Download PGN of September '15 KID games
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Fianchetto Variation 4...c5, 7...Qc7 8.Nd5 [E60]
This line 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 c5 5.d4 cxd4 6.Nxd4 0-0 7.Nc3 Qc7 has proven to be quite solid for Black. MVL played it twice in the Sinquefeld Cup and both of his opponents responded with 8.Nd5:
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This forcing move is not very common, but White has not achieved much anywhere. In Carlsen - Vachier Lagrave Black went for 8...Qxc4!? 9.Nxe7+ Kh8 10.Nxc8 Rxc8 11.0-0 Nc6 White has a better pawn structure and the bishop pair, but Black has a lead in development. Carlsen's 12.Be3!? is a novelty which should not change any assessments.
In Grischuk - Vachier Lagrave Black switched to 8...Nxd5. This is the most common and looks the most solid. After 9.cxd5 Qb6!? (more often Black gives check with 9...Qa5+) 10.Nb3 d6 11.0-0 Na6?! is new in OTB games but it had been tested in correspondence play.
Panno Variation 8.e3 Rb8 9.Nd2!? [E63]
6.0-0 Nc6 7.Nc3 a6 8.e3 Rb8 9.Nd2!? is a rare idea which for the most part gets the game 'out of book':
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In Zherebukh - Molner Black reacted well and was at least OK out of the opening.
Classical Main line 9...Qb6 [E69]
6.Nf3 Nbd7 7.0-0 e5 8.e4 c6 9.h3 Qb6 10.Re1 exd4 11.Nxd4 Re8 12.Re2 Qb4 The queen will eventually have to retreat, but White has to put his rook on an unusual square. 13.Rc2 Nc5 14.Bd2 Qb6 15.Be3 Qc7 16.f3 a5:
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This is the main position for the line with 10.Re1. Black looks OK but in Fridman - Chigaev Black played a couple of questionable moves White got everything he could want in this kind of position. Of course it's the King's Indian so it's complicated and Black won anyway.
Sämisch Panno 8...Na5!? [E83]
Following 6.Nge2 Nc6 7.Be3 a6 8.Qd2 the reply 8...Na5!? is still topical. After 9.Ng3 b5 10.b3!? is a positional continuation:
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In Le Quang Liem - Nguyen Duc Hoa Black played 10...c5 and this looks fine for the second player.
Classical - Makagonov 7...Nh5 [E90]
6.h3 e5 7.d5 Just as Tomashevsky as shown himself to be a huge expert on the White side of this line, Ding Liren has taken up the black cause with considerable success. 7...Nh5 8.g3 f5 9.exf5 gxf5 10.Ng5 Qe8 11.Be2 Nf6 12.Be3:
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Now after 12...Na6 13.Qd2 Ding Liren varies from his game against Radjabov (which continued 13...Bd7) with 13...Nc5. In Ni Hua - Ding Liren Black was better prepared in this game but White still had his chances.
Main Line 9.Ne1 Mar Del Plata [E99]
We saw 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Ne1 Nd7 10.f3 f5 11.Be3 f4 12.Bf2 g5 13.Nd3 Ng6 14.c5 Nf6 15.Rc1 Rf7 16.Kh1 last month:
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In So - Nakamura Black played 16...h5!? which is obvious enough, although last month's 16...Bf8 is more common. White reacted with 17.cxd6?! cxd6 18.Nb5 which is thematic but his timing is wrong. See how the American punished this in a modern King's Indian classic.
After 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Ne1 Nd7 10.Be3 f5 11.f3 f4 12.Bf2 g5 13.Rc1 and now 13...b6?! I included the game Kuzubov - Esen mostly to show the dangers to such an approach by Black:
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This is the kind of move one would expect to meet at club level. White won a clean, thematic game.
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.