clless 9s -t'Mid' Special Editor: 1M Vladimir Barskiy Technical Editor: 1M Sergey Soloviov Translation by: GM Evgeny Ermenkov Cover design by: Kalojan Nachev Copyright © Victor Bologan 2009 Printed in Bulgaria by "Chess Stars" Ltd.- Sofia ISBNI3: 978 954 8782 71 5 Victor Bologan The King's Indian A Complete Black Repertoire Chess Stars Bibliography Understanding The King's Indian by M.Golubev, Gambit Publications, 2006 Openings for White According to Kramnik (la, 1b) by AKhalifman, Chess Stars 2006 Other CHESS STARS Books Repertoire books: Opening for WhiteAccording to Kramnik l.c!ilf3by A Khalifman Volume 1a: Old Indian, rare lines in the Classical Variation, 2006 Volume 1b: The Classical Variation, 2006 Volume 2: Anti-Nim-Ind,Anti-Queen's Indian, English, KnightTango, 2008 Volume 3: Maroczy, English (l ... cS), Modern, Dutch Volume 4: Queen's Gambit Accepted, Slav, Semi-Slav Volume 5: Queen's Gambit Declined Opening for WhiteAccording to Anand 1.e4 by A Khalifman Volume 6: The French Defence 3.tLlc3 dxe4, 3... tLlf6, 2006 Volume 7: The French Defence 3.tLlc3 Ab4, 2006 Volume 8: TheSicilian, Paulsen-Kan and rare lines, 2006 Volume 9: TheSicilian, Paulsen-Taimanov and other lines, 2007 Volume 10: The Sicilian, Sveshnikov, 2007 Volume 11; The Sicilian, Dragon, 2009 Opening for Black According to Karpov by Khalifman Current theoryand practice series: Challenging the Sicilian with 2.a3! by Bezgodov, 2004 An Expert's Guide to the 7.Bc4 Gruenfeld by Sakaev, 2006 The Sharpest Sicilian by Kiril Georgiev and At. Kolev, 2007 The Safest Sicilian by Delchev and Semkov, 2nd rev.ed. 2008 TheQueen's Gambit Acceptedby Sakaev and Semkov, 3rd. rev.ed., 2008 The Easiest Sicilian by Kolev and Nedev, 2008 ThePetrosian System the Against QID by Be1iavskyand Mikhalchishin,2008 Kill K.I.D. by Semko Semkov, 2009 Games collections My One Hundred Best Games by Alexey Dreev, 2007 Bogoljubow. The Fate of a Chess Player by S. Soloviov, 2004 Shirov's100 Wmsby Soloviov 316 p., inteIViews,biography, oolour photos, 2003 Leko's 100 Winsby Soloviov 340 pages, biography, colour photos, 2003 More details at www.chess-stars.com 4 Contents Preface ..............................................7 Part 1. Minor Variations l.d4 ltJf6 2.c4 g6 3.ltJc3!g7 1 4 . .lgS............ ....................................12 2 4.ltJf3 0-0 S . .lgS............. ....................... 17 3 4.ltJf3 0-0 S.!f4 ....................................29 4 4.e4 d6 S.!gS ...........................................37 S 4.e4 d6 S.h3 0-0 6 . .ld3....................................... S6 6 4.e4 d6 S.h3 0-0 6 . .ie3....................................... 62 7 4.e4 d6 S.h3 0-0 6 . .igS.......................... .............76 8 4.e4 d6 S.h3 0-0 6.ltJf3................. ......................89 9 4.e4 d6 S.ltJge2............... ...........................lOS 10 4.e4 d6 S . .id3.................... ...................... 113 Part 2. AverbakhVariation 1.d4 ltJf6 2.c4 g6 3.ltJc3.lg7 4.e 4 d6 S.ie2 0-0 6.!gS 11 6 ... ltJa6...................... ...........................122 12 6 ...h6 .................................................132 Part 3. Saemisch Attack 1.d4 ltJf6 2.c4 g6 3.ltJc3.lg7 4.e 4 d6 S.f30-0 13 6.ltJge2 ..................................................140 14 6 . .lgS ..................................................lS0 lS 6 . .ie3c5 7.dc ............................................lS7 16 6.!e3 cS 7.dS; 7.ltJge2..................................... 167 Part 4. Four Pawns Attack l.d4 ltJf6 2.c4 g6 3.ltJc3.ig7 4.e4 d6 S.f4 0-0 6.ltJf3cS 17 7.ie2; 7.dc ...............................................183 18 7.dS e6 8.de; 8.ie2 ed 9.cd ig4 .............................194 19 7.dS e6 8 . .le2ed 9.cd �e8 ...............................201 S Part5. Classical Variation l.d4 ttJf6 2.c4 g6 3.ttJc3J.g7 4.e 4 d6 S.ttJf30-0 6.�e2 eS 20 7.de; 7.0-0 ttJc6B.d e ........................................ 211 21 7.�e3 ttJg4 ................................................. 221 22 7.dS as ................................................... 236 23 7.0-0 ttJc6B . .te3ttJg4; B. dS ttJe79 . .tgS; 9 . .td2; 9 . .te3; 9.a4 ....245 24 7.0-0 ttJc6 B.dS ttJe79. b4 ttJhS.................... ........251 25 7.0-0 ttJc6 B.dS ttJe79. ttJelttJd7 .................... ........26 5 26 7.0-0 ttJc6B.d S ttJe79.ttJd2 c6 ............................2B3 27 7.0-0 ttJc6 B.dS ttJe7 9.ttJd2............................ as 2BB Part6. Fianchetto Systems l.d4 ttJf6 2.c4 g6 3.ttJf3 J.g74.g 3 0-0 S . .tg2 d6 6.0-0 ttJc6 2B 7.dS; 7.ttJc3 a6 without B.h3, B.dS, B.b3 ...............29B 29 7.ttJc3 a6 B.h3 .td7................... ..................311 30 7.ttJc3 a6 B.dS ttJaS .....................................320 31 7.ttJc3 a6 B.b3 l3bB.................. ...................332 Other Fianchetto Systems Double Fianchetto for White 32 l.ttJf3ttJf6 2. g3 g6 3.b3.tg74.J.b2 d6 S.d4 c5......... .......... 339 Fianchetto without c2-c4 and ttJc3 33 l.ttJf3ttJf6 2.g3 g6 3.d4 .tg74 . .tg2 0-0 5.0-0 d6 ..............342 King's Indian English 34 l.c4 ttJf6 2.ttJc3 g6 3.g3 .tg74 . .tg2 0-0 S.e4; 5.0-0 .........345 6 This book is dedicated to a remarkable man, my "life-long"coach Zigurds Lanka, who uncoveredfor me the mysteries of the King's Indian Defence! PREFACE The King'sIn dia nHous eh old The King's Indian Defence is probably the most romantic response to l.d4. It has survived the test of time and has been played at the high­ est level even to the present day .. Black gives his opponent complete freedom ofchoice in how to control the center and just develops quietly within his King's Indian liousehold, relying on his powerful fianchet­ toed bishop. This position arose in the firstrecorded game (in the latest compu­ ter database) with the King's Indian Defence. It took place in Leipzig back in the year 1879 and one of the most eminent theoreticians of the 19thcentury, Louis Paulsen, was playing with Black. The Hungarian Adolf Schwarz was White and he was probably quite amazed why his opponent, despite all of the principles of playing in the opening at that time, did not fight forthe center at all. He was so happy that he pushed forward all his four central pawnsoutright ! His impressive pawn-chain was soon attacked from both sides of the board, however, and Black seized the initiative. Ironically, the outcome of the game was decided by a black passed pawn right along the central d-file. 7 This was all just a whim of destiny, since neither Paulsen, nor Schwarz knew then that they had been playing the Four Pawns At­ tack. It is still fashionable today. The name of the variation appeared about forty years later thanks to the famous GM, Savielly Tartakower - mostly due to his witty vocabulary. Right then, during the 1920s, the King's Indian Defence became a part of the opening repertoire of the future world-champion Max Euwe. The challenger for the world crown, Efim Bogoljubow, often played it too. Later, Muguel Najdorf, Andre Lilienthal and another future world-champion Vassily Smyslov all became King's Indian exponents. The present burst of popularity is due to the period of the 40' s and 50' s of the past century, when it was thoroughly analyzed by some outstanding theoreticians and powerful practical players such as Isaak Boleslavsky, David Bronstein and Efim Geller. They had to face some magnificentopposition fromthe White side and it would be enough to mention here two world-champions - Mikhail Botvinnik and Tigran Petrosian. (The latter once remarked , in the ironical style so typicalfor him, that he had fed his family thanks to the King's Indian Defence for many, many years ... I). The theory of this already very popular opening began to develop like an avalanche. It was almost refutedat times, de­ scribed as "an incorrect opening" by many, but then it would resurrect itself like Phoenix from the ashes. The poet and chess-player Evgenij Iljin even wrote a poem about it: So many efforts and notes Were devoted to it It was buried so many times "For ever disputed ... !" Was this witchcraft Or dark-squared magic . ? Well, you need to be a romantic deep in your soul and something of a poet in order to play the King's Indian Defence well!. You have to believe in the power of your bishop on g7 and in your kingside attack to enable the triumph of spirit over matter! We will have to interrupt this short historical and lyrical escapade; otherwise, we may not even come to the essence. The book, which you are holding in your hands, is a personal endeavour. This is not just a monograph about a popular opening; it can be called "The King's In- 8 dian Defence According to Bologan" as I am trying to explain to you how I understand and how I play this opening. My relationship with the Kings Indian began when I was just a child, during the 1970's. My first coach, Ivan Jakovlevich Solonar, made a very reasonable decision that he should build up the opening reper­ toire of his pupils according to Fischer! The King's Indian Defence was an integral part of the armoury of the eleventh World Champion since more than 10% of his games started with it. The statistical result, as could be expected fromBobby Fischer, was absolutely terrificfor him: 66 - 40 in his favour. Meanwhile, the result of another super-cham­ pion and devoted King's Indian player Garry Kasparov is also superb: 91 - 53 in his favour, with the inclusion of some rapid chess games. Franklyspeaking, I did not remember so well those firstlessons, be­ cause at that time the opening was not the main focus of my attention. I simply wanted to learn to play chess well.