, A - Shankland, S, Black even played 6...e5:

rather than 6...Bg4 and reached a very decent position.

I wanted to check if 6...Bg4 was at least OK, and after 7.Be2 found some interesting recent games. I would not recommend Rauf Mamedov’s 7...c5:

treatment in Giri, A - Mamedov, R, he reached a position which reminded me of an outdated line of the Averbakh King’s Indian in which the endgames are known to be very unpleasant for Black. Black did well to get the e5 square, but he was still a bit worse and lost in the end.

The traditional Simagin treatment with 7...Nfd7:

fared OK in Van Foreest, J - Yakubboev, N and I found Yakovvoev’s confident and direct play (13...f5, 15...d5 and 18...Rxf3) to be rather exhilarating, even if none of these moves were quite correct. White must have been kicking himself after 21.b3? Ne5!, and then things fizzled out to a draw.

Finally, there is the 7...e5:

of Moradiabadi, E - Baklan, V, which gets a tempo up version of Caruana’s 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Bg4. Surely that should be fine, but Baklan ended up winning a scrappy game in which he was clearly worse at one point.

Simagin will be turning in his grave.


King’s Indian Classical with 6...e5 7.0-0 Re8 [E94]

As I mentioned above, this is currently Black’s 13th least popular option against 7.0-0, yet suddenly some talented players have started playing it. So, what’s the deal? White has been playing the approved 8.d5:

basically getting a tempo up Petrosian System. Then 8...a5 puts us at a crossroads in which White has tried 9.Bg5 (Yilmaz, M - Saric, A), 9.Ne1 (Aryan, C - Amin, B) and 9.Be3.

This latter move seems to me to be White’s most promising option, but even here it looks for from clear. Black was admittedly lucky to win in Navara, D - Theodoru, N, and this happened because White tried too hard and made a mistake towards the end.

Gukesh, D - Jumabayev, R was eventually won by White, but only after a massive struggle which could have gone either way.

7...Re8 deserves further tests before any kind of verdict can be delivered, and I rather think we’re going to get them.


See you next month! Nigel

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Don't hesitate to share your thoughts and suggestions. Any queries or comments to the KID Forum, or to me directly at support@chesspublishing.com (subscribers only) would be welcome.