Stunners in the Samisch-Benoni/KID complex

There is something for everyone in the KID; Some players like Smirin and Kozul compliment their theoretical knowledge by opting for more plan-based systems (enabling them to improvise more) while others are more on the theoretical/concrete side (some of my favorites are Kotronias, Theodorou, Demchenko, and some correspondence players). When I was young I thought there would come a day where we would see the refutation of this opening; however I am thankful that this day hasn't come and in fact the KID is one of the highest scoring openings for black in correspondence chess at the moment. The various hidden, computer confusing resources make it one of the best openings to play for a win, assuming your opponent is spoiling for a fight as well.

One such system which aims for such a fight is the Samisch Variation. This center-reinforcing approach was once regarded as one of the most fearsome tests of the KID with world champions like Botvinnik, KID killer Petrosian, and Spassky among others to be ambassadors of this line. White builds a massive center and seeks to comfortably develop behind the pawns. I have no doubt that Philidor would have been in love with this system for white!

However white's luxurious approach has downsides; the lag in development could be potentially dangerous if that position opens up. We will look at several applications of an idea to radically open the game to exploit white's ultra-leisurely development.

Here is the first form of the idea

Here is another form which appeared right before Morozevich's article in Chess Informant 126. Morozevich ended the article presenting Mamedov's idea but was unsure of what he intended had Dreev not blundered. Through a lot of hard work my friend NM Andrew Liu (@anhao) found something truly remarkable. I summarize things here:

It wasn't until a few years later that I encountered yet another form of b5. At that time I believe GM Ivan Ivanisevic was the first to write about this version of b5, giving detailed analysis in his book "The Modernized Delayed Benoni". Further details and some improvements are given below:

Having thought I'd seen it all, I was sorely mistaken; yet another form of the idea was pointed out to me by NM Andrew Liu, details below.

Nowadays I think the teeth from the Samisch variation have largely been pulled, as legendary blitz player Jorge Sammour-Hasbun once said "Any time white plays the Samisch, black should regard it as a gift!" Time has vindicated Jorge's quip and black is doing quite well in these lines as well as few others. This article could serve as the starting point for a potential repertoire vs the Samisch KID serve as inspiration with the beautiful chess in the notes. I hope you enjoyed that wild ride, I know I did.

Sources: Chess Informant 126

The Modernized Delayed Benoni by Ivan Ivanisevic. Thinkers Publishing 2019