CHESS
New attack
Raymond Keene
THE KING'S Indian Defence was pio- neered by British masters such as Yates and Sir George Thomas in the 1920s, How- ever, it only became truly popular when Russian grandmasters, for example Bron- stein and Boleslaysky, took it up with fer- vour in the 1940s and then started to inflict heavy damage with it during major interna- tional competitions in the 1950s.
The basic premise of the King's Indian is that Black allows White a free hand in the early stages to build up a massive pawn centre, and then hopes to strike it down with a later counter-attack. The aggressive nature of the King's Indian has led to it becoming a major favourite with world champions such as Mikhail Tal, Bobby Fischer and now Garry Kasparov.
The tension between the respective strategies of domination on White's part and breakout on Black's has created a whole range of hypersubtle strategies designed to further the aims of either side. Many of these, though, are far too refined for the average enthusiast and their imple- mentation can frequently lead to confu- sion. Now the former Soviet grandmaster Anatoly Vaisser has come out with a recipe that reduces the battle to its bare essen- tials. His recent book, Beating the King's Indian and Benoni (Batsford, £12.99), advocates the Four Pawns Attack as the most effective weapon to bludgeon Black practitioners of both the King's Indian and Benoni defences into submission. Here is a sample game by the author himself.
Vaisser—Berelovich: Groningen 1993; King's Indian Defence.
1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 e4 d6 5 f4 This is the key move of the Four Pawns Attack. White's plan is either to overwhelm Black in the centre with his pawn mass or to create tactical chances,
even at material cost, by advancing these pawns to come to grips with the black king. 5 ... 0-0 6 Nf3 c5 7 d5 White could also play possum in the centre with 7 Be2, relying on a slight space advantage after 7 ... cxd4 8 Nxd4. Nevertheless, the bold advance in the text, although it exposes White's centre to undermining operations, is the only consistent course and the one to which Vaisser devotes the vast majority of space in his book. 7 ...e6 8 Be2 exd5 9 cxd5 The thematic way to recapture and the only way to ensure that White's central pawn majority comes into being.
9 ... Bg4 Black has alternatives, such as 9 ...b5 or 9 ...Re8, but the text is generally reckoned to be one of the safer choices. This judgment could be open to suspicion after Vaisser's new treat- ment is revealed. 10 0.0 Nbd7 11 Rel Re8 12 h3 Bxf3 13 Bxf3 Rc8 14 Khl! A significant novelty. Kasparov succeeded in equalising against Nogueiras, Barcelona 1989, after 14 Be3?! b5! 15 Nxb5 Nxe4 16 Bxe4 Rxe4 17 Nxd6 Rxe3 18 Rxe3 Bd4 19 Qf3 Rb8 20 Kh2 Nf6 21 Nc4 Bxe3 22 Qxe3 QxdS. 14 ... a6 15 a4 c4 16 Be3 Nc5?! It is better to take back with the queen on c5 rather than with the rook. Therefore, Black should try 16 ... Qa5!? 17 Re2 Rcd8, preparing 18 Nc5, as in the game Vegh-Reinderman, Haarlem 1994. 17 Bxc5 Rxe5 18 e5 dxe5 19 fxe5 Nd7 20 e6 (Diagram) This position, with White's far-flung central pawns already threatening Black's king, is typical of the Four Pawns Attack. If now 20 ...fxe6 21 dxe6 Ne5 22 Qxd8 Rxd8 23 Bxb7 with an extra pawn for White since 23 ...Nd3? loses to 24 e7 Re8 25 Bd5 +. 20 ...Ne5 21 exf7+ Kxf7 Surprisingly, Black players continued trying to defend this position in subsequent games. For example, Christine Foisor had serious problems against Zsuzsa Polgar, Tilburg Candidates 1994, after 21 ...Nxt7 22 Ne4 Ra5 23 Bg4 Kh8 24 Be6 Ne5 25 Qd2 h6 26 Rad1 Nd3 27 Rfl and now Black blundered with 27 ...Rxd5? when 28 Bxd5 Qxd5 29 Nf6! Bxf6 30 Qxh6+ led to Black's instant resignation. 22 Ne4! Rc8 23 Bg4! Nxg4 24 Qxg4 Kg8 25 d6 Rc6 26 Radl Re5 27 Rd5! Re8 28 Qe2I Red 29 Qd2 (Diagram) Once again, this position is a typical outcome in the Four Pawns Attack of the advance of White's massed central pawns. White is now winning thanks to the passed d-pawn. 29 ...h6 30 d7 Re7 31 Nc5 c3 32 bxc3 Bxe3 33 Rxe7 Black resigns.
On 8 December, the Ft& version of the World Championship starts in Groningen, Holland, later transferring to Lausanne. Britain is well represented, with Nigel Short, Michael Adams, Matthew Sadler and Peter Wells in the lists.
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