The Dane Bjarke Sahl used to have the name Bjarke Kristensen. Now living in Norway..

Bonsai wrote on 07/17/06 at 22:11:40:


In his book "The Chess Player's Battle Manual" (Batsford 1998), Nigel Davies has an interesting chapter on the King's Indian, with the help of which he hopes to convince the reader "that the best way to learn an opening is to understand the structures to which it leads. Rather than trying to memorise variations, it is better to look at some classic games in which this type of position was played."

He begins by telling how, as a teenager, he was impressed by the following two Bronstein games:

Zita,Frantisek - Bronstein,David I [E68]
Moscow-Prague Moscow (6), 1946
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 d6 4.d4 Nbd7 5.g3 g6 6.Bg2 Bg7 7.0–0 0–0 8.b3 Re8 9.Bb2 c6 10.e4 exd4 11.Nxd4 Qb6 12.Qd2 Nc5 13.Rfe1 a5 14.Rab1 a4 15.Ba1 axb3 16.axb3 Ng4 17.h3 Rxa1 18.Rxa1 Nxf2 19.Re3 Nxh3+ 20.Kh2 Nf2 21.Rf3 Ncxe4 22.Qf4 Ng4+ 23.Kh1 f5 24.Nxe4 Rxe4 25.Qxd6 Rxd4 26.Qb8 Rd8 27.Ra8 Be5 28.Qa7 Qb4 29.Qa2 Qf8 30.Bh3 Qh6
0–1

Reshevsky,Samuel Herman - Bronstein,David I [E69]
Candidates Tournament Zuerich (13), 22.09.1953
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0–0 5.Nc3 d6 6.Nf3 Nbd7 7.0–0 e5 8.e4 Re8 9.h3 exd4 10.Nxd4 Nc5 11.Re1 a5 12.Qc2 c6 13.Be3 Nfd7 14.Rad1 a4 15.Nde2 Qa5 16.Bf1 Ne5 17.Nd4 a3 18.f4 Ned7 19.b3 Na6 20.Bf2 Ndc5 21.Re3 Nb4 22.Qe2 Bd7 23.e5 dxe5 24.fxe5 Rad8 25.g4 Ne6 26.Bh4 Nxd4 27.Rxd4 Qc5 28.Rde4 Bh6 29.Kh1 Be6 30.g5 Bg7 31.Rf4 Bf5 32.Ne4 Bxe4+ 33.Rfxe4 Na6 34.e6 fxe6 35.Rxe6 Rf8 36.Re7 Bd4 37.R3e6 Qf5 38.Re8 Nc5 39.Rxd8 Nxe6 40.Rxf8+ Kxf8 41.Bg3 Qxg5 42.Qxe6 Qxg3 43.Qc8+ Ke7 44.Qg4 Qc3 45.Kg2 Qb2+ 46.Qe2+ Kd6 47.Kf3 Bc5 48.Ke4 Qd4+ 49.Kf3 Qf6+ 50.Kg2 Kc7 51.Qf3 Qb2+ 52.Qe2 Qd4 53.Kf3 h5 54.Kg2 g5 55.Kg3 Qf4+ 56.Kg2 g4 57.hxg4 hxg4 58.Kh1 Kb6 59.Kg2 Kc7 60.Kh1 Bd6 61.Kg1 Kb6 62.Qg2 Bc5+ 63.Kh1 Qh6+ 64.Qh2 Qe3 65.b4 Bd4
0–1

Davies then says:

"I started to appreciate this King's Indian position and found myself adopting King's Indian formations with White and Black without worrying about things like weak d-pawns. What interested me was the chance of active counterplay.

As my level of opposition improved, however, I found that it wasn't actually much fun to have this weak d-pawn. The problem was that often White didn't attack the pawn immediately but instead first set out to eliminate Black's counterplay. If this was accomplished, the d-pawn started to become weak almost of its own accord.

Once my youthful enthusiasm for this line was on the wane, I began to wonder if it might not in fact be better to be White in these positions. My conversion to the White side took place during a tournament in Lyons in 1990 when I watched King's Indian addict Branko Damljanovic playing White in this type of position and looking very pleased with himself. I asked him what he was so happy about and he told me: 'I used to play Black in this position, now I know better.'

For lessons in how to play White against this line, it is difficult to do better than to examine the following two games of the Hungarian Grandmaster, Lajos Portisch. They are not as spectacular as Bronstein's win over Zita but are nonetheless elegant and deeply impressive. Portisch doesn't try to do anything dramatic in the early stages; he just stets out to neutralise the activity of Black's pieces."

Davies then annotates the following two games:

Portisch,Lajos - Szabo,Lajos [E69]
HUN-ch 16th playoff Budapest (2), 1961
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0–0 5.Nf3 d6 6.Nc3 Nbd7 7.0–0 e5 8.e4 c6 9.Re1 Re8 10.h3 a5 11.Be3 exd4 12.Nxd4 Nc5 13.Qc2 a4 14.Rad1 Qa5 15.Bf4 Bf8 16.Rb1 Ne6 17.Be3 Bg7 18.Nde2 Qb4 19.b3 axb3 20.axb3 Nd7 21.Red1 Ndc5 22.Bd2 Qb6 23.b4 Nd7 24.Be3 Qc7 25.Rd2 Ne5 26.Qb3 f5 27.Rbd1 Bf8 28.exf5 gxf5 29.f4 Ng6 30.Bf2 Qf7 31.Na4 Nc7 32.Nb6 Be6 33.Nd4 Rad8 34.Qc2 Bg7 35.Nxe6 Rxe6 36.b5 Ne7 37.Na4 cxb5 38.Nc5 bxc4 39.Nxb7 Rb8 40.Nxd6 Qf6 41.Qxc4 Qc3 42.Qxc3 Bxc3 43.Rc2 Ba5 44.Nb7
1–0

Portisch,Lajos - Gligoric,Svetozar [E69]
HUN-YUG Budapest (2.1), 1964
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0–0 5.0–0 d6 6.Nc3 e5 7.d4 Nbd7 8.e4 c6 9.h3 Qb6 10.Re1 exd4 11.Nxd4 Ng4 12.Nce2 Nge5 13.b3 Nc5 14.Be3 a5 15.Rb1 Re8 16.Nc3 Qd8 17.Re2 Qe7 18.f4 Ned7 19.Bf2 Nf8 20.Qd2 Bd7 21.Rbe1 Rad8 22.Nf3 Bc8 23.Kh2 Nfd7 24.Bd4 Nf6 25.Qc2 Qf8 26.Bxc5 dxc5 27.e5 Bf5 28.Qc1 Nd7 29.Nh4 Be6 30.Ne4 Nb8 31.f5 gxf5 32.Nf6+ Kh8 33.Nxe8 Rxe8 34.Qc2 f4 35.gxf4 Qe7 36.Nf5 Bxf5 37.Qxf5 Nd7 38.e6
1–0

"As I developed a taste for such play rather than the spectacular beauty of Zita-Bronstein, I felt myself being transformed. The carefree boy who wanted to make long-diagonal combinations was becoming a cynical GM who likes to neutralise his opponents' counterplay and then watch them squirm.

These days I prefer to play these positions as White and look forward to playing promising young players who adopt this variation. My main ideal in the early stages is just to stop Black's counterplay; there will be time enough to inch forward later in the game."

Davies then annotates these games:

Davies,Nigel R (2510) - Tonning,Erik [E69]
Peer Gynt Gausdal (3), 1994
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 d6 5.Nf3 0–0 6.0–0 Nbd7 7.Nc3 e5 8.e4 c6 9.h3 Re8 10.Re1 exd4 11.Nxd4 Ne5 12.b3 Qa5 13.Bd2 Qc7 14.Be3 Ned7 15.Qc2 Nc5 16.Rad1 h6 17.f4 Nfd7 18.b4 Ne6 19.Nb3 Nef8 20.Kh1 Nb6 21.Na5 f5 22.Bd4 Be6 23.Bxg7 Kxg7 24.Qf2 Kh7 25.c5 dxc5 26.Qxc5 Qf7 27.b5 Nc8 28.exf5 gxf5 29.Qd4 cxb5 30.Nxb7 Rb8 31.Nd8 Qg6 32.Qe5 Rb6 33.Qc7+ Re7 34.Qc5 Qxg3 35.Nd5 Rg7 36.Nf6+ Kh8 37.Qxf8+ Bg8 38.Rg1 Qg6 39.Ne8
1–0

http://www.france-echecs.com/diagramme/imgboard.phpfen=2nNNQbk/p5r1/1r4qp/1p3p2/...

(The position after 39.Ne8 deserves a diagram - look at those white knights!)


Davies,Nigel R (2505) - Lyrberg,Patrik (2400) [E69]
Stockholm-A Stockholm (9), 1995
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0–0 5.0–0 d6 6.d4 Nbd7 7.Nc3 e5 8.e4 exd4 9.Nxd4 c6 10.h3 Nc5 11.Re1 Ne6 12.Nc2 a6 13.Be3 Rb8 14.a4 b6 15.Qd2 Nc5 16.Nd4 Bb7 17.Rad1 Ncd7 18.Bh6 Bxh6 19.Qxh6 Ne8 20.e5 Nxe5 21.Rxe5 dxe5 22.Nxc6 Qc7 23.Nd5 Qxc6 24.Ne7+ Kh8 25.Qxf8#
1–0

Davies,Nigel R (2505) - Sasikiran,Krishnan (2375) [E69]
Goodricke op 8th Calcutta (11), 1997
1.c4 g6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 0–0 5.Bg2 d6 6.0–0 Nbd7 7.Nc3 e5 8.e4 c6 9.b3 exd4 10.Nxd4 Re8 11.h3 a6 12.Re1 Rb8 13.Rb1 c5 14.Nc2 b5 15.Qxd6 Rb6 16.Qd1 Rbe6 17.cxb5 axb5 18.b4 cxb4 19.Nxb4 Bb7 20.Nbd5 Nxd5 21.Nxd5 Bc6 22.Nf4 Rxe4 23.Bxe4 Bxe4 24.Rb3 Bc6 25.Rxe8+ Qxe8 26.Re3 Qa8 27.Qe2 Nf6 28.Kh2 Ne4 29.Bb2 Bf8 30.Ba1 Bg7 31.Bxg7 Kxg7 32.Qb2+ Kg8 33.h4 Nd6 34.Rd3 Ne8 35.a3 Qa4 36.Qd4 Qa8 37.Qd8 Qa7 38.Re3 Kg7 39.Qe7 Qb6 40.Ne6+
1–0

Davies,Nigel R (2505) - Sahl,Bjarke (2430) [E68]
Jarleslaget op Trondheim (3), 1997
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0–0 5.0–0 d6 6.d4 Nbd7 7.Nc3 e5 8.e4 exd4 9.Nxd4 Re8 10.h3 a6 11.Re1 Rb8 12.a4 a5 13.Ndb5 Ne5 14.b3 Nfd7 15.Ra2 Nc5 16.Rd2 Bd7 17.Bb2 Bxh3 18.Bxh3 Nxb3 19.Rd5 c6 20.Rxe5 Rxe5 21.Qxb3 cxb5 22.cxb5 Rh5 23.Bg2 Qf6 24.Rb1 Rc5 25.Nd5 Qe6 26.Ba3 Rcc8 27.Qd3 Rd8 28.Qd2 h5 29.Bb2 Bxb2 30.Qxb2 Qe5 31.Qd2 Rdc8 32.f4 Qe6 33.Re1 Rc4 34.e5 Kg7 35.f5
1–0

(For some reason, in his book Davies gives this last game as "Davies - Kristensen".)

Davies concludes:

"I hope that I have demonstrated that players should invest their time in the type of structural study shown in the preceding games rather than the banal memorisation of variations."

Soltis' book "Pawn Structure Chess", justifiably praised in this thread, makes the same point.

sssthepro wrote on 07/21/07 at 00:50:22:


Off to a Ping Pong tournament now, so my response will have to be brief.
Very rare to see White attacking kingside in The Petrosian system, and while it is ok for White it is no longer considered a critical test for Black. As a former Kramnik weapon The Petrosian still deserves respect though, having said that I particularly like the system Zdenko Kozul employs against it.

The Gligoric system was Kasparov's preferred system when facing the KID so need I say more. Nevertheless this just leads to very complex play with chances for both sides which is really what KID players relish anyway and reinforces my point that there is no easy path for White in the KID if he seeks an advantage. I like Nataf's, Radjabov's and Hebden's treatment on the Black side.

Well gotta run, but will probably elaborate on the above later.

Toppy

TopNotch wrote on 07/19/07 at 23:19:11:


Well, now we can move on and solve 1. e4, then.

Uberdecker wrote on 07/20/07 at 01:21:50:


Maybe White should be able to maintain a stable edge in the Classical, in fact most Chess engines state exactly that, fortunately and unfortunately in closed positions one must be very careful how one relies on engine analysis. Engines aside White has never been able to show a stable edge over the years or in fact found a way to neutralise fully Black's Kingside initiative.

Attempting to gum up the Kingside with various g4 ideas have come and gone over the years, and on each occasion Black has found sufficient counter measures to encourage White to look elsewhere for an easy life.

I had to scroll back to find your b3 idea, and honestly I have not examined it fully yet but my initial reaction to it is that its harmless at best. The sequence you give 10.b3?! intending 10...f5 11.Ba3 provoking a move that black often makes anyway with the added bonus of leaving the bishop misplaced on a3. After 11...b6 you say your idea is 12.exf5 but after 12...Nxf5 I don't see any problems for Black, and this exploiting light squared business you speak of on the Queenside sounds nice but how exactly do you propose to achieve this, maybe with a c5 pawn sac perhaps but thats speculative at best.

My gut feeling about 10.b3 is that it is not as bad as it looks and White should be able to maintain equality after it, but an improvement on 10.b4 I think not. White's play in the closed Classical is on the Queenside, and he really ought to get on with it without all the pottering around.

Toppy

Postscript: Another promising possibility worth investigation is the immediate 10...c5

Dear TopNotch,

  When making my statement that White should be able to maintain a stable edge in the Mar del Plata (and Classical variation in general) without making a thorough study of theory, I could hardly expect lifelong KID die-hards such as yourself to agree. Since this is an abstract question it makes little sense for me to pursue the debate.
  However, I would like to comment on what you wrote about the stakes being higher on the Kingside than on the Queenside. "Losing one or two pawns on the Queenside" proves decisive almost as often as suffering an "embarrasing checkmate". The only difference is the length of possible resistance by the losing side. Also, it should be noted that Black's prophylactic ressources are rather limited. For example, it is often not a happy state of affairs to have all one's pieces tied to the defence of the -d6 pawn. It is simply not possible to contain White's Queenside play in the long run. Passive defence here is doomed to failure. Black is forced to come up with something concrete on the Kingside  before White closes in on the other wing. And here he must truly beware of his play being nipped in the bud. For example, there are several modern variations involving the move g4,  where Black can inexpectedly find himself prospectless.

Regarding the line employed in your example, I believe that the atheoretical 10. b3 is probably stonger than 10. b4. What improvements for Black would you suggest in the line I contributed earlier ?

Regards,
UD

Bibs wrote on 07/19/07 at 00:37:19:

Well, I haven't looked at the book for a long time ...

As far as I can remember, Knaak doesn't recommend specific lines,
but, rather, treats typical pawn structures that may arise, and gives
some exemplary games to show "ideal" white strategy.

Also, keep in mind that the "theory" in this 1992 book is a bit outdated.
But this isn't really important. The book (i.e., the "white part") does a
very good job of conveying the "spirit" White should get into when playing
against the KID. (At least it did a good job on me ...  But the "black part" isn't bad either.)

It comes pretty close to what Uberdeker said the other day:

Quote:

More on this on Monday (I haven't access to the book right now ...).

[quote author=cma6 link=1153173757/0#12 date=1183421882]
Uberdecker:
 These are great ideas for the Mar del Plata White player. Have you seen any recent theory along these lines?
[/quote]

No, I don't think the b3 ideas have been tried in practice, but they are a good example of the fact that you can get good prospects against the KID without memorising variations. Some Queenside pressure, some Kingside prophylaxis and White ought to remain on top.