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Fianchetto Variation 6...Nc6 7.Nc3 e5 [E62]
In Ruck - Piorun we have another look at the eccentric 6...Nc6 7.Nc3 e5 8.d5 Nb8 line:
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After 9.e4 a5 10.Ne1 Na6 11.Nd3 Nd7 12.Be3 Ndc5 Nxc5 14.Qd2 b6N Black seems fine, although he was outplayed.
Fianchetto Classical 8.b3 Re8 9.e4 [E68]
8.b3 Re8 9.e4 This setup is a specialty of GM Nikolic, who was a world class player in the 1980's and 1990's. 9...c6 10.Re1 exd4 11.Nxd4 Ng4! 12.h3:
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Now 12...Nxf2! is a very strong novelty. See Goganov - Adhiban.
Sämisch Panno 8...Bd7 [E83]
5.f3 d6 6.Be3 Nc6 7.Qd2 a6 8.Nge2 Bd7 is Smirin's pet line, which we looked at not long ago. Now 9.Bh6 is a direct approach which should be critical against Black's relatively slow 8th move:
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In Duda - Demchenko White played very creatively, but went astray in the complications.
Sämisch System old Mainline 6...e5 [E89]
The classical move 6...e5 is still looking suspicious. Sometimes I find this hard to believe, but equality seems a long ways away.
7.Nge2! c6 8.Qd2 Nbd7 9.d5! cxd5 10.cxd5 a6 11.g4 h5 12.g5 Nh7 13.Nc1 is a plan from Svetushkin in his Chess Stars book:
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After 13...f6 14.gxf6 the recapture 14...Qxf6!? is not considered by Svetushkin, but it does not change the assessment. Black is still struggling in these lines, although he did manage to win in Oliva - Morovic Fernandez.
Classical Makagonov 5.h3 [E90]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.h3 0-0 6.Be3 is flexible and can transpose to other lines, as it does here. 6...c6 7.Nf3 Na6 8.Nd2 e5 9.d5:
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Eleven years earlier Kozul had this position too. In Jones - Kozul Black played 9...Nh5, although I do not think he really came close to equalizing. These lines are tough to play though, and Gawain loses control at some point.
Classical Variation 6...Bg4 [E91]
In Larson - Nyzhnyk we see a major upset in an unusual line that we looked at recently, 6...Bg4 7.Be3 Nfd7 8.h4!? A funny looking but rather effective move that we saw a few months ago in Damaso-Gareev:
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The game continued 8...Nc6 9.d5 Na5 10.Rc1 c5 11.Nd2 Bxe2 12.Qxe2 h5 (This does not prevent White's ambitions.) 13.g4 Nf6 14.gxh5 Nxh5 15.Rg1 Qd7 16.Qf3 when the position is unclear, which probably satisfied Black, but White then outplayed his higher-rated opponent.
Petrosian Main Line [E92]
The forever young Granda Zuniga beats a lifelong specialist in the Petrosian Variation with an unusual plan. 7.d5 a5 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bh4 Na6 10.0-0 Qe8 11.Nd2 Bd7 12.b3 Nh7 13.a3 is a well-known position:
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Now, in Naumkin - Granda Zuniga, Black uncorks 13...Kh8!?, the point being that after 14.Rb1 Rg8!? he wants to use the g-file. Also the rook slide gives Black's queen a square. This works like a dream in the game, but I do not think that it should.
Classical Variation 9.Ne1 Mainline [E99]
7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Ne1 Nd7 10.Be3 f5 11.f3 f4 12.Bf2 g5 13.Nd3 Nf6 14.c5 Ng6 15.Rc1 Rf7 16.Kh1!? has been popular lately:
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Now Bruzon Batista - Arenas continued 16...h5!? 17.Nb5 (instead, White mistimed this advance with 17.cxd6?! cxd6 18.Nb5 a6 19.Na3 b5! in So-Nakamura). White has everything he could ask for, but it's the King's Indian, so there are always 'chances'! In fact it's not so easy for White to break through. Black actually fought back to get a winning position, which he then gave away...
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.