BOTVINNIK'S successes with the Winawer led to a surge of interest in the French Defence.
It was not long before some people started questioning whether 2.d4 was, after all, the best response.
How about playing some other move that did not provide a target for Black's ...c5, and at the same time supported the undefended e4 pawn?
Bobby Fischer - Uzi Geller
Netanya (Israel) 1968
King's Indian Attack
1.e4 e6 2.d3
Despite Fischer's reputation for having played the King's Indian Attack against the French, he actually played it much more often after the Sicilian, ie 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d3.
2...d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.g3
More common is 4.Nf3, although the two moves often transpose.
4...Nf6 5.Bg2 Be7 6.Ngf3 0-0 7.0-0 Nc6 8.Re1 Qc7!?
The move ...Qc7 often has a dubious reputation in the KIA as White can get to play a breakthrough sac, as happens in this game. However in this line 8...Qc7!? has been played by such divergent talents as Larsen, Kramnik and Nakamura, so I guess it must be fine.
9.e5 Nd7 10.Qe2 b5 11.h4 a5 12.Nf1 Nd4!?
Larsen played 12...Ba6; French expert Uhlmann once played 12...a4 but later switched to 12...b4.
13.Nxd4 cxd4 14.Bf4 Ra6!?
It is easy to suspect this is a misprint for 14...Ba6, but the two moves are equally popular in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database.
15.Nh2 Rc6
This is the point of 14...Ra6!? Black puts pressure on c2, but after ...
16.Rac1
...it is not obvious how Black can increase the pressure.
16...Ba6?!
The position after 16.Rac1 has been reached seven times in Mega20, with the text being chosen on three occasions. The analysis engines Stockfish11 and Komodo11.01 give 16...Bb4 with equal chances.
17.Bxd5!
This is the breakthrough sac that is common in the KIA when Black plays ...Qc7.
17...exd5 18.e6 Qd8 19.exd7 Re6 20.Qg4 f5
Or 20...Qxd7 21.Rxe6 Qxe6 22.Qxe6 fxe6 23.Re1, when the engines reckon Black's pawn weaknesses give White a large advantage.
21.Qh5 Qxd7 22.Nf3 g6
Better, according to the engines, is 22...Rb6!?, but is hard to believe it saves Black.
23.Qh6 Bf6 24.Rxe6 Qxe6
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| How should White proceed? |
White has many good moves, but the key is to avoid 25.Re1? Qxe1+! 26.Nxe1 Bg7 27.Qg5 Bf6 etc.
25...Bxe5 26.Re1 f4 27.Rxe5 Qd7 28.h5 fxg3 29.hxg6 gxf2+ 30.Kxf2 hxg6 31.Qxg6 Qg7 32.Rg5 1-0
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