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King’s Indian Attack Reversed 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.e3 [E61]
In the Anti-Grunfeld move order 4...0-0 5.Be2 d6 6.Nc3 MVL has taken a liking to 6...Bf5!?:
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This is unusual, but not bad at all. In Jumabayev, R - Vachier Lagrave, M White prevented ...Ne4 with 7.Nd2 and after 7...e5 8.d5 e4!? 9.g4 White grabbed the pawn, which has to be critical, but Black got a lot of play.
Fianchetto Variation Irregular 6...c6 7.0-0 Bf5 [E62]]
7...Bf5!? is funny little line which is quite solid, as Black can switch to Grünfeld-like setups with ...d5. After Avrukh’s recommended 8.Ne1 Black went for 8...Be6 9.b3 d5 10.Nd3 dxc4 in Howell, D - Naiditsch, A when 11.Nf4!? led to complicated play.
Fianchetto Variation 6...Nc6 7.Nc3 e5 8.dxe5 [E62]
8.dxe5 dxe5 9.Bg5 Be6 10.Qa4 is a familiar line. Here 10...Qc8 is the most reliable. After 11.Rfd1 Nd7! 12.Nd5 e4 13.Nd2 f5:
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Now 14.Qxc6 is optically tempting, but Black is fine. See Molenda, M - Najer, E.
Fianchetto, Panno Variation 6.Nc3 Nc6 7.0-0 a6 8.b3 Rb8 9.d5 [E63]
Facing Avrukh’s recommended 10.Bg5 Black came up with 10...Bd7!?, an interesting move order which circumvents the Avrukh repertoire. It is not all roses for Black however. In Stefansson, H - Kovalenko, I 11.Rc1 allowed some kind of transposition, but 11.e4 with the idea e5 must be critical. Even so, White should get some advantage after the game’s 11...b5 12.cxb5 axb5 13.b4!
Fianchetto, Classical Variation 6...Nbd7 7.0-0 e5 8.e4 c6 9.h3 Qb6 [E69]
Just last month we saw 10.Re1 exd4 11.Nxd4 Re8 12.Nc2 Ne5. It's 'supposed to be bad' but Gledura and Adhiban are no pushovers. After 13.b3 Qa5N was played in Ghazarian, K - Gledura ,B:
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The game’s 14.Bd2 looks the most natural to me, but of course there is 14.Bb2. Probably White keeps an edge, but the contest is decided in the middlegame.
Classical - Exchange Variation 8.dxe5 dxe5 [E92]
Zou, C - Wang Yue can serve as some inspiration against the 'dreaded' Exchange Variation. The immediate 9.Nd5 is a sneaky (and timid) move order, forcing Black into the most solid line. Then 9...Nxd5 10.cxd5 c6 11.Bc4 b5!? looks to spice things up a bit:
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After 12.Bb3 Bb7 13.Bg5 Rc8 14.dxc6? is already a big mistake.
Petrosian - Kramnik’s 7.d5 a5 8.Bg5 h6 9.Be3 [E92]
The Kramnik line 8.Bg5 h6 9.Be3 Ng4 10.Bd2 f5 11.h3 Nf6 12.exf5 gxf5 13.Qc1 f4 14.g3 e4 15.Nh4 e3 16.fxe3 fxg3 17.Ng6 Re8 18.Qc2 Na6 sees a new twist in Kryakvin, D - Amin, B, 18.Nf4. There are various transpositions here. 18...Bf5:
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Now 19.0-0!? is an original solution which actually makes a lot of sense if we compare it to known paths.
Petrosian Mainline 7.d5 a5 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bh4 [E92]
In the main line of the 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bh4 Na6 10.Nd2 Qe8 11.0-0 Bd7 12.b3 Nh7 13.a3 h5 14.f3 Petrosian:
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Black usually plays 14...Bh6, but in Zhao Jun - Li Shilong he chooses 14...Bf6!? Black wants to exchange, rather than activate his dark-squared bishop. Then 15.Bf2 avoids the trade, but this allows Black to take the h4-d8 diagonal, which is usually not so easy.
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.