QUESTION:
After the common King’s Indian moves 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0–0 6.Be2 e5 7.0–0 we suddenly run into a series of “strange” moves that, to many people, won’t make much sense: 7…Na6 8.Re1 Qe8 9.Bf1 Bg4 10.d5 Nb4 11.Be2 a5 12.Rb1 Na6 13.Bg5 Bd7 14.Nd2 Kh8 15.Bxf6. Explain the meaning behind each White and Black move from 7…Na6 to 15.Bxf6.
This test (and the answer to it) will help many people better understand how to properly prepare their openings. You should be able to verbally explain the ideas and moves in every opening you play. If you’re unable to do so, you’ll experience serious difficulties in the beginning phase of the game.
PRIZE WINNERS:
I must admit to being surprised by the huge number of people that took part in this contest, and I was even more surprised at how savvy everyone appeared to be about basic KID theory! Though the vast majority were from the U.S. and Canada, I would like to mention a few names from the other side of the pond: Nicolas Croad (2198 FIDE) from New Zealand, Emmanuel Masker (2008 FIDE) from France, Jonathan Faydi (2004 FIDE) from France, Mickey (2200 FIDE) from Germany, Tim Spanton (2032 FIDE) from London.
I felt it was unethical to give a prize to friends and/or students who responded – your answers were excellent, but no books for you!
Our two winners (who both picked up free copies of Grandmaster Maurice Ashley’s new book, CHESS FOR SUCCESS) are:
Jean-Pierre Campion of Saint-Sulpice, Canada, and Mike Terrill of Salem, Oregon.
Congratulations to the winners and, once again, thanks to everyone for competing!
ANSWER:
I constantly have students asking me about “non-book” replies to their openings. More often than not, their opponent’s move is made from ignorance, but that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily bad.
The problem with memorizing a bunch of moves and expecting that to carry you through to the middlegame is that your opponent most likely hasn’t memorized the same moves you have! Thus he will almost always leave your prepared road and, as a result, leave you on your own.
Clearly, a bit of opening memorization isn’t good enough. That’s not to say that memorization isn’t very necessary in sharp lines like the Dragon Sicilian, but even there, you need more than that if you want to compete against experienced tournament players. And what is that “more” I just mentioned? Quite simply, you need to understand the goals, pawn structures, typical tactics, and basic strategic concepts of every opening you play. That way, no matter what your opponent does, you will still be able to respond intelligently.
I picked the King’s Indian Defense for our question since it’s very popular at all levels and rich in easy to understand strategies and tactics. Before leaping into the moves I presented, let’s take a quick look at some very basic KID ideas:
1) Much depends on whether or not the center is closed after Black plays …c7-c5 or …e7-e5.
2) If White doesn’t push his pawn to d5 in response to either of those Black moves, the second player has the option of capturing on d4. In the case of …e7-e5 followed by …exd4, Black will usually seek his play in the center by placing pressure against the e4-pawn (Black Knights on c5 and f6, along with a Rook on e8 creates a satisfying impression) and/or a central break by …c7-c6 followed by …d6-d5.
3) If the center is closed (White answers …e7-e5 with d4-d5), each side will seek play on their respective wing. In general, they will play where their pawns point. Thus, since Black’s pawns would “aim” from c7-d6-e5, Black would seek kingside play.
4) In closed positions, one must attack with pawns first. This not only gains space, it ultimately opens files for the Rooks. In the structure mentioned in point three, Black would move his Knight from f6, play …f7-f5 and, if allowed, …f5-f4 with a further …g7-g5, …h7-h5, and g5-g4 (after a Rook swings to the g-file via …Kh8 & …Rg8 or …Rf7-g7). This “caveman attack” seems crude, but it’s highly effective.
5) While Black is trying to stomp White on the kingside, the first player will be storming through the queenside by c2-c4-c5, gaining huge amounts of queenside space and also preparing to capture on d6 which opens the c-file for penetration in that sector and also turns d6 into a potential weakness. With this in mind, Black often plays a Knight to c5 (preventing White’s important c4-c5 advance) and anchors it by …a7-a5, which stops an immediate b2-b4.
6) If the plan in point four is achieved, Black’s light-squared Bishop becomes an important piece (even if it’s still sitting on its original c8-square) for two reasons: It helps make the …g5-g4 advance possible; It is often used as a sacrificial bomb against White’s kingside pawns (for example, White meets a Black …g4-g3 advance with h2-h3, apparently closing the kingside. Then …Bxh3 denudes the terrified White King.).
Every KID player should be aware of these six facts. There are lots and lots more, of course, but we’ll settle with these and see if any of them has relevance in relation to our actual question.
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0–0 6.Be2 e5 7.0–0
7…Na6
The most common move for Black is 7…Nc6, but that leads to such a deep well of theory that many players want to avoid it and simply play chess. The Knight move to a6 is an attempt to address that desire.
Placing the Knight on a6 has more uses than one might suspect:
* It defends c7, which might come in handy if White tries dxe5 followed by Nd5 at some stage.
* It’s ready to leap to the nice c5-square if White pushes his pawn to d5.
* It’s ready to leap to c5 even if White doesn’t advance his d-pawn, since Black can always play …exd4 followed by …Nc5.
8.Re1
Not the only move by any means. 8.Be3 is also popular. Indeed, at the moment the variation 8.Be3 Ng4 9.Bg5 Qe8 10.c5 with the idea of 10…exd4 11.Nd5 dxc5 12.Bxa6 bxa6 13.Rc1! is sending fans of 7…Na6 into a state of hysteria. Whether this turns out to be a long-term threat to 7…Na6 has nothing to do with the present column. Suffice it to say that lines like …Na6 rarely die – instead White finds sharp counters that, in turn, are eventually parried by Black.
8.Re1 is a positional move that keeps a grip on the position (it overprotects e4) and doesn’t allow Black to start anything active (which usually bums out aggressive KID players). Does 8.Re1 have any direct points? We’ll address this in our comments to White’s 9th move.
8…Qe8
8…c6 – giving Black’s Queen access to a5 or b6 in some lines and also preparing to meet 9.d5 with 9…c5 – is common too, but that’s a completely different story.
The strange looking 8…Qe8 has a lot of fans. Aside from giving support to the e5-pawn, it begins a forcing sequence designed to give Black control over the c5-square after making White advance his pawn to d5.
Black’s immediate threat is 9…exd4 10.Nxd4 Nxe4! winning an important pawn.
9.Bf1
Guarding e4 with the Rook and ending Black’s threat. White avoided 9.d5 since 9…Nc5 10.Qc2 a5 would give Black control over c5.
Now (after 9.Bf1) White threatens 10.d5 since 10…Nc5 would fail to 11.b4 when Black has failed to gain control over the critical c5-square. The idea of meeting …Nc5 with b4 is one of the main points of 8.Re1.
9…Bg4
Black usually doesn’t want to give up his light-squared Bishop for White’s Knight in the KID, but here this move blends tactics with the desirable positional goal of annexing c5. The threat is 10…Bxf3 when 11.Qxf3 loses a pawn to 11…exd4.
10.d5
Ending Black’s threat to the d4-pawn. Since 10…Nc5 still fails to 11.b4, what has Black gained from forcing White to play a move he intended to play anyway?
10…Nb4
This ugly Knight leap seems strange. What in the world is Black doing? Believe it or not, it’s a continuation of the battle for the c5-square! Normally such a move could be met by 11.a3, but then one of the key points of 9…Bg4 would come to light: 11.a3 Bxf3 12.Qxf3 Nc2. I should add that the position after 12.gxf3 Na6 has created some heated disagreement between various theoreticians. Some feel that Black has serious play against White’s fractured kingside. Others don’t believe Black’s loss of time is worth the kingside weaknesses, feeling that White stands better. Personally I feel that most KID players would be happy to take their chances against White’s open King.
11.Be2
White takes the string out of …Bxf3 and threatens to kick Black’s Knight back to hell with a2-a3. However, this slight loss of time is just what Black needed to continue his battle for c5.
11…a5
Now we can clearly see what Black was up to. He moved out of the way of his a-pawn, created a tactical threat (of …Bxf3), and then played …a7-a5. Now his Knight will slink back to a6 and then perch itself on c5.
12.Rb1
Threatening 13.a3 Na6 14.b4 when White has won the battle over c5 after all!
12…Na6
Black has worked too hard to give up c5 in such an obvious manner. The Knight has done its job on b4 and now goes home and eyes the square (c5) it put so much effort into acquiring.
13.Bg5
This also seems a bit strange, but it’s true point will be shown on move 15.
13…Bd7
As mentioned earlier, Black doesn’t want to part with his light-squared Bishop when the center is closed. Since …Bxf3 does just that, and since trading the good light-squared Bishop for White’s bad one is out of the question, Black moves his Bishop into safe territory.
Another important point of 13…Bd7 shows that the battle for c5 isn’t completely over. Black sees that White threatens a3 followed by b4. Placing the Bishop on d7 allows 14.a3 to be met by 14…a4 when c5 will be Black’s forever. In general, White doesn’t want his queenside pawn structure to be turned into a mass of holes, and allowing …a5-a4 to be played after a2-a3 is something that experienced White players make sure to never allow!
14.Nd2
White’s Knight wasn’t doing anything on f3, so it swings to a more flexible square (it can take part in queenside expansion via a3, b4, and Nb3, or it can leap to e3 or g3 after Nf1). More importantly, it opens up the d1-h5 diagonal for White’s Bishop. This deprives Black’s Knight of h5 and also sets up White’s next move.
14…Kh8
Black’s play must come on the kingside, so he prepares …Ng8 followed (at the right time) by …f7-f5.
15.Bxf6
The last move in our sequence. This exchange is something White doesn’t usually do in the KID, but here it makes perfect sense since, by getting rid of the Knight (which controlled g4) and also keeping Black’s f-pawn blocked, White can force the strategically advantageous swap of light-squared Bishops by answering 15…Bxf6 with 16.Bg4. The resulting position might be a tad better for White, but still gives Black plenty of play.
We were following the game Kasimdzhanov-Topalov, Linares 2005. After 15…Bxf6 16.Bg4 the game continued: 16…Bg5 17.Bxd7 Qxd7 18.Nf3 Bh6 19.a3 Nc5 20.b4 axb4 21.axb4 Na4 22.Qd3 Nxc3 23.Qxc3 f5 24.c5 Qb5 25.h4 fxe4 26.Rxe4 Ra2 27.Rbe1 Qa4 28.cxd6 cxd6 29.Qc7 Qc2 30.Qb6 Bg7 31.Qe3 b5 32.Rc1 Qb2 33.Rf1 Ra1 34.Rxa1 Qxa1+ 35.Kh2 Qb1 36.Qe2 h6 37.Rg4 h5 38.Re4 Bh6 39.Ng5 Bxg5 40.hxg5 Rxf2, 1/2-1/2.
