Hi Michael, did you take a look at my suggestions of 1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 c5 3.Bg2 Nc6 and now either 4.d3 or 4.c4?  I believe that they avoid the lines after 4.0-0 e5 5.d3 Be7 that you'd like to avoid.

Without wishing to become in embroiled in a discussion that doesn't concern me, I would strongly endorse this observation

Stigma wrote on 08/07/19 at 22:03:24:

and I hope that

Michael Ayton wrote on 08/06/19 at 09:20:37:

is tongue-in-cheek.

ErictheRed wrote on 08/06/19 at 15:00:31:


It looks like that 8.h4 move is bad. Now your possible reaction on f4 is no longer available due to weakness created. Especially that hole on g4. Also that h4 is now a breaking point. 8.c3 looks much better with the idea of taking on d4, play Na3 and Bd2. All of that looking for cxd4, Nc4 and a5. Or even after cxd4 cxd4 by putting the bishop on d2 you can play b4 in one shot due to the e5 defended only by the Nc6. Also another option is 8.Na3 to play quickly to c4. In your game white didn't do anything to try to get counterplay. That's why even you sacrificed a pawn on the king side to open him up. Unfortunately that move 12.Qc1 doesn't prevent anything. INstead of 12...g5 it looks like 12...Nh6 dislodging g8 for a rook and planning between other things Nf7 to play g5 looks better. 16.g4 is bad. It looks like 16.Qd1 was a better option. Also instead of 16...Rf8 it had to be played 16...Nf6. The last mistake was 18.f3 (18.Bxf6 Bxf6 and 19. f4 was his last chance). White just didn't know how to get some play in the position and got busted.
Take a look into the pawn structure and you will see that it is a KID Saemisch with reversed colors!
Do you have the PGN to this game?

XChess1971 wrote on 08/07/19 at 01:35:19:

What's going on with the rude, confrontational attitude, XChess1971? If you haven't noticed, Michael Ayton has contributed a lot more to discussions in this forum over the years than you have.

RdC wrote on 08/06/19 at 10:19:24:

This looks like a transpositional variation. And the pawn structure resulting appeals to one's taste.

Offhand I wonder whether, if White is intent on playing a King's Indian Attack instead of a reversed Grunfeld, he might not try 1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 c5 3.Bg2 Nc6 4.d3 instead of castling.  Then 4...e5 5.Nbd2 Nf6 6.e4, for instance.

Or 4.c4(!) appears to avoid the move order problems presented by 5...Be7 as well.  

Edit: By the way, I won an easy little 3-minute game with this 5...Be7 idea just now, though as you can see I reverted back to my known "Bishop to knight 5" comfort zone.

Edit 2: I don't know why my PGN insertion isn't working, but the game went

1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 c5 3. Bg2 Nc6 4. O-O e5 5. d3 Be7 6. e4 d4 7. a4 h5 8. h4 f6 9. Na3 Bg4 10. Nc4 Qd7 11. Bd2 O-O-O 12. Qc1 g5 13. hxg5 Bxf3 14. Bxf3 fxg5 15. Bxg5 h4 16. g4 Rf8 17. Be2 Nf6 18. f3 Nh5 19. Bxe7 Qxe7 20. gxh5 Qg7+ 21. Kh1 Qg3 22. Nd6+ Kb8 23. Rf2  Qxf2 24. Qf1 Qxf1+ 25. Rxf1 Rxh5 , etc. 

Michael Ayton wrote on 08/02/19 at 12:55:52:



Personal opinion perhaps, but I would rate a reversed Gruenfeld rather higher for White than a reversed Kings Indian. So 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 c5 3. Bg2 Nc6 4. d4 . The extra tempo can be useful in positions with active play. should Black have ambitions beyond just defending an IQP position.