SniperOnG7 wrote on 02/03/06 at 07:56:54:


As regards Saemisch, you have to recon with 6.Nge2, 6.Be3 and 6.Be5. Finding one good line for all three might be next to impossible. Byrne system with 6…c6,7…a6 is playable generally. But then, alas, mating attack on the king side is not he theme!

The easiest are the ones where White plays an early d4-d5. In these positions i am the King! while the hardest are definitely the saemisch and the fianchetto. 
Im having trouble recently to decide on what setup to choose against each one. Can anyone offer me a list of the defences against these two systems and maybe recommend me some books that examine these?

The "Sämisch Panno" is the subject of one of John Watson's finest books imho, well worth looking at if you can get hold of a copy, even if you have no intention of playing the line with either side.  In my KID days I would play 6...Nc6 just so I could scurry away and look it up in John's book again after I had finished my game.  Then along came Andy Martin's repertoire book (with all the diagrams printed from Black's point of view - I really liked that back then!) and I switched to sacrificing my queen (6...e5 7.d5 Nh5 8.Qd2 Qh4† 9.g3 Nxg3!? 10.Qf2 Nxf1 11.Qxh4 Nxe3) but I still think back fondly to all those lines where Black plays ...Nd4 as a pawn sacrifice and then blasts away down the b- and e-files and the h8-a1 diagonal

However, I should point out, as Watson does, that the moniker "Sämisch Panno" is inaccurate.  The variation has very little in common with the 'echt' Panno (vs. the Fianchetto) ... and Panno rarely, if ever, played it.

Hey Bladez,

That was an interesting description of the Panno by you. I had been tempted to study it but was put off by the seemingly disappointing results by black. The book I have (Barden Hartson &Keene) didnt give very much accept to say that it is complex & it goes for all round board play as opposed to say Byrne which focusses on Q-side play.

Going by the move order Nc6, a6, Rb1 it does look like its going for Q-side expansion, but at the same time ive seen in some games the QN is going all over the place being chased or otherwise. Ive not really seen any K-side storms  as in the typical KID games or attempts to liquidate the ctr or lock it by black. So what really is black aiming for? To provoke some strategic weaknesses in white's side maybe??

Ive managed to find a few Saemisch Panno games played by Fischer (one of the best KID models right?) & he had trouble keeping afloat & eventually lost most of his games. (probably why he avoids playing the KID against saemisch specialists) So its kinda discouraging at the moment.

What's your take on the Panno compared to Uhlmann's defense (I use that one) against the Saemisch? Does the Saemish Panno have the same strategic ideas/aims as the Panno Fianchetto??

Thanks.

Smyslov_Fan wrote on 10/01/05 at 05:00:20:


I don't approach it as White having all the choices in the classical, specifically in the Mar de Plata lines.  What I see clearly is White having tried this then that, then this other and still Black keeps putting the ball back in White's court.  All the choices have come from all those tries.  I would say that the critical line in the Mar de Plata, a4 has been getting nowhere with ...a5, and lately, ...Rf6 instead of the immediate ...a5 is growing and that can only help Black, especially in the ...a5 because I think whatever Black can do with ....Rf6, he can do with playing ...a5 first.

The classical, the Mar de Plata, is being seeing less in top level competition, in correspondence you are hard pressed to find 10 games among 2 players 2200+  in a year now.  Frankly, I don't worry about it as much as the other obscure systems. 

The Saemisch, specifically in the Panno (my specialty), is a wild and sharp game and those who win are the better prepared and the better tacticians, in the ...c5 systems (my plan B), specifically the Dreev system, those are very compromising games the more risks taken by White, the more chances has to win, the less risks he takes there, then the less chance Black has of playing for the win, but White is also left with fewer chances.

I think probably best for black in the Petrosian would be the combination of both ie 7....a5 8.Bg5 h6 9.bh4 Na6 to keep white's q-side push at bay before starting operations on the K-side.

A slower & much less popular method ie 7....Nbd7 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bh4 a6 10.Nd2 Qe1

Then probably the sharper alternative to the above might be 9....g5! 10 Bg3 Nh4 11.h4! But i feel that this is giving white the type of game he wants which is to blunt black's f5 break.

There's also this thing called an anti Petrosian which is to play 7...h6!? preventing Bg5. I dont know much about this line but the book i have considers this weakening of the k-side as uncalled for w/o provocation.

Quote:


Well Black has to respect a system named after a World Champion  .  Since in the KID Black is trying to get White to clarify the in the centre (it's a war of information), in the Petrosian system White is giving information away to Black without concession, and so GMs think they can squeeze a little bit more out of White's position by delaying d5.

Your last sentence is your answer, MNb.