King's Indian Attack
1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 c5 3.Bg2 Nc6 4.0-0 Nf6 5.d3 e5 6.Nbd2 Be7 7.e4
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| This is one of the standard tabiyas in the KIA, occurring 1,393 times in ChessBase's 2024 Mega database |
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7...0-0 8.dxe4
Bobby Fischer preferred 8.Re1 in a 1956 game.
8...Nxd5 9.Nc4 f6 10.a4 Be6 11.c3!?
This is the top choice of Stockfish16.1 and Dragon1.
11...Qd7 12.Re1 Rfd8 13.Qc2 Nc7!?
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| How should White respond to the attack on d3? |
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14.Re3
This may be a novelty. The only game to reach the position in Mega24 saw 14.Bf1. The engines suggest 14.Nfd2!?, and if 14...Qxd3 15.Qxd3 Rxd3, they reckon 16.a5 gives enough compensation (Dragon1) or at least leaves Black only slightly better (Stockfish16.1). The point is White threatens 17.a6!, and if this is stopped by 16...a6, White has 17.Bf1 Rdd8 18.Nb6, with equal chances, according to the engines.
14...Nd5 15.Re2 Nc7 16.Ne1 Bg4 17.Rd2 Rab8 18.Ne3 Be6
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| With d3 adequately defended, how would you assess the coming middlegame? |
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Black has more space and has smoothly completed development, while White's pieces lack coordination and in many cases are struggling to find good squares. The engines give Black the upper hand.
19.b3 Rbc8 20.Rb1 Na5!? 21.Rd1 b6 22.Bd2 Nc6 23.Nc4 Bg4 24.f3 Bf5
Even stronger is 24...Bh5, according to the engines.
25.Be3 Nd5 26.Bf2 Qc7 27.Rbc1 Bf8!?
Planning to activate the bishop via h6.
28.Bh1!?
Freeing g2 for the king's knight to use.
28...g6 29.Qd2 h5 30.Rc2 Kh7 31.Qe2 Bh6 32.Ng2 Bg5 33.Nge3 Be6 34.Nxd5 Bxd5 35.Be3 Bxe3 36.Qxe3
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| How should Black proceed? |
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36...Bxc4!?
I felt I would get good play against White's pawn weaknesses, but the engines reckon Black keeps a bigger advantage by retaining the bishop.
37.bxc4 Rd6 38.Rf2 Qd7 39.f4 exf4 40.Qxf4 Rd8?!
It was important to contest the open file with 40..Re8, according to the engines.
41.Re1?!
This hands the advantage back again, according to the engines, which reckon 41.Re2 leaves White better, eg 41...Ne5 42.Bd5 Kg7 43.d4, with the engines agreeing Black has no time to grab the a4 pawn.
41...Ne5 42.Be4
With d3 unprotected, White cannot, as in the previous note, play Bd5.
42...Qg4!? 43.Qe3
Swopping queens leaves Black better, whichever way Black recaptures, according to the engines.
43...Re6
The engines suggest sacrificing the exchange with 43...Rxd3!? 44.Bxd3 Rxd3.
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| How should White proceed? |
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44.Ref1
The engines are OK with this, but it allows a combination. They reckon 44.Rf4 and 44.d4 give complete equality.
44...Nxc4 45.Qc1
White has full compensation for the lost pawn after 45.Qe1!?, according to the engines, the idea being to meet 45...f5 with 46.Rf4 Qg5 47.h4 Qe7 48.Rxf5!
45...Nd6 46.Bd5
45...Nd6 46.Bd5
Not 46.Rxf6 Rxf6 47.Rxf6, since 47...Nxe4! cannot be met by 48.dxe4 as Black has 48...Rd1+ etc, and 48.Rf4 is met by 48...Nxg3 49.Rxg4 Ne2+ etc.
46...Re5 47.c4?!
The engines prefer 47.Bc6.
47...Qd4 48.Qf4!?
The engines agree getting queens off is White's best plan.
48...Qxf4 49.Rxf4 f5 50.h3?!
The engines prefer 50.Rb1!?
50...Re3 51.R4f3 Rde8 52.Kg2 Kg7
The engines like 52...f4!?
53.a5!
The engines approve of this pseudo sacrifice.
53...Re2+ 54.R3f2 Rxf2+
Black gets a slightly bigger advantage by keeping both pairs of rooks on, according to the engines.
55.Kxf2 Kxf6
Black has no advantage after this, nor after 55...bxa5, according to the engines, which suggest 55...Nf7.
56.axb6 axb6 57.Rb1 Rb8 58.Re1 Re8 59.Rb1 Rb8 60.Kf3?!
Almost certainly trying too hard to win.
60...g5?!
But Black needs to play 60...Ke5 or 60...Ne8 to gain an advantage, according to the engines.
61.h4?!
Safer is 61.Re1 etc.
61...gxh4 62.gxh4
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| How should Black continue? |
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62...b5!?
Preparing to sac the knight. The engines again suggest ...Ke5 and ...Ne8, albeit now only with equality.
63.Re1!?
The game is equal after 63.cxb5, according to the engines.
63...b4 64.Re6+ Kg7
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| How should White continue? |
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65.d4?
Also losing is 65.Rxd6? b3 etc, but the engines reckon 65.Re7+ Kf8 66.Re2 gives drawing chances, although Dragon1 is less sure than Stockfish16.1.
65...b3 66.dxc5 b2 67.Re1 Nxc4 68.Bxc4 b1=Q 69.Rxb1 Rxb1 70.Ke3
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| The ending is not as trivially easy to win as I thought, or at least did not feel trivial in the heat of battle |
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70...Kf6 71.Be2 Rc1 72.Kd4
Capturing on h5 is no better.
72...Rh1 73.Kd5 Rxh4 74.Kd6 Rd4+ 75.Kc7 h4 76.c6 h3 77.Kb8 Rb4+ 78.Ka7 Rb2 79.c7 Rc2 80.Kb8 Ke5 81.c8=Q
AK pushed the pawn to c8 and pressed the clock with a second to spare, and then promoted to a queen, not that it mattered as by now the ending is trivial.
81...Rxc8+ 82.Kxc8 Ke4 83.Bb5 f4 84.Bc6 Ke3 0-1
Well played!
ReplyDeleteThanks - it was certainly exciting, with several moments when I thought it was going to be another game in which I failed to bring home the full point!
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