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Fianchetto Variation Panno [E63]
In the game Foygel - Vigorito I faced a very sensible sideline where White steers play into a structure that is typical of the English opening. 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.g3 0-0 5.Bg2 d6 6.0-0 Nc6 7.Nc3 a6 8.d5 (The position that arises can also crop up from the move order 8.b3 Rb8 9.d5 Na5) 8...Na5 9.b3:
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Tactics do not work for Black on the long diagonal, so it is best to play normally. After 9...Rb8!? 10.Bd2 c5 11.dxc6 Nxc6 12.Rc1 Bf5 White played 13.Nh4!? when Black has to be careful to not fall into a passive position.
Four Pawns Attack [E76]
Here young phenomenon Ilya Nyzhnyk uses an interesting move order to reach a main line of the 6...Na6 line of the Four Pawns, 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f4 0-0 6.Nf3 e5!?:
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This 'impossible move' seems quite playable. In Bromberger - Nyzhnyk Black reached a decent position after 7.fxe5 dxe5 8.d5 Na6 9.Bd3 Nc5, which sometimes arises via the more common 6...Na6, but here Black has avoided some other lines.
Sämisch System - Panno [E84]
An important theoretical pawn sacrifice comes about in a high level Sämisch game. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 0-0 6.Be3 Nc6 7.Nge2 a6 8.Qd2 Rb8 9.h4 h5 (This is the main line, but I think Black should definitely consider the alternatives 9...e5 and 9...b5.) 10.Nc1 (This positional move causes Black more problems than 10.0-0-0 in my opinion.) 10...e5 11.d5 Nd4 12.Nb3 c5 13.dxc6 bxc6 14.Nxd4 exd4 15.Bxd4 Re8:
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This line is a bit shaky for Black theoretically. In Wang Hao - Ding White plays 16.Rd1 and wins rather easily.
Classical - Gligoric Variation [E92]
In Perelshteyn - Vigorito I 'practice what I preach' and go for Fedorov's ambitious (risky) 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.Be3 Ng4 8.Bg5 f6 9.Bh4 Nc6 10.d5 Ne7 11.Nd2 h5!? At least Black's ideas are rather simple to understand. We have seen 12.h3 Nh6 13.g4 hxg4 14.hxg4 Nf7 15.Qc2 c5 16.0-0-0 a6 before:
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White played the routine 17.Kb1 and Black was able to quickly assume the initiative.
Another line that has been popular for the last couple of years is 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.Be3 Ng4 8.Bg5 f6 9.Bh4 g5 10.Bg3 Nh6 11.c5 In Shulman - Bercys White introduced a new move after 11...g4 12.Nh4 Nc6 13.cxd6 cxd6 14.dxe5 fxe5 with 15.Qd2 This is not bad at all, but it does not change the nature of the position.
Exchange Variation [E92]
The Exchange Variation is always a nuisance, even if it should not be very dangerous. In Stojanovic - Markus a 2600+ player loses very quickly with Black in the line 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.dxe5 dxe5 8.Qxd8 Rxd8 9.Bg5 c6 10.Nxe5 Re8 11.0-0-0 Na6 12.Rd6. Black should be ok but he must remain alert.
Classical Variation 7...Na6 [E94]
The Nakamura-Ponomariov Match in Saint Louis saw the American play the King's Indian a few times. In the third and fifth games 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Na6 8.Re1 c6 was played. Both times Ponomariov played the unusual 9.Be3:
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In the third game Nakamura failed to equalize in the opening, but he won, while the fifth game looked pretty solid for Black. See Ponomariov - Nakamura.
Classical Variation 7...Nc6 [E97]
In Neverov - Vovk Black brings a rare idea to the table and equalizes without much trouble, 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Nd2 a5 10.a3 Nd7 11.Rb1 f5 12.b4 Kh8 13.Qc2 fxe4!?:
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This is a very rare move, but it shows Black's changing attitudes to the Mar del Plata structure.
7...Nc6 - 9 Ne1 - Mar del Plata [E97-98]
As an echo of the previous game, we have another example of a fashionable ...fxe4 in Renet - Giri. Dutch star Anish Giri Black equalizes easily, and once he gets the initiative he gives an excellent example of 'power chess' in the popular line 8.d5 Ne7 9.Ne1 Nd7 10.Nd3 f5 11.Bd2 fxe4, which we have seen is quite solid for Black.
A well known idea in a rare form is seen in another Ponomariov - Nakamura game, 8.d5 Ne7 9.Ne1 Nd7 10.Be3 f5 11.f3 f4 12.Bf2 g5 13.g4!?:
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Nakamura played the normal 13...h5, but there is also something to be said for the alternate approach 13...fxg3 in this position.
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.