The Mar del Plata Attack: The Kožul Gambit

13. Rc1 is the second most played 13th move in the Neo-Classical right behind the main line, 13. a4, which we covered in the last post. This post, if you noticed, is titled The Kožul Gambit, and not 13. Rc1. That's because the plan behind 13. Rc1 is to prepare the Kožul Gambit, since if white was not looking to play it, Rc1 on the 13th move would have been premature.

But what is the Kožul Gambit?

After 13. Rc1, against almost all of black's replies, white will play c4-c5, sacrificing the c-pawn, hence the "Gambit" in the "Kožul Gambit."

The reasoning behind the pawn sacrifice is to open the c-file and create targets for white faster than usual when white prepares c4-c5 with b2-b4. I mentioned this in my third post on the KID, The Mar del Plata Attack Part 1: Main Ideas of the Classical.

This gambit is well justified and very sound. It gives white more than enough queenside play for the pawn, and white will usually win back the a7-pawn quickly. Here's the diagram that I posted before.

The gambit, the brainchild of Croatian International Grandmaster and 2006 European Champion Zdenko Kožul, is one of the reasons why some players switched from 9...Nd7 to 9...Ne8. I myself prefer 9...Ne8, but there is an easy way to avoid getting worn down positionally on the queenside and getting play on the kingside, as all KID players want. How? Simply decline the gambit. Don't take on c5. Let white capture on d6, and the pawn structure will be what we are familiar with, with our pawn chain from d6 to f4 still intact. Then play will be almost identical to other lines of the Mar del Plata, where black pushes for the white king while white hacks away at the black queenside. Taking on c5 has all the downsides, so don't! This way of playing is objectively not as sound as accepting the pawn, but for players around my level and below, it is a much better choice.

After 13. Rc1, the move to be played is 13...Ng6. You could also play 13...Nf6 or 13...Rf7 and it would most likely transpose to our line, but we'll go with 13. Ng6 for now since it is the most commonly played move. This gets the knight over to where it wants to be - the kingside. That particular knight has the potential to jump to h4, where it will be a key attacker, putting pressure on g2.

Then, after 13...Ng6, we see the pawn offer. 14. c5. (see diagram above)

Here we ignore the pawn and continue with our transfer of pieces to the kingside with 14...Nf6. However, 14...Rf7 again is another good move, guarding the second rank and possibly preparing for a Bg7-f8 and/or Rf7-g7 maneuver. It can transpose to our line too, but if white plays something differently, black has good chances too. I'll insert a demonstrative with that move order game at the end of the post.

After 14...Nf6, there are a few options for white to consider, but in all of them we transpose to get the position we want, the final position of the main line in the diagram.. Here are the main ones. There's the reasoning behind the moves in the analysis.

Now that we know where we want to get to, let's see how to play that position. As usual we'll analyze games to learn.  This game illustrates some common themes in the Mar del Plata, such as the g5-g4-g3 push. White is Ali Saif Alshaali, rated 2123 at the time, against GM Georgy Timoshenko (also known as Georgi Timochenko), so it isn't exactly a fair fight, but it helps to see a stronger player execute plans well. However, there are many inaccuracies and mistakes from both sides. This is common of Mar del Plata lines. They're crazy and complicated, and even Grandmasters can have trouble interpreting them.

There are so many KID games that have pretty finishes with the white king surrounded by black pieces, and maybe in a later post I will share some of my own favorites.

Now here's the game with the 14...Rf7  move order (although transposed from 13...Rf7 and then 14...Ng6). It was played between Tuvshintugs Batchimeg (2340) as white and Maria Fominykh (2296) at the World Rapid Women 2014 in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. Black thematically gives up the a7-pawn and attacks wildly on the kingside, playing very accurately, with a nice finish.

Can you see the mate? 

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this and learned something, and we'll look at 13. Nd3 and 13. b4 next time. Have a great weekend!