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KID, Makogonov Variation 5...Nbd7 6.Be3 e5 [E71]
This is now a very popular and dangerous line, played by many top players, so some extra resources for Black can be very useful. For example, after 5...Nbd7 6.Be3 e5 7.d5 Nc5:
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Black is attacking the e4 pawn before it can be defended with 8.Nf3-d2, and this is down to the tempo Black saved on castling. This explains why Parham Maghsoodloo played 7.Nf3 instead of 7.d5 in Maghsoodloo, P - Rapport, R, he wants Black to play 7...0-0 after which 8.d5 Nc5 is met by 9.Nd2. Rapport in turn immediately played 7...exd4 8.Nxd4 0-0 followed by 9...Re8 and then blasting the centre open with ...c7-c6 and ...d6-d5. This is fine for Black, but in the game he had to find the 16...Rd8! and then 18...Bf5!! Which I gave in the notes.
KID, Makogonov Variation 5...e5 6.d5 a5 [E71/90]
The 5...e5 of Anton Guijarro, D - Van Foreest, J would lead to the same thing if Black met 6.d5 with 6...Nbd7, but in the game he chose a different approach with 6...a5 and only slightly delayed castling.
KID, Makogonov Variation 5...0-0 6.Be3 Nc6 7.Qd2 [E71]
In Anton Guijarro, D - Maghsoodloo, P Black chose another approach with 5...0-0 6.Be3 Nc6, which has already been covered at Chesspublishing.com. In this game 7.Qd2 was played instead of the standard 7.d5 and Black was OK until he put his knights on strange squares starting with 16...Nb3.
KID, Makogonov Variation 5...0-0 6.Be3 e5 7.d5 Nbd7 8.Be2 [E71/93]
In the final game with 5.h3, Praggnanandhaa, R - Erigaisi, A, Black played a very standard line with 5...0-0 6.Be3 e5 7.d5 Nbd7 and now Pragg did not choose the 8.Nf3 Nc5 9.Nd2 line that I gave as an argument for delayed castling by Black. Instead he played 8.Be2 Nc5 9.Qc2 a5 10.Nf3 Nh5:
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and now the computer-esque 11.Bxc5!?. Pragg has played this before but it’s a difficult move for humans (at least the older ones) to get used to. It seems very interesting because Black struggles to get counterplay.
KID, Modern Averbakh 5.Be2 Nbd7 6.Be3 e5 [E73]
Against the Averbakh it seems that Black can also delay castling, the game Erigaisi, A - Carlsen, M having gone 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 and now 5...Nbd7!?:
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After 6.Be3 e5 7.d5 Nc5 Black was again attacking the e4 pawn before White could defend it with some Nf3-d2. Carlsen had a good position before things went horribly wrong later, but in fairness this was an Armageddon game!
Ioannidis, E - Kozul, Z varied from Erigaisi’s 9.Nf3 with 9.h3, but again Black was doing fine.
KID, Sämisch Variation 5...e5 [E80/87]
The final version of delayed castling to look at is in the Saemisch Variation, with Black having the possibility of 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 e5!?:
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David Vigorito had covered this previously, the idea being that after 6.d5 Black can play 6...Nh5 7.Be3 f5 8.Qd2 Qh4+ and meet 9.Bf2 with either 9...Qf4 or 9...Qe7, this latter move having been played in Goryachkina, A - Ivanchuk, V. Black was OK until he got too creative, though eventually he scrambles a draw.
KID, Sämisch Variation 5.Be3 Ng4 [E70/80]
Should White try to sidestep this line with 5.Be3, Black can effectively play 5...Ng4, as in Jeraj, Z - Tomazini, Z:
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This game was a bit of a massacre in the end, but Black missed the surprising 8...cxd4 9.Nxd4 Bxd4! 10.Qxd4 e5!, winning a piece.
That’s all for now, see you next month! Nigel
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