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Early Bf4/London System [E61]
In Foisor - Fressinet we look at a 'crossover' variation. It starts as a London System but technically transposes to a King's Indian proper. 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bf4 The pure KID move order would be 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 0-0 5.Bf4 d6 6.e3 Nbd7 7.h3 b6 8.Be2 Bb7 Because of this possibility I cover the line here. 3...Bg7 4.e3 d6 5.h3 0-0 6.Be2 b6 7.0-0 Nbd7 8.c4 Now we have a King's Indian (ECO A61). If White plays c3 it would be a London proper (A48). 8...Bb7 9.Nc3 Ne4! 10.Nxe4 Bxe4:
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Black has no problems here. Exchanging a set of knights has given him enough room for his pieces, and he can play for ...e5, ...c5 or even ...b5.
Fianchetto Variation - Panno 8.Bf4 [E63]
6.0-0 Nc6 7.Nc3 Rb8 8.Bf4 a6 9.Rc1 h6 is a line we have come across many times. In Tan Zhongyi - Jones White went for 10.d5:
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This is not so common, but it is forcing so must be checked. 10...e5! is thematic and looks to give Black a full share of the chances.
7.Nc3 a6 8.Bf4 Rb8 9.c5 is a consistent and critical try. Black has tried a few things here but there is no clear best choice. In Fressinet - Neef Black played 9...Bd7 but after 10.d5!:
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Black had some issues with his knight, so White can fight for an edge.
Irregular Variation 5.Be2 0-0 6.Be3 [E73]
Rapport - Al Sayed may not be so critical theoretically, but it showcases Rapport's creative tactical style very well. In the 'no-name' line 5.Be2 0-0 6.Be3 Black played the classical 6...e5 7.d5 a5 8.h4 and now 8...Na6:
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To me it looks safer to play 8...h5 because allowing h4-h5 means White 'got away' with the omission of g2-g4. After 9.h5 Nc5 10.Qc2 c6 11.0-0–0 cxd5 Rapport begins an unusual sequence of moves with 12.Bxc5.
Classical - Gligoric 7...exd4 [E92]
6.Be2 e5 7.Be3 exd4 8.Nxd4 Re8 9.f3 c6 10.Bf2 d5 11.exd5 cxd5 12.0-0 Nc6 13.c5 Bf8!? looks to be a decent try for Black, as White has shown very little:
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After 14.Bb5 Bd7 15.Nb3 was tried in Vazquez Igarza - Nakamura, but 15...Ne5! looks like a clean equalizer.
Petrosian 9.Be3 [E92]
Gupta - Neef illustrates the dangers of modern preparation. In Kramnik's one-off line 6.Be2 e5 7.d5 a5 8.Bg5 h6 9.Be3 Ng4 10.Bd2 Black is very well prepared, but Gupta comes armed with a deep idea. 10...f5 11.h3 Nf6 12.exf5 gxf5 13.Qc1 f4 14.g3 e4 15.Nh4 e3 16.fxe3 fxg3 17.Ng6 Re8 18.Rg1 Na6:
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Black has looked to be doing very well here, but with 19.Nf4!?N White shows that he is no hurry to take on g3. White won very quickly but I think Black is still fine.
9.Ne1 Main line [E99]
9.Ne1 Nd7 10.Nd3 f5 11.Bd2 Nf6 12.f3 f4 13.c5 g5 14.cxd6 cxd6 15.Nf2 Ng6 16.Qc2 Rf7 17.Rfc1is an old line we have seen a few times. Now the simple 17...Bd7!? is a rare move, but it seems to be an interesting addition to Black's arsenal. See Aleksandrov - Fedorov.
The titanic Ragger - Nakamura is a very principled battle. Neither player backs down from the opponent's specialty (as they both specialize themselves in the line) and we witness a scary level of preparation. 9.Ne1 Nd7 10.Nd3 f5 11.f3 f4 12.Bd2 g5 13.Rc1 Ng6 14.c5 Nf6 15.Nb5 Rf7 16.Ba5 b6 17.cxd6 cxd6 18.Be1:
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18...g4 Black has mostly depended on 18...a6 19.Nc3 a5. 19.fxg4 Nxe4 20.Nb4 a6 21.Bf3 and now 21...Ng3! was new, but there were no surprises as both players were moving very quickly and continued to do so.
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.