Sicilian KIA
Fischer scored 74% in his career against the Sicilian, mostly using open lines, ie 2.Nf3, 3.d4 and (after 3...cxd4) 4.Nxd4.
After 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 he scored exactly 74%, according to ChessBase's 2020 Mega database.
After 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 his score slipped to 71%, and after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 his score slipped further to 69%.
Scoring 69%, which roughly translates over 10 games to +5=4-1, is more than most of us can manage, but it was not good enough for Fischer.
That is why he started meeting 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 with 3.d3, inaugurating the King's Indian Attack.
Specifically it is a version of the KIA in which Black has committed to ...e6 and ...c5.
The move ...e6 is significant because it is sometimes said Black wants his e pawn on either e5 or e7 in the KIA, but not on e6.
And ...c5 is significant because it rules out black systems in which the c pawn is kept at home and the tempo saved is used for faster development.
Fischer played 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d3 six times, and won all six games.
All of his opponents replied 3...Nc6, which is overwhelmingly the main line in Mega20, and Fischer continued with 4.g3, at which point play diverged.
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| Position after 4.g3 |
This is the main line but it is probably fair to say Black is taking a slight risk in that his play is a little slow, and the moves ...e6 and ...g6 do not always work well together (Black's kingside dark squares will be weak if the black dark-square bishop gets exchanged).
5.Bg2 Bg7 6.0-0 Nge7
More than 6,000 games reach this position in Mega20.
7.c3
Fischer earlier played 7.Nbd2, which is a typical placement for the white queen's knight in the KIA. It usually goes to d2 after Black has played ...d5. Then if Black later plays ...dxe4 White can recapture by playing dxe4 without allowing an exchange of queens. But another reason for the knight going to d2 is that it can be redeployed to the kingside via f1 (after White plays Re1) and e3 or h2 (White often plays h4). Fischer - Edmar Mednis, US Championship (Cleveland) 1957, continued, after 7.Nbd2, with 7...0-0 8.Re1 b6 9.e5 d5 10.Nf1 Qc7 11.Bf4 d4 12.Qd2 Re8 13.Bh6 Bh8 14.h4 with advantage to White, according to Stockfish12 and Komodo11.01 (1-0, 50 moves).
The point of the text is to blunt the black fianchettoed bishop and to build a strong centre with d4.
7...0-0
This is the main move, but also popular is 7...d5. Fischer - Ruben Rodríguez, Simul (Manila, Philippines 1957), continued 8.Qe2 (another way of avoiding an exchange of queens in the event of ...dxe4) 0-0 9.e5 f5!? (trying to get his share of kingside space - more popular are 9...b5 and 9...b6, with a slight edge for White, according to Stockfish12, although Komodo11.01 reckons the latter move is close to giving Black equality) 10.exf6!? Bxf6 11.Bh6 Re8 12.g4!? e5 13.h3 with an unclear position (1-0, 28 moves). The engines reckon White has a major improvement in not playing exf6; Stockfish12 likes 10.d4 while Komodo11.01 prefers 10.Bf4.
7...d6 8.Re1 transposes (Fischer played his seventh and eight moves in reverse order) to Fischer - Oscar Panno, Buenos Aires 1970, which continued 8...0-0 9.d4 cxd4 10.cxd4 d5 11.e5 Bd7 12.Nc3 Rc8 13.Bf4 with a sizeable advantage for White, according to the engines (1-0, 36 moves).
8.d4!?
More popular in Mega20 are 8.Be3 and 8.Re1, but the text scores a higher percentage and is Stockfish12's choice (Komodo11.01 likes 8.Re1).
8...d6!?
Subsequent games saw the more Sicilian-like 8...cxd4 9.cxd4 d5 10.e5, which is similar to Fischer - Panno but with White not having played Re1. Stockfish12 likes White, while Komodo11.01 gives a slight nod to Black.
9.dxc5 dxc5 10.Qe2
White scores an excellent 63% with this move in Mega20. Fischer - Joaquim Durão, Olympiad (Havana) 1966, continued 10...b6 11.e5 (the engines much prefer 11.Na3!?) a5 12.Re1 Ba6 13.Qe4 Ra7 14.Nbd2 Bd3 15.Qh4 Nd5 16.Qxd8 Rxd8 17.a4 Rad7 18.Bf1 Bxf1 19.Kxf1 with the better game for White, according to the engines (1-0, 46 moves).
More than 6,000 games reach this position in Mega20.
7.c3
Fischer earlier played 7.Nbd2, which is a typical placement for the white queen's knight in the KIA. It usually goes to d2 after Black has played ...d5. Then if Black later plays ...dxe4 White can recapture by playing dxe4 without allowing an exchange of queens. But another reason for the knight going to d2 is that it can be redeployed to the kingside via f1 (after White plays Re1) and e3 or h2 (White often plays h4). Fischer - Edmar Mednis, US Championship (Cleveland) 1957, continued, after 7.Nbd2, with 7...0-0 8.Re1 b6 9.e5 d5 10.Nf1 Qc7 11.Bf4 d4 12.Qd2 Re8 13.Bh6 Bh8 14.h4 with advantage to White, according to Stockfish12 and Komodo11.01 (1-0, 50 moves).
The point of the text is to blunt the black fianchettoed bishop and to build a strong centre with d4.
7...0-0
This is the main move, but also popular is 7...d5. Fischer - Ruben Rodríguez, Simul (Manila, Philippines 1957), continued 8.Qe2 (another way of avoiding an exchange of queens in the event of ...dxe4) 0-0 9.e5 f5!? (trying to get his share of kingside space - more popular are 9...b5 and 9...b6, with a slight edge for White, according to Stockfish12, although Komodo11.01 reckons the latter move is close to giving Black equality) 10.exf6!? Bxf6 11.Bh6 Re8 12.g4!? e5 13.h3 with an unclear position (1-0, 28 moves). The engines reckon White has a major improvement in not playing exf6; Stockfish12 likes 10.d4 while Komodo11.01 prefers 10.Bf4.
7...d6 8.Re1 transposes (Fischer played his seventh and eight moves in reverse order) to Fischer - Oscar Panno, Buenos Aires 1970, which continued 8...0-0 9.d4 cxd4 10.cxd4 d5 11.e5 Bd7 12.Nc3 Rc8 13.Bf4 with a sizeable advantage for White, according to the engines (1-0, 36 moves).
8.d4!?
More popular in Mega20 are 8.Be3 and 8.Re1, but the text scores a higher percentage and is Stockfish12's choice (Komodo11.01 likes 8.Re1).
8...d6!?
Subsequent games saw the more Sicilian-like 8...cxd4 9.cxd4 d5 10.e5, which is similar to Fischer - Panno but with White not having played Re1. Stockfish12 likes White, while Komodo11.01 gives a slight nod to Black.
9.dxc5 dxc5 10.Qe2
White scores an excellent 63% with this move in Mega20. Fischer - Joaquim Durão, Olympiad (Havana) 1966, continued 10...b6 11.e5 (the engines much prefer 11.Na3!?) a5 12.Re1 Ba6 13.Qe4 Ra7 14.Nbd2 Bd3 15.Qh4 Nd5 16.Qxd8 Rxd8 17.a4 Rad7 18.Bf1 Bxf1 19.Kxf1 with the better game for White, according to the engines (1-0, 46 moves).
Black strikes in the centre with 4...d5
This move is second in popularity to 4...g6!?
5.Nbd2 Bd6!?
This aggressive posting of the dark-square bishop is very popular, but also commonly seen is the more-modest 5...Nf6 6.Bg2 Be7, which will be considered later as Fischer reached it via a 4...Nf6 move-order.
This aggressive posting of the dark-square bishop is very popular, but also commonly seen is the more-modest 5...Nf6 6.Bg2 Be7, which will be considered later as Fischer reached it via a 4...Nf6 move-order.
6.Bg2 Nge7
Much less-popular is 6...Nf6 as Black will probably have to lose time avoiding a pawn fork on the e5 square.
7.0-0 0-0 8.Nh4!?
Fischer - Attilio Di Camillo, New Jersey Championship (East Orange) 1957, saw the more-popular 8.Re1, continuing 8...Qc7 9.c3 Bd7 10.Qe2 f6 11.a3!? (Fischer decides to chip away at Black's fourth rank with b4) Rae8 (11...a5!? may be better) 12.b4 b6 13.d4 cxd4 14.cxd4 dxe4 15.Nxe4 with much the better game for White, according to the engines (1-0, 49 moves).
8...b6 9.f4 dxe4 10.exd4 Ba6 11.Re1 c4
Later the move 11...Bc7!? became popular. It is generally met by 12.c3, giving up the d3 square (at least temporarily) but keeping black's pieces out of d4. Sergey Dolmatov (2605) - Joël Lautier (2560), Rubinstein Memorial (Polanica-Zdrój, Poland) 1991, continued 12...Bd3 13.e5 Qd7 (13...c4!?) 14.Ne4 Rad8 15.Qg4 with a promising kingside attack for White (1-0, 46 moves).
12.c3 Na5?!
Black's pieces are bunching on the queenside, leaving his king exposed. The engines reckon 12...Bc5+ 13.Kh1 b5, as seen in two later games, may be better, but they also want to annoy White with 13...Bf2!? 14.Rf1 Bc5, although it is not clear the rook is worse placed on f1.
Black's pieces are bunching on the queenside, leaving his king exposed. The engines reckon 12...Bc5+ 13.Kh1 b5, as seen in two later games, may be better, but they also want to annoy White with 13...Bf2!? 14.Rf1 Bc5, although it is not clear the rook is worse placed on f1.
13.e5 Bc5+ 14.Kh1 Nd5?!
Black should have played 14...Rc8 or offered the exchange by 14...Qd3!?, according to the engines, although they still prefer White.
15.Ne4 Bb7 16.Qh5
Fischer goes for the jugular. Also strong is 16.f5!?
16...Ne7
The engines come to agree this is Black's best defence.
The engines come to agree this is Black's best defence.
17.g4 Bxe4
Komodo11.01 suggests 17...Ng6!?, but after Stockfish12's 18.Nf3 the engines agree best play runs 18...Bxe4 19.Rxe4 Nc6 20.Re1 Be7 21.Qh3 with strong play for White.
18.Bxe4 g6 19.Qh6 Nd5 20.f5
White had a winning attack in Fischer - Borislav Ivkov, Piatigorsky Cup (Santa Monica, California) 1966 (1-0, 29 moves).
Black develops his king's knight with 4...Nf6
5.Bg2 Be7 6.0-0 0-0 7.Nbd2 d5
This is an important position because it is often reached via a French Defence move-order, ie with 1...e6.
8.Re1
Fischer - Lhamsuren Myagmarsuren, Interzonal (Sousse, Tunisia) 1967, went 8.e5 Nd7 9.Re1 b5 10.Nf1 b4 11.h4 a5 12.Bf4 a4 13.a3 bxa3 14.bxa3 with a roughly level game, but Fischer pursued his kingside play more successfully than Myagamarsuren was able to counter on the queenside (1-0, 31 moves).
8...Qc7
The more-popular 8...b5 can easily transpose to the previous note. But an interesting independent try, preferred by the engines, is 9.exd5 exd5 10.d4!?, which scores very well in Mega20. The main line continues 11...c4 12.a4, when Black's queenside is looking a little loose. Best play, according to the engines, goes 12...Bf5 (12..b4 13.Ne5! Nxd4 14.Ndxc4 is awkward for Black) 13.c3 b4 14.Ne5 with pressure against the black queenside.
9.e5
Fischer - Arthur Feuerstein, US Championship (New York) 1957, saw 9.Qe2!? Rd8 10.e5 Ne8!? 11.c3 b5 12.Nf1 b4 13.Bf4 Qa5 14.c4!? Nc7 15.h4, when White has an edge, according to Stockfish12, although Komodo11.01 rates the position as equal (1-0, 44 moves).
9...Nd7 10.Qe2 b5 11.h4 a5 12.Nf1 Nd4!?
The main line runs 12...Ba6 13.Bf4 b4 14.Ne3 Nb6 15.Ng4 with a position the engines have trouble evaluating. Their verdicts fluctuate but eventually they give White an edge.
13.Nxd4 cxd4
The d4 pawn may prove long-term weak but, at least for a while, gives Black greater central control and allows pressure down the c file.
14.Bf4 Ra6!? 15.Nh2 Rc6 16.Rac1 Ba6?!
Missing White's reply. The engines suggest 16...Bb4 with an unclear position (Stockfish12 narrowly prefers White; Komodo11.01 reckons the chances are even).
17.Bxd5!
This was one of the games that persuaded blacks - at least those in the know - to avoid a line-up of having the black queen on c7 pressurising a white pawn on e5 but with a white bishop on f4 supporting the e5 pawn.
17...exd5!?
Arguably less calamitous but still bad is 17...Rc5 18.Be4, when Black has no compensation for a pawn and still faces a kingside attack.
18.e6 Qd8 19.exd7 Re6 20.Qg4 f5 21.Qh5 Qxd7 22.Nf3
White was much better in Fischer - Uzi Geller, Natanya (Israel) 1968 (1-0, 32 moves).
Black develops the king's knight with 4...Nge7
5.Bg2 g6!? 6.0-0 Bg7
This is a simple transposition to lines considered under Black prepares to fianchetto the king's bishop by playing 4...g6!?
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