[Event "King's Indian: Makonogov Variation"] [Site "https://lichess.org/study/DkImmch8/SHh2KhBr"] [Result "*"] [UTCDate "2018.12.22"] [UTCTime "10:24:05"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "E90"] [Opening "King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Rare Defenses"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/SoftwareChess"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/DkImmch8/SHh2KhBr"] [Orientation "white"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. h3 { A fashionable line, and a very good one too. It is dificult to come up with good suggestion for black, other than following GMs play, even though black position often does not look too good. The problem is that the position in the main line becomes cramped (a5,b7,d6,e5) and white is the only one with some breaks on the kingside (g4,g5,h4,h5). Neverthless, black scores quite well in practice. However, if black does not feel like playing such positions, then he should deviate at the 11th move, choosing one of the more complex alternatives (11...Ne8 or 11...a4). If instead black does not mind to play the exchange variation, then he can play a (maybe better) plan with Na6 and Nfd7-c5 } 6... Nbd7 { to avoid any possibility of exchange variation } (6... e5 7. d5 (7. dxe5) 7... a5 8. Be3 Na6 9. g4 Nd7 10. Nd2 Ndc5 (10... f5)) (6... a5 { black can try to reach similar position by transposing and avoid the exchange variation, but it is a bit optimistic as approach } 7. Be3 Na6 8. Be2 Nd7 9. g4 e5 10. d5 Ndc5) 7. Be3 e5 8. d5 Nc5 (8... Nh5 9. g3 f5 10. exf5 gxf5 11. Ng5 $16 { [%draw arrow,g5,e6] and this explains why black cannot play the idea Nh5 if he has played Nbd7 first } (11. Nxe5 Nxg3 (11... f4? 12. Nxd7) 12. Nxd7 Re8 13. Rg1 f4 (13... Bxd7?! 14. Ne2 Nxe2 15. Bxe2 Rxe3 16. fxe3 Qh4+ 17. Kd2 Re8) 14. Qf3 fxe3 15. fxe3 Nf5 16. Qxf5 Bxd7 17. Qf3 Kh8 $13) (11. Nh2 f4 12. Qxh5 fxe3 13. fxe3 Nc5 { [%draw arrow,e5,e4] } 14. Ng4 Bd7!? (14... e4 15. Nh6+ Kh8 16. Nf7+ { and black does not have time since the back rank is weak }) (14... Kh8 { the normal approach } 15. Be2 Bf5 16. O-O-O Bg6 17. Qh4 Qxh4 18. gxh4 h5 19. Nh2 Rf2 $10) 15. Nh6+ Kh8 16. Nf7+ Rxf7 17. Qxf7 Qg5 18. Qf2 Rf8 19. h4 Qg6 20. Qg1 Rf3 21. g4 Nd3+ (21... Bxg4?! 22. Be2 Nd3+ 23. Kd2) 22. Kd2 Nb4 { [%draw full,c2] } 23. Rc1 Bxg4 $13 { a total mess in which the computer is giving 0.00, which I find quite funny. }) (11. Nh4 f4 12. Qxh5 fxe3 13. fxe3 Nc5 14. O-O-O e4 15. Be2 Qe7 $13 (15... Bxc3!? 16. bxc3 Qf6 17. Kd2 Bd7 18. Rdf1 Qg7 $13))) 9. Nd2 a5 10. g4 { and this is the main line of a mainstream variation. It has been played by a lot of top playes, on both sides. In my opinion, the position looks a bit too static to be good for black } 10... c6 11. Be2 Bd7 (11... a4!? { it has been often played and it is probably the best move. Black needs some space somewhere } 12. Bxc5 (12. g5 Nfd7 13. h4 Qa5 14. Kf1 a3 15. Nb3 Qb4 (15... Nxb3 16. axb3 $16) 16. Qc2 f5 17. gxf6 Nxf6 18. Nxc5 dxc5 $13) (12. h4 Qa5 13. Kf1 a3 14. b4 Qxb4 15. Rc1 Bd7 $13 { but black is a pawn up, at least }) (12. b4 axb3 13. axb3 Rxa1 14. Qxa1 Na6 15. Qa3 c5 16. Na2 Qb6 $10) 12... dxc5 13. Nxa4 Bh6 (13... b5 14. cxb5 (14. Nxc5 bxc4 15. Bxc4 (15. dxc6 Qa5 16. g5 Rd8 17. gxf6 Bh6 18. Nb7 Bxb7 19. cxb7 Rab8 20. Qc2 Rxd2 21. Qc3 Qa7 22. Qxe5 Rc2 $15) (15. Nxc4 cxd5 16. exd5 Nxd5 $13) 15... cxd5 16. exd5 Nxd5 17. Bxd5 Qxd5 $15) 14... cxd5 15. Nxc5 Qe7 16. Qc2 $13 { but two pawns are two pawns! }) (13... Qa5 14. Nc3 Bh6 15. Nb3 Qb6) 14. Nxc5 (14. O-O Bxd2 { [%draw full,a4] }) (14. Nc3 Bf4 15. Nb3 Qd6 16. Qc2 Bd7 { and this is simply positional compensation }) 14... Qb6 15. Ncb3 Bxd2+ 16. Nxd2 Qxb2 17. Rb1! (17. a4 Qd4 $10 { [%draw full,e4] }) 17... Qa3! $13 (17... Qxa2 18. O-O $16)) (11... Ne8!? { this is yet another alternative. Black wants to counterstrike immediately with f5. Stockfish disagrees, but since the resulting position is very complex, it may be a good idea from practical point of view. } 12. h4 (12. Nb3 Nd7 13. a4 f5 $13 { see Riazantsev-Svidler (2008) }) 12... cxd5 13. cxd5 f5 (13... b6!? { [%draw arrow,a5,a4] [%draw arrow,c8,d7] even slow play can work } 14. Qc2 Bd7 15. f3 a4 16. a3 Bf6! { the bishop has to stay out of the way and protect d6 from e7 } 17. g5 Be7 $13) 14. gxf5 gxf5 15. h5 Kh8 $13 { sharp and difficult to assess }) 12. h4 (12. g5) 12... cxd5 (12... a4) (12... h6) 13. cxd5 Rc8 (13... b5!? { this is a resource worth studying, since it is the last chance for black to change the structure into a more flexible one. This comes at the cost of a pawn, however. It is worth noticing that black is one tempo short: if he could play this sacrifice but with the rook on c8 it would be fine for him. } 14. g5 Nh5 15. Bxc5 dxc5 16. Bxh5 (16. Bxb5 Bxb5 17. Nxb5 f6 18. d6 (18. gxf6 Qxf6 19. Qe2 Nf4 20. Qf1 Rab8 21. a4 Bh6) 18... Rb8 (18... fxg5 19. Nc7 Rb8 20. Ne6 Qxd6 21. Nxf8 Qxf8 22. hxg5 { probably too much })) 16... gxh5 17. Qxh5 c4 $13) (13... a4 14. g5 Ne8 (14... Nh5!? 15. Bxc5 (15. Bxh5 Nd3+!? 16. Ke2 Nf4+ 17. Bxf4 exf4 18. Bf3 a3 19. Qb3 axb2 20. Qxb2 Qa5 21. Rac1 Rfc8 22. Ndb1 $13 { a crazy line, probably useless, since white can start with Bxc5 }) 15... dxc5 16. Bxh5 gxh5 17. Qxh5 b5 { with position similar to the previous note }) 15. h5) (13... Rb8 14. g5 Ne8 15. a4 Nc7 16. Nc4 $16) 14. a4 (14. g5?! Nh5! 15. Bxc5 Rxc5 16. Bxh5 gxh5 17. Qxh5 b5 { full compensation, to say the least, for black. See Grischuk-Naiditsch (2016) }) 14... Ne8 15. g5 (15. h5 Bf6! 16. Nb3 (16. Ra3?! Bg5 $15) 16... Nxb3 17. Qxb3 Bg5 18. Nd1 Bf4 $13) 15... f5 16. h5 Rf7 17. hxg6 hxg6 18. f3 $14 { this position looks quite nice for white, even though computer is giving equality } 18... f4 (18... Bf8 { black needs to know the good plan. Now the idea is Ng7-Nh5 } 19. exf5 Bxf5 20. Nde4 b6 21. Bb5 Be7 22. Qc2 Ng7 23. O-O-O $14) 19. Bf2 Qxg5 20. Rg1 { this looks more than compensation for white. Black should really consider to avoid such cramped positions, by playing a4 earlier (sacrificing a pawn) } *