thanks 4 d very imformative article

Very informative free article.

Very nice article and a pleasure to play through good annotated games.  

Bologan gives 12...c6 instead of Kh8 or Nh5. It is also interesting his comment on 10...f5 " This is a popular move. but both opponents need to know the theoretical lines very well. he evaluation of this variation may change with every game."

It is interesting that a move such as 17...Nd4 which looks so aggressive can be a losing move.

Thanks for the great games and analysis

I enjoyed this.

Great article as always! Thanks.

What do great players think of King’s Indian? Korchnoi has always questioned the validity of the defence and consistently fought for White. It should also be noted that Tal, Fischer and Kasparov, three of the greatest exponents of the KI stopped playing it altogether. Tal avoided it in his later years.Fischer did not emply it against Petrosian in the Candidates’ Final 1971 or against Spassky in the World Championship Match 1972.Kasparov could not bring himself to play it after his losses to Kramnik in 1997 and 1998. So he was deprived of his favorite weapon in the World Championship Match, 2000 and lost the title to Kramnik. In recent years Radjabov alone among the chess elite has fought for the King’s Indian (with mixed results).

 What should amateurs do in the circumstances?

For White players

1)If you are short of time, prepare with the Exchange Variation.It’s easy to learn. There are pitfalls for Black and you are  nominally a pawn up.This works only if you like to play endings.

2) If you have more time, play the classical variation with 9.Ne1 and Korchnoi’s line with a4. It runs like clockwork and there are not too many variations.

3) If you are fascinated by the Bayonet Attack, take a look at Kramnik’s games with this line, and also try 13.Ne6 mentioned in my previous comment here.

Note: The Petrosian Variation has not been played as frequently as other lines.But we could all share what we know.

For Black players

 You need optimism and fighting spirit more than this or that variation.Learn from the classics of Bronstein, Boleslavsky and Geller and follow it up with Tal, Fischer and Kasparov.Lead the cavalry charge like the hussars of yore! This is what Radjabov does.

 For all players

Use ChessPublishing.com and New in Chess Online database to see how your favorite lines are faring. Also, get hold of ultracorr3 CD.There you would find  the latest opening analysis with extensive comment.Tell your local library to subscribe to New in Chess Yearbooks if you can't do it yourself.

 Above all, learn to be independent and use your judgement.

Haha nicely said silentwalker :)

Nice article!

Can a GM/IM please share his opinion on the current status of the Petrosian variation? Bayonet attack seems like the critical test vs KID at the moment and while it is certainly very enlightening to read articles on this, playing it would require lots of hours of preparation, so for mere mortals (with less time to analyze, less memory & less talent than GMs) a less critical option, which intends to build up some positional pressure could be a practical good alternative that can be studied by a non-professional to a reasonable extent.

demetrios,

Indian defences suck? pretty strong statement.

 Karpov expressed a similar opinion on King's Indian in his semi-closed book in the 80s but I guess in his case this is not a comment to be taken lightly, as it indicates the status of top-notch unpublished theory at that time.

 Again, Karpov is Karpov and he is entitled to have a strong opinion, he must have had a strong prepararion for KID to play vs Fischer and also to play vs Kasparov. For mere mortals, a.k.a. club players, who prepare mostly through books & internet articles this equivalent to saying that KID has been refuted on a book or on the internet. Care to share your sources? to be honest I doubt that any non top-GM is "allowed" to trash whole opening systems exactly because he doesn't do his own opening research & test it vs the elite.

mycow - i actually got a laugh out of demetrios' comment.  Not because it was good or anything - but just because it was so ignorant it made me laugh.

i think there are those players out there that think that they are better than professional chess players - just because they can post a semi-descent rating on a chess website - how silly is that ;-)

I should qualify that statement by saying that chess.com can help your game out - it has definitely improved my over-the-board match play - but I am not going to go making comments to a GM about a valuation of who "sucks" - if anything I would at least try and be thoughtful if I was going to say anything that might in any way contradict what a GM might say - and then be open to listening and exploring their response.  That goes for an IM FM NM CM - any titled player - as long as they are courteous and I can listen to them, understand them, and learn from them.

good article

The move 20.Be3 in the first game is a novelty. After 20…c6 21.Rf1 cxd5 22.exd5, 22…Rxf1 23.Rxf1 Nf6 is suggested by the authors.But how does Black continue on 24.Qh3? The immediate threat is Bxg5 as the pawn on h6 is pinned. So Black plays 24...Kg8.After  25.Bxd4 exd4 26.Qf5 Qe8, Black is threatening…Qh5 and…g4. White queen needs to remain on the diagonal for retaining threats against the Black king.So he prepares for a retreat to d3 with 27.Bb1.Black also has to remain watchful and prevent c5 advance by White. So he plays 27…a5 28.b5 Qh5 29.Qd3 Rc8.Now  if he wants,White has a draw by perpetual check after 30 Rxf6 Bxf6 31.Qh7+ Kf8 32.e7 Bxe7 33.Qf5+ Kg7(34.Qxc8?? Qd1 mate.)

An outcome that might not satisfy either player.

Perhaps both sides need to look for improvements.

How about 22…Qe7 (stepping in to guard the second rank and connecting both the rooks) 23.Qe4 Nf6 24.Qg6 Kg8?

In the first game, how would white continue had black played 23...Kg8 instead of 23...e4? Black still looks solid after that, though passive.

Ok, thanks for the explination dpruess.

And Demetrios, tough minded and ignorant people like you shouldn't even play chess. What was the point of that comment?

Indian defense is such a weak attacking open, if you lose to an indian defense open you must really suck

Mycow,

If you read the previous articles of Arun and Magesh focused on this variation, they explain that white's main idea is to trade off that important lightsquared bishop with Ng5-e6. In return, white's center is greatly weakened (in fact, the pawn on e6 is often lost). I think it's a typical trade-off in the current world of high-level chess, and leads to fascinating battles as each side tries to make their advantage count.

On another note, awesome, awesome games, Arun! Congrats!!

I feel that your opponents didn't play especially well in the king's indian. They traded off the important white squared bishop both times, and wasted a lot of tempo on the kingside. Or am I mistaken and what they played are other lines?

...

Hadn't heard of the term 'windmill' used before. However playing the game the thought of a door 'slamming and opening', 'slamming and opening' repeatedly came to mind. Poor guy on the wrong side of the door.

Reminded me of the  'Three Stooges' with Moe slamming a door on Curly again and again.....   Weebebebe, Yuk, yuk, yuk.....

Great analysis!  That last game was really fun.  Thank you very much!

Very Elegant, so intuitive how could you play it any other way..