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Classical Variation, Bayonet Attack 9.b4 a5 10.Ba3 b6 11.bxa5 Ne8 [E97]

Back in 2006, Victor Mikhalevsky analysed his game against Ben Finegold (Mikhalevsky - Finegold), which featured the move order 10.Ba3 axb4 (10...b6 11.bxa5 Rxa5 12.Bb4 Ra8 13.a4 Ne8 leads to the same thing, but with both sides having lost a tempo) 11.Bxb4 b6 12.a4 Ne8. In this position Ntirlis gives 13.h3, rightly arguing that the immediate 13.a5 is met by 13...c5. This looks good, but there's a further transpositional possibility which avoids Ntirlis's analysis, Black can sidestep it with 10.Ba3 b6 11.bxa5 Ne8!:

as he did in Navara, D - Rapport, R. It seems that White cannot then transpose into Ntirlis's analysis with 12.h3 (12.Bb4 is met by 12...c5! once again) as there is 12...f5 13.Bb4 bxa5! 14.Ba3 Nf6.

Navara - Rapport had further theoretical significance in that after 11...Ne8 12.Nb5 Rxa5 13.Bb4 Ra8 14.a4 f5 15.Nd2, it had transposed back into Mikhalevsky - Finegold (10.Ba3 axb4 11.Bxb4 b6 12.a4 Ne8 13.Nb5 f5 14.Nd2). Here Rapport improved with 15...Bd7:

instead of 15...Kh8, and after 16.a5 bxa5 17.Bxa5 fxe4 18.Nxe4 Rxa5 19.Rxa5 c6 White had to find 20.Qa4! to hold the balance.

Classical Variation with 7...Bg4 8.dxe5 Bxf3 9.exf6 Bxe2 10.Qxe2 Qxf6 [E94]

In this topical line, Ntirlis gives the simple 8.dxe5 Bxf3 9.exf6 Bxe2 10.Qxe2 Qxf6 11.Nd5 Qd8 12.Bf4, claiming an edge for White:

Whilst I agree that White should have a nominal edge, the position seems quite playable for Black because he has exchanged two sets of minor pieces. Alex Colovic recommended 12...c6 in his Chessable course on the King's Indian, I think Black can avoid creating a weakness at this stage with 12...Nc6 (Levin, E - Popov, M).

One thing I found interesting is that Ntirlis considered the line 7...exd4 8.Nxd4 Re8 9.f3 Nc6 to be Black's most reliable continuation:

despite the similarity in the pawn structure and the presence of more minor pieces. I think that this line has been well covered in earlier updates, for example Glenn Flear did a good job of analysing Petrov - Teterov, where Black was struggling to offset his lack of space. Meanwhile I thought that Ntirlis's analysis of 7...exd4 8.Nxd4 Re8 9.f3 c6 was objective and rather good, as subsequently confirmed by Mariam Petrov's analysis of the game Zemlianskii - Kotronias. At first I had wondered whether Kotronias's 16...Be6:

might be an attempted improvement, but he then obtained a rather horrible position after simple play by White.

Classical Variation with 7...Na6 8.Re1 Bg4 9.Be3 [E94]

A similar line to 7...Bg4 is 7...Na6 8.Re1 Bg4. After 9.Be3, Ntirlis points out that Black gets a solid position after 9...exd4 10.Nxd4 Bxe2 11.Qxe2 Re8 12.f3 c6 13.Rad1 Nd7:

Here Ntirlis recommends 14.Qc2 and claims an edge for White, which I think is true, though Black has chances to outplay his opponent. A sample game in such positions (Muradli, M - Shankland, S ) showed that Black can have his chances. From a scientific perspective I would still prefer Black to have exchanged another pair of minor pieces (as he did in Levin - Popov) but this will give him fewer winning chances.

Another possibility for Black is 7...Na6 8.Re1 Bg4 9.Be3 Bxf3 10.Bxf3 exd4, which at first sight commits the double sin of giving up the two bishops and the centre. 11.Bxd4 Nb4 was previously covered by David Vigorito (Sadorra - Diamant) and faces a critical test in 12.e5. On the other hand 11...c6:

(Nihal, S - Rapport, R) looks interesting, not least because of its high level patronage.

Classical Variation with 7...Qe8 8.dxe5 dxe5 9.Be3 Na6 10.h3 [E94]

I won a game with this move on the only occasion on which I tried it. Ntirlis gives 8.dxe5 dxe5 9.Be3 Na6 10.h3 and after the standard 10...b6 shows that 11.a3 Bb7 12.Qc2 Nc5 13.Ng5! h6 14.b4! is very good for White. Instead of 10...b6 Black can try 10...Nh5!? when Ntirlis gives 11.c5 Nf4 12.Bxa6 bxa6 13.Rc1 Ne6 14.c6 Qxc6 15.Nd5 Qb7 (Sadikin, T - McShane, I, Baku (ol) 2016) and now 16.Ng5!. This is good, but Black has a slight improvement in 13...Rb8:

instead of 13...Ne6. It doesn't completely overturn the assessment of this line, but Black is still fighting.

Classical Variation with 7...h6 8.Re1 a5 [E94]

Against this topical line Ntirlis analyses Sadler's 8.Re1 a5 9.a3 a4:

but since the book was published Black has also played 9...exd4:

(Degraeve, R - Perossa, N), trying to get an improved version of the Boleslavsky wall thanks to White's a2-a3. There is a case for questioning 9.a3 because White's queenside may prove to be weak once a Black knight arrives on c5.

Classical Variation with 7...Nbd7 8.Re1 [E94]

Ntirlis's recommendation against 7...Nbd7 is the long established 8.Re1. If Black then plays 8...h6 he recommends 9.Qc2 and on 9...Re8 gives 10.dxe5 dxe5 11.Be3 c6 12.Na4:

This does seem to be a shade better for White, but Black was doing OK in Yilmaz, M - Kadric, D until he missed the opportunity to play 17...a5. I liked Kadric's idea to play 14...Bg4 and 15...Bxf3, simplifying the position and making White think about the possibility of a Black knight landing on d4.

On the traditional 8...c6 Ntirlis gives 9.Bf1 exd4 10.Nxd4 Re8 11.Bf4 Ne5 12.h3, and now on 12...a6:

13.Qc2 Nh5 (Antova, G - Gledura, B, Chesterfield 2020) suggests 14.Bh2 c5 15.Nde2 as the right way to keep control. Whilst I agree that 14.Bh2 may be White's best move, I'm not so sure about the assessment because 15...Qg5!? keeps the waters muddy.

In conclusion I'd say that Ntirlis's analysis is rather good, and will certainly tighten the screws on Black in some lines. On the other hand I think that there are plenty of available resources, so the King's Indian is still alive and kicking.

See you next month. Nigel

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