The March Update
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The most interesting games in this update come from the very strong tournaments in Reykiavik, Monaco and Poikovsky (Russia). A curious fact is that Kasparov played the King's Indian as White while Karpov surprised everyone by playing it as Black! At the same time undoubtedly the best game of this year was played in the 5th Karpov Tournament in Sibir. So K was the key letter this month. Enjoy the games! Victor Mikhalevski |
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Hello guys!
To download the March '04 KI games directly in PGN form, click here: 
Classical: The Bayonet Attack
Allow me to start this time with one of my own games which I played against a very good KID specialist, the top 30 player Ilya Smirin. The game Mikhalevski,V-Smirin featured an interesting and complicated variation of the Bayonet Attack.
The critical position arose after Black's 16th move:
            
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Here instead of driving the knight away with 17.g3 I decided to improvise and played 17.Bb2 which was strongly met by 17...Nh6!. However, on the next move Smirin went in for a very dangerous exchange... The rest of the game is a nice and successful hunt for the black queen who was eventually trapped in the middle of the board!
Classical: The Orthodox variation with 9.Nd2
Undoubtedly the best game of the year so far, Malakhov - Zvjagintsev was played this month in a very rare sub-line of the Orthodox variation with 9.Nd2.
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The diagram position arose after 12...Qb6. Malakhov immediately went in for a forcing line trying to create objects of attack on the Queenside, and seemed to be succeeding until Zviaginstevif played a nice positional exchange sacrifice. In the ensuing battle White underestimated the threats and the game ends with a beautiful Queen sacrifice. Look at the final position where White's extra Queen is absolutely helpless:
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What a fantastic position! Bravo, Zvjaginstev!
Classical: The Orthodox variation with 7...Na6
The game David - Apicella sees a novelty in a popular line of the Orthodox variation with 7...Na6.
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Alberto's idea 17.b4 in the diagram position works very well and he wins the game in good style. However, it happens because of the faulty reaction by Apicella 17...f5?. I believe that after the correct 17...Qe6! Black is doing fine. Probably this idea of Van Wely's with the exchange of two bishops doesn't promise much. I believe White has to look for the advantage after 14.Bxa6, leaving the dark-squared bishop in the game.
Classical: The Gligoric-Taimanov system
In the first round of the Rapid tournament in Reykiavik we saw a very interesting pairing: the World's number one player against the most talented youngster, from Norway. After escaping with a draw in the first game of the mini-match Kasparov needed to win this game to avoid the tie-break... See Kasparov - Carlsen.
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The key-position of the game arises after Black's 16...Ng7. Kasparov come with a strong novelty 17. Rad1. Magnus reacted unfortunately and Garry went on to win the game easily. Probably Black has to prefer the immediate 15...Ng7 over 15...Bh3 as the latter only seems to help White.
Classical: The Glek variation
I would like to continue with this variation which attracted some attention from our subscribers. This time, in the game Babula - Rasik Black played a popular line with 11...Nf4
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White answered with the unusual line 13 Rfe1. This choice didn't surprise Rasik who equalised the position comfortably.
Saemisch
This month we have two very interesting games in the Saemisch, both played by top players.
We're not surprised to see Dreev on the white side of the board. However, the biggest surprise is to see Karpov playing the King's Indian Defense as Black! Moreover, he gains a decisive advantage against the World's best expert in this variation!
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Here Karpov presents White with an unpleasant problem to solve. I would like to see a game where White shows how to meet this particular move-order, as in the current game Dreev couldn't find the solution. The ball is on White's side! Don't miss Dreev - Karpov.
Another surprise comes from Monaco. Grünfeld expert Svidler decides to apply the KID recipe in his blindfold game against Vasily Ivanchuk. The latter implements a very rare line with 7.Rc1. Peter meets it with very aggressive, if not quite correct, play. Eventually he reaches a very comfortable position. However, after he outplayed Ivanchuk nicely a one-move blunder ruins the game. Don't miss this drama. Ivanchuk - Svidler, gentlemen!
Fianchetto Variation
Our last game this month, Romanishin - Ehlvest, features the Kavalek variation of the Fianchetto Variation:
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Black obtained a good position from the opening, but after his inaccuracy on the 19th move White succeeds in taking the initiative, but then spoils the game with a surprising one-move blunder. Still there's nothing to worry about for those who play this line as Black. Also here the ball is on the White side.
Enjoy the issue. See you in April.
Victor
Don't hesitate to share your thoughts and suggestions with me. Any queries or comments to the KID Forum, or to me directly at Victor@ChessPublishing.com (subscribers only) would be most welcome.