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A couple of years ago Marian Petrov covered the line 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Na6 8.Be3 Qe7, but since then there have been a lot of new games. One of the main ones is that 9.dxe5 has become quite popular and needs accurate handling by Black. Accordingly, I’m going to cover it this month and then look at White’s other moves next time.

Download PGN of October ’25 KID games

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King’s Indian Classical 7...Na6 8.Be3 Qe7 9.dxe5 dxe5 10 Nd5 Qd8 11 Qc2 [E94]

One of the interesting things about this line is the number of ways it can be reached. I have chosen the Classical move order with 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Na6 8.Be3 Qe7, but there is also 7.Be3 Na6 8.0-0 Qe7 and 5.Be2 0-0 6.Be3 Na6 7.Nf3 e5 8.0-0 Qe7:

White’s 9.dxe5 is an annoying move which looks for a small advantage with minimal risk. At one time this exchange was thought to be an error because it leaves a lesion in White’s pawn structure on d4, but in recent years this old view has been revised.

After 9...dxe5 White’s most popular choice has been 10.Nd5 Qd8 11.Qc2:

and after 11...Ng4 he has normally chosen 12.Bg5 f6 13.Bd2. After 13...c6 there’s a choice between 14.Ne3 and 14.Nc3, the retreat to e3 being well met by 14...Nxe3 15.Bxe3 c5! (Concio, M - Budhidharma, N).

Korobov did better with 14.Nc3 in Korobov, A - Priansh, D but Black has an improvement in 15...Nh6.

Instead of 12.Bg5, White has turned to 12.Rad1!? to put some pressure on Black:

The right move must surely be 12...Nxe3 as in Aditya Mittal - Gokerkan, C, but after 13.Nxe3 Black should probably play 13...Qe8 rather than 13...Bd7.

Another good move is 13...Qe7, which Marian Petrov covered with the game Davtyan, A - Yakubboev, N.

I don’t think that 12...Qe8 is as good as the capture on e3, though Black won in Gut, R - Panjwani, R. I pointed out that White would do better with 14.Nc3.

Besides 11...Ng4 Black has two other possibilities in 11...c6 (Bashylina, L - Shohat, Y) and 11...Nd7 (Mamedyarov, S - Saric, I). I don’t think that either of these moves are as good as 11...Ng4, but they might get White thinking!


KID Classical 7...Na6 8.Be3 Qe7 9.dxe5 dxe5 10 Nd5 Qd8 11 Nxf6+ [E94]

An alternative to 11.Qc2 is the simple 11.Nxf6+ Bxf6 12.c5:

, but Shirov, A - Sevian, S confirmed that this is harmless for Black, despite Shirov’s ‘new’ 13.Raxd1. I particularly liked Black’s 19...Re8! In this game, keeping all the rooks on the board. White is certainly not better then, but he can baton down the hatches.


KID Classical 7...Na6 8.Be3 Qe7 9.dxe5 dxe5 10 Nd5 Qd8 11 Bg5 [E94]

It was nice to see GM Luis Supi solve his Exchange Variation conundrum (see my July update) by playing 6...Na6 in the game Spata, G - Supi, L:

It transposed into the line under consideration following 7.0-0 e5 and after 9.dxe5 dxe5 10.Nd5 Qd8 White played the apparently attractive 11.Bg5. Black was very comfortable after 11...c6 and went on to win.


KID Classical 7...Na6 8.Be3 Qe7 9.dxe5 dxe5 10 a3 [E94]

The final game (Tenuunbold, B - Amartuvshin, G) features 10.a3, which actually makes a lot of sense:

In the game Black’s 10...c6 11.b4 Bg4! Is a plan to take note of, and it looked very solid for Black.


That’s all for now, see you next month for White’s 9th move alternatives! Nigel

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