21. My Line against the King’s Indian Attack – Part 2

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. O-O O-O 5. d3 d5 6. Nbd2 $6 d4 $1 7. e4 dxe3
$1 8. fxe3 c5 $1 {Diagram [#] The last post dealt with 9.Qe2. Here, we cover
the rest, with the stem game of 6..d4! as main line.} 9. Nc4 (9. Nb3 Qc7 10.
Qe2 {Diagram [#]} b6 (10... Bg4 $1 {In part 1 I already manifested my
sympathy for this motive. Getting rid of this bishop always comes with the
price of weakening the kingside, as the following lines demonstrate:} 11. h3 (
11. Bd2 b6 (11... Nbd7 $5 12. Bc3 Rac8 {[%cal Gb7b5,Gb5b4,Gc5c4]}) 12. h3 Bd7
13. g4 Nc6 14. Bc3 e5 {[%cal Re5e4,Rf6d5]} 15. Nfd2 Rae8 $15 {[%csl Yc3][%cal
Gd7e6,Gf6d5,Gd5c3]}) 11... Bd7 12. g4 c4 $1 {This sacrifice disrupts White's
pawn structure.} 13. dxc4 (13. Nbd2 cxd3 14. cxd3 Nc6 $15 {[%csl Yd3,Ye3,Yg1] White has an airy king's position and vulnerable central pawns.}) 13... h5 $1 14. gxh5 (
14. g5 Ne4 $17) 14... Nxh5 15. Rd1 Nc6 16. Nbd4 Ne5 $15 17. Nxe5 (17. b3 $2
Nxf3+ 18. Qxf3 e5 19. Qxb7 (19. Nb5 Bxb5 20. cxb5 e4 $19) 19... Qxb7 20. Bxb7
Rab8 21. Bc6 Rfd8 $17) 17... Bxe5 18. Qf3 Rab8 19. b3 b5 $1 20. cxb5 $2 Rb6 $1
$19 {[%cal Gb6f6] with a very strong attack}) 11. e4 e5 ({In
Doering,T (2215)-Mueller,F (2133) Germany 1999, White ignored the positional
threat of e4-e5.}11... Nc6 $2 12. e5 Ne8 (12... Nd5 13. c4 Ndb4 14. a3 Na6 15. Bf4 $36) 13.
Bf4 e6 $14 14. Rae1 (14. Nbd2) (14. d4) 14... Ba6 15. Nbd2 $14 {The knight
finally found a nice place on e4, eying the weak squares f6 and d6.}) 12. Nbd2 Nc6 13. Nc4 Be6 14. Ne3 Rad8 $15 {[%cal Gc6d4]}) (9. d4 {
Diagram [#] The problem with this advance is the possible lever e7-e5, which
will weaken White's structure.} Nc6 (9... Qc7) 10. c3 e5 $2 {Premature, since
the dynamics of the position now work for White. It would have been better to
prepare the central thrust with} (10... Qc7 $1 {and answer} 11. Nb3 {with} b6
$1 12. dxc5 Ba6 13. Re1 Rad8 14. cxb6 Qxb6 15. Bd2 e5 $15 {[%cal Gg7h6,Gh6e3,
Yf6g4,Yg4e3] with the idea 16..Bh6 and more than enough compensation for the
pawn.}) 11. Nb3 (11. Nxe5 $5 Nxe5 12. dxe5 Ng4 13. Ne4 {[%cal Re4f6,Re4c5]})
11... cxd4 12. cxd4 $2 (12. exd4 Qb6 13. Kh1 $11) 12... exd4 (12... Ng4 $5 13.
h3 e4 14. Nh2 (14. Ne1 $6 Nf6 15. Nc5 Re8 16. Rf4 Bh6 17. Rf2 Nb4 $17) 14...
Nxh2 15. Kxh2 f5 16. Bd2 Ne7 {[%csl Yb3,Ge3,Rg3][%cal Ge7d5,Rd8d6,Rh7h4,Yb7b6,
Yc8a6,Rd6g3] with many nice ideas, as shown in the colourful diagram} 17. Bb4
$2 Nd5 $1) 13. exd4 Bg4 $15 {Kurtenkov,A (2314)-Turov,M (2695) playchess.com
INT 2005}) (9. e4 Nc6 10. Nc4 Be6 11. Ne3 h6 12. Qe2 Nd4 13. Qf2 {was Binder,A
(1915)-Lapenna,A (2137) Cento 2011 and now} Rc8 {would have given Black a
slight advantage.}) (9. a4 Nc6 10. Nc4 Be6 11. Qe2 Bxc4 12. dxc4 Nd7 13. Ra3
Qc7 14. Rd3 Nde5 15. Nxe5 Nxe5 16. Rdd1 Rad8 17. Rxd8 Rxd8 18. b3 b6 19. Kh1
Qd7 20. Bd5 e6 21. Bg2 h5 22. h3 Qd6 23. Qf2 Rd7 $15 {In the game Emami,M
(2154)-Kummerow,H (2326) Bad Wildbad 2000, Black enjoyed the superior pawn
structure.}) (9. Ne5 Qc7 10. Ndc4 Nbd7 11. Nxd7 Bxd7 12. e4 Ng4 $1 {Diagram [#] This move confronts White with the most practical problems. The Nc4 is
supposed to be molested by tactical means.} 13. Bf4 (13. c3 {Covering d4, but
at the cost of weakening the d-pawn} Rad8 $15) (13. Kh1 b5 14. Na3 (14. Nd2 $4
Ne3) 14... a6 $17 {[%csl Ya3] All of White's minor pieces are poorly placed,
especially the knight.}) (13. a4 $1 Bd4+ $6 (13... Be6 $15) 14. Kh1 Nf2+ $2 15.
Rxf2 Bxf2 16. Bf4 Qc8 17. c3 {and the bishop won't come home anymore.}) 13...
Bd4+ 14. Kh1 e5 15. Bd2 b5 16. c3 (16. Na3 Ne3 (16... Nf2+ $2 17. Rxf2 Bxf2 18.
Qf1 Bd4 19. c3) 17. Bxe3 Bxe3 $15) 16... Nf2+ 17. Rxf2 Bxf2 18. Qf3 (18. Na3 c4
$17) 18... bxc4 19. Bh6 Qb6 20. dxc4 {and now, the bishop should have sold his
life more dearly with} Bxg3 (20... Rfd8 $2 {Tjoelsen,K (2081)-Nebolsina,V
(2349) Yerevan 2007}) 21. hxg3 Rfc8 22. Rd1 Qe6 $17 {and Black's king is safe,
since} 23. Rxd7 $4 Qxd7 24. Qf6 Qd1+ 25. Kh2 Qh5+ $19 {doesn't work.}) 9... Nc6
10. a4 (10. c3 Be6 11. Nce5 Nxe5 12. Nxe5 Qc7 13. d4 Bd5 14. Bxd5 Nxd5 15. Nd3
c4 {That's better than} (15... cxd4 $6 16. exd4 {as in Grabarchuk,N-Moryakov,A
RCCA corr 2002}) 16. e4 (16. Nf4 Nf6 17. Qf3 e5 $15) 16... cxd3 17. exd5 Qc4
18. Qb3 b5 19. Qxc4 bxc4 20. b3 Rac8 $15) 10... Be6 11. Qe2 {Diagram [#] In
the absence of promising alternatives White admits the deformation of his
pawn-Structure. Supporting the knight with} (11. b3 $2 {would have weakened
squares on the long diagonal:} Nd5 12. Nb2 (12. d4 $2 cxd4 13. exd4 Nc3 14. Qd3
Nxd4 $19) (12. Ra3 $2 Nc3 13. Qe1 Nb4 14. Rf2 Nb1) (12. Ba3 $6 Bxa1 13. Qxa1
Ndb4) 12... Bg4 (12... Bxb2 $2 13. Bxb2 Nxe3 14. Qd2 Nxf1 15. Qh6 f6 16. Ng5 $1
Rf7 17. Nxe6 Qd6 18. Re1 $1 $16) 13. Qe1 Qd7 $17) (11. Na3 Qd7 $15) (11. Nce5
Nxe5 12. Nxe5 Qc7 13. Nf3 Rad8 (13... c4 $5) 14. Qe2 Ng4 $15) 11... Bxc4 {I
could also have temporarily ignored that knight and developed with 11..Qc7 or
11..Qd7, but deforming White's structure cannot be bad.} 12. dxc4 Nd7 ({
Another option was to keep the knight on f6 a bit longer in order to retain
more flexibility.} 12... Qc7 $5 13. Bd2 $2 Ne4) 13. Rb1 Qa5 14. b3 Rad8 15. Bd2
{Diagram [#]} Bc3 {As always, it makes sense to bisect the bishop pair, since
this is his only compensation for the inferior pawn structure.} 16. Rbd1 Bxd2 (
16... Nf6 $6 17. Bc1) 17. Qxd2 {Diagram [#]} Qc7 {Here I had the option to
head for a slightly better ending, due to the possession of the d-file, as
given below. However, speaking in general terms, the queen-knight-combo versus
queen + bishop is the constellation you normally want to play here.} (17...
Qxd2 $5 18. Rxd2 (18. Nxd2 Nde5 19. Bxc6 Nxc6 20. Ne4 b6 21. Nc3 f6 22. Kf2 Kf7
23. Nb5 h5 24. Ke2 a5 $15) 18... Nf6 19. Rxd8 (19. Rfd1 $2 Ng4) 19... Rxd8 20.
Ne1 Na5 21. h3 (21. Nd3 $2 Nxb3 22. Bxb7 Na5) 21... b6 22. g4 h6 23. Kf2 Rd2+
24. Kg3 Kg7 25. Rf2 Rd6 26. h4 Rd1 $15 27. Re2 (27. Rf1 g5 28. hxg5 (28. Nf3
Ne4+) (28. Nd3 gxh4+ 29. Kxh4 Rd2 30. Rf2 Nxb3) 28... hxg5 29. Ba8 Rd2) 27...
Nd7 28. Bd5 Ne5 29. Nf3 Nac6 30. Rg2 Rf1) 18. Qc3 b6 $6 {Removing the pawn
from the bishop's scope is logical, but now White was able to create some
counterplay through determined actions.} (18... Nf6 19. Ng5 (19. Rd3 b6 20.
Rfd1 Nb4 $17) (19. Rfe1 Ne4 20. Qb2 f5 21. Rf1 b6 22. Rfe1 Rd6 $17) 19... Rxd1
20. Rxd1 Rd8 21. Rxd8+ Qxd8 $15 {[%cal Rd8d1]}) 19. Ng5 $1 {The threat is 20.
Rxf7 Rxf7 21.Ne6+-.} Nf6 (19... h6 $2 20. Nxf7 Rxf7 21. Rxf7 Kxf7 22. Bd5+ e6
23. Rf1+ Ke7 24. Qg7+ Kd6 25. Qxg6 $18) 20. Nh3 $1 {[%cal Gh3f4,Gf4d5] Diagram
[#]} Qe5 $6 {I should have kept the queens on the board (queen-knight-combo)
in order to exploit his weaknesses. The difference to the ending arising after
17..Qxd2 is, that I won't be able to conquer the d-file now.} (20... Rxd1 21.
Rxd1 Rd8 22. Rxd8+ Nxd8 23. Nf4 Nc6 (23... Qd6 24. Qd3 {and the exchange of
queens would straighten out White's pawn structure.}) 24. Nd5 Nxd5 25. cxd5 Ne5
$15 {In such positions, the queen and knight work together well and might even
create attacking chances against the enemy king at a later stage.}) 21. Qxe5
Nxe5 22. Nf4 Nfg4 23. Rde1 e6 (23... Rd2 24. h3 Nf6 25. Rf2 Rd6 26. a5 $1 {
with counterplay}) 24. h3 Nf6 25. Rd1 Kg7 ({After} 25... Rxd1 26. Rxd1 g5 27.
Nd3 Rd8 28. Kf2 a5 29. Ke2 Ng6 {White can create counterplay by} 30. c3 Nd7 31.
b4 Nde5 32. bxa5 bxa5 33. Nxc5 Rc8 34. Ne4 Rxc4 35. Rd4 Rc8 36. Nxg5 Rxc3 37.
Ne4 Ra3 38. Nd6 $11) 26. Nd3 $1 {Diagram [#] The key-move and the end of the
knight`s walking-tour. There is not much left to me other than to re-straighten
White`s structure.} Nxd3 (26... Ned7 $2 27. a5) (26... Nfd7 27. Kf2 (27. a5 $6
bxa5) 27... a5 28. Ke2) 27. cxd3 $11 Rd7 28. Rd2 Rfd8 29. g4 (29. d4 cxd4 $140
30. exd4 Rxd4 31. Rdf2) 29... Ng8 30. Rfd1 f5 31. d4 fxg4 32. hxg4 Nf6 33. Bf3
(33. g5 $2 Ng4 34. Re1 Ne5 35. Bh1 Nf7 36. Rg2 cxd4 37. exd4 Rxd4 38. Rxe6 Rd1+
39. Kh2 R8d4) 33... g5 34. Kf2 e5 35. d5 a5 36. Kg3 Ne8 37. Rh2 h6 38. Rdh1 Rd6
39. Be4 Rf6 40. Bf5 Nd6 41. e4 Rh8 {Diagram [#] Starting with 19.Ng5!, my
opponent played well in a difficult position and rightly deserved half the
point.} 1/2-1/2