ForumHelpSearchMy ProfileSite InfoGuests InfoRepertoireLinks
This month we see look at games from the Dortmund and Biel super tournaments. It pains me to show three losses from Etienne Bacrot, as subscribers know that he is one of today's strongest King's Indian's advocates, even if this has fallen under the radar due to the "louder" successes of such players as Radjabov and Nakamura.

Download PGN of August '12 KID games

>> Previous Update >>


Sämisch System 6.Nge2 c5 [E81]

In this game we see another theme with a peculiar ...Na5, this time from none other than Grischuk. After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 0-0 6.Nge2 c5 (recently we have looked at the related 6...Nc6 7.Be3 a6 8.Qd2 Na5!?) 7.Be3 Nc6 8.d5 Na5!?:











This was only a rapid game, but the idea deserves attention. See Dreev - Grischuk.


Sämisch System 6.Be3 c5 [E81/82]

Another uncommon Benoni idea is seen in Vitiugov - Ding Liren. After 6.Be3 c5 7.Nge2 Black plays the rare 7...b6 and gets quite a good position:











He quickly loses the thread, however, and White wins with a direct attack.


Sämisch System - Panno 9.Rc1 [E84]

The line 6.Be3 Nc6 7.Nge2 a6 8.Qd2 Rb8 9.Rc1 has been seen a lot on our site in the last year or two. Giri - Wang Hao is not so significant theoretically, but it shows Black's confidence in the Panno at this level. After 9...Bd7 10.Nd1 Re8 Wang Hao plays along the lines of the recent game Caruana-Jones, and the game soon transposes. Giri comes up with a poor novelty, but at least the game shows how Black should handle these positions.



Classical - Petrosian Variation 7...a5 [E92]

The Petrosian Variation remains a viable practical weapon. I think that Black is ok in the main lines, but White has a lot of options. After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.d5 a5 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bh4 Na6 10.Nd2 Qe8 11.0-0 h5 12.a3 Bd7 13.b3 Nh7 14.f3 Black goes off the beaten track with 14...f5 in Nakamura - Bacrot but it is probably best left in the history books.


Classical - Gligoric Variation [E94]

The game Gustafsson - Kramnik is really something - Kramnik is well known as a King's Indian killer, but here he takes it up with Black for the first time in many years. He plays a line which always seemed to be a bit passive for Black, but then he wins quickly and brilliantly! After 7.Be3 c6 8.0-0 exd4 9.Nxd4 Re8 10.f3 d5 11.cxd5 Nxd5! 12.Nxd5 cxd5 13.Rc1 Kramnik uncorks...











13...a5!? Quite the novelty! This looks like a nothing move, but watch what happens to this little guy.


Classical - 7...Na6 [E94]

In Gustafsson - Naiditsch we look at the fashionable 7.0-0 Na6 8.Be3 Ng4 9.Bg5 Qe8 10.Re1. After 10...exd4:











I think that White should play Kramnik's choice 11.Nd5 rather than the game's 11.Nxd4. Black gets a small initiative quickly, but it should be nothing serious. However, several little mistakes from White lead to a quick Black victory.


Classical - Bayonet Variation [E97]

The Bayonet is hot again. First we have Giri - Bacrot, a very attractive, yet mysterious game. Both sides follow last month's Van Wely-Bacrot game, but when Giri varies, Bacrot makes a couple of quick mistakes and gets into trouble.

After 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.b4 Nh5 10.g3 f5 11.Ng5 Nf6 12.f3 f4 13.b5 fxg3 14.hxg3 h6 15.Ne6 Bxe6 16.dxe6 Qc8 17.Nd5 Qxe6 18.Nxc7 Qh3 19.Rf2! Rac8 is Bacrot's revelation, 20.Rh2! Qxg3+ 21.Rg2 Qh3 22.Qxd6 Rf7 23.c5! Nf5! 24.exf5 Rfxc7 25.Be3!?:











This is new, but I had mentioned it in the notes to Van Wely-Bacrot in the June update. In this month's game, Bacrot avoids my advice :) and plays 25...Qxf5?! which I had mentioned as being dubious because of what happened in the game...

Another topical Bayonet line is 9.b4 Nh5 10.g3 f5 11.Ng5 Nf6 12.Bf3!? After 12...c6 13.Ba3 the Frenchman again goes down in Wang Hao - Bacrot, but I think that Black is probably ok here so White may prefer Kramnik's more recent try 13.Bg2.


Until next month, David

>> Previous Update >>

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.