The Mighty King's Indian Bishop

By Junior Tay

Just like Gufeld, this friend of mine, Dexter Lee had the incredible knack of winning the game with his favourite dark square Bishop be it in the Sicilian Dragon or King's Indian. Almost nothing can stop them from trading this beloved piece. Towards the end of this game, I began to appreciate their affinity to this little piece…the mighty King's Indian Bishop.

Luis Sanchez ,Y (2200) - Tay,J [E98]
ICCF/EM/TT/A071

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.d4 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 0-0 5.e4 d6 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Ne1 Ne8

Endorsed by the World No 1 player (not politically correct to say World Champion these days) Kasparov. The disadvantage of this line is that one has to waste time flinging the h pawn in order to attack the Kingside whereas with 9...Nd7, you just need to shove the g pawn. However, OTB GM Zdenko Kozul's 14.c5! in response to 9...Nd7 was sufficient to convince me that Black can only grovel for a draw in that line. [9...Nd7 10.Be3 f5 11.f3 f4 12.Bf2 g5 13.Rc1 Ng6 14.c5! Nxc5 15.b4 with a powerful initiative- GM Kozul]

10.Be3

The sharpest line in the Classical KID. Heavy hitters with white are Kozul, Korchnoi and Piket.

10...f5 11.f3 f4 12.Bf2 h5

played to prevent [12...g5 13.g4 and the game turns more positional than what I want from a no holds barred Classical KID.]

13.c5 g5








Black has four general plans here

  1. Kasparov's Kh7, Bh6 and the sacrifice of the g4 pawn which will allow the whole queenside to get mobilised.
  2. 2. The typical Rf7, Bf8 and Rg7 (or h7) and finally g5-g4.
  3. 3. Nunn's Nxd6 after cxd6, followed by Rf6-g6 (or h6).
  4. 4. Play Bh6, Rf7-g7 and abandon the whole queenside.

14.Rc1

Well, Plan 1 is out of the question because the Rook arrives on c7 with a check and plan 4 deserves consideration because the Rc1 can be a target for the Bh6. Here are some key games which shape the theory of this interesting line. [14.cxd6 cxd6 15.Kh1 Ng6 16.Rc1 Bd7 17.a4 Bh6 18.Nd3 g4 19.fxg4 f3 20.gxf3 Bxc1 21.Qxc1 hxg4 22.Qh6 Qf6 23.fxg4 Qg7 24.Qxg7+ Kxg7˛ 25.Kg2 Rh8 26.Be3 Nf6 27.h3 a6 28.Kg3 Rac8 29.Nf2 Rcf8 30.Rh1 Nf4 31.Bd1 Rh6 32.h4 Rg6 33.g5 N6h5+ 34.Kh2 Rh8 35.Bg4 Bxg4 36.Nxg4 Kf7 37.Rg1 Rg7 38.Nh6+ Kg6 39.Rf1 Rc8 40.Nf5 Rd7 41.Ng3 b5 42.axb5 axb5 43.Bxf4 Nxf4 44.Nf5 Rc5 45.Kg3 b4 46.Nd1 Rc2 47.Kg4 Rg2+ 48.Kf3 Rd2 49.Kg4 Nh5 50.Nde3 Rxb2 51.Nc4 Rg2+ 52.Kf3 Rc2 53.Nfxd6 Rc3+ 54.Kg2 Kh7 55.Ra1 Nf4+ 56.Kf2 Rc7 57.Ne3 Ra3 58.Rb1 Rc1 59.Rxc1 Nd3+ Kortschnoj,V-Polgar,J/Vienna Millenium 1996/CBM 55/˝-˝ (73); 14.a4 Ng6 15.a5 Bh6 16.b4 Kh7 17.cxd6 cxd6 18.Nb5 g4 19.fxg4 hxg4 20.Bxg4 Bxg4 21.Qxg4 Nf6 22.Qf3 (22.Qf5 f3 23.Nxf3 Nxd5 24.Bh4 Rxf5 25.Bxd8 Rf4 26.Ng5+ Bxg5 27.Bxg5 Rxe4 28.Nxd6 Rg4 29.Bd2 Nh4 30.g3 e4 31.Nxe4 Rxe4 32.gxh4 Rg8+ 33.Kh1 Rxh4 34.Rf7+ Rg7 35.Rxg7+ Kxg7 36.Rd1 Re4 37.Bh6+ ˝-˝ Zueger,B-Cvitan,O/Bern op 1993/TD) 22...Qd7 23.Nxa7 Ng4 24.b5 Nxf2 25.Qxf2 f3 26.Nxf3 Qg4 27.b6 Qxe4 28.Rfe1 Qxd5 29.Qc2 Rae8 30.Rad1 Qxa5 31.Qc7+ Re7 32.Qxd6 e4 33.Nh4 Rg7 34.Nxg6 Rxg6 35.Qe7+ Bg7 36.Qh4+ Kg8 37.Qxe4 Rxb6 38.Qd5+ Qxd5 39.Rxd5 Rb2 40.Rf1 Bh6 41.Rxf8+ Kxf8 42.Rf5+ Ke7 43.Nb5 Be3+ 44.Kf1 ˝-˝ Kortschnoj,V-Kasparov,G/EU-chT 1992/EU-chT; 14.Nd3 Ng6 15.Rc1 Bh6 16.Rc2 Kh7 17.b4 Rg8 18.Nb2 Nf6 19.cxd6 cxd6 20.Nb5 Rg7 21.Nc4 g4 22.Nbxd6 g3 23.hxg3 fxg3 24.Bxg3 h4 25.Bh2 Nh5 26.Nf5 Bxf5 27.exf5 Ngf4 28.Bd3 Kh8 29.Be4 Ng3 30.Rff2 Qf6 31.Qa1 Re8 32.d6 b5 33.d7 Rxd7 34.Bc6 Qxc6 35.Nxe5 Qf6 36.Ng6+ Kh7 37.Qb1 Re2 38.Rfxe2 Ngxe2+ 39.Kf2 Ng3 40.Bxg3 0-1 Pushkarjova,O-Fedorov,A/Minsk op 1994/EXT 97; At this time, I was watching the Las Vegas W-Ch Knockout 1999 live and witnessed this game which overturned the theoretical status of this line (Plan 3). 14.a4 Rf6 15.cxd6 Nxd6 16.Nb5 (16.Nd3 g4= Shirov-Nunn, Donner Memorial 1995.) 16...a6 17.Nxd6 cxd6 18.Nd3 Rg6 19.Qb3 g4 20.Qb6 Qf8 21.Rfc1 Qf6 22.Rc2 Qg5 23.Be1 h4 24.Nf2 gxf3 25.Bxf3 h3 26.Qd8+ Bf8 27.Nxh3+- Shaked-Babula, Las Vegas W-Ch 1999 Rd 1. ]

14...Ng6 15.a4 Bh6 16.Nd3 Rf7

[16...g4 doesn't work here because of 17.fxg4 f3 18.Bxf3 hxg4 19.Bxg4 Bxc1 20.Bxc8±]

17.a5?!

I think White has mixed up his plans here. Rc1 and a4-a5 does not work well together. The a pawn could become a target for the White Queen after cxd6, cxd6. If anything, 17.a5 is a waste of an important tempo, fatal in KID Classical flank attacks. [17.cxd6 cxd6 18.Kh1 unclear]

17...Rg7 18.Rc2

White decides not to follow through his flank attack and work on prophylactic defense instead. This gives Black the chance to unleash

18...g4! 19.fxg4 Qg5!








allowing hxg4 is tantamount to suicide so instead he decided to ditch the exchange with

20.gxh5 Nh4 21.g3 Bh3 22.Ne1

[22.Re1 Ng2 (22...fxg3 23.hxg3 Ng2) ]

22...Nf6 23.cxd6 cxd6 24.Nf3

[24.Kh1 Bxf1 25.gxh4 Bxe2 26.hxg5 Bxd1 27.gxf6 Bxc2 28.fxg7 -+]

24...Nxf3+ 25.Bxf3 Bxf1 26.Kxf1 fxg3 27.Bxg3

[27.hxg3 Rf8 and now Nxh5 followed by Qxg3 is a serious threat.]

27...Rf8 28.Kg1 Qe3+ 29.Kg2 a6 30.Kh1 Nxd5!

I took 3 whole days and nights to work out 31.Qxd5 but alas, he didn't fall for it. Now the win will be long and technical...

31.Nxd5

[31.Qxd5+ Kh8 32.Bg2 Rxg3! 33.hxg3 Qxg3 and mate is inevitable. Sigh...]

31...Qxf3+ 32.Qxf3 Rxf3 33.Kg2 Rf8 34.Rf2 Rxf2+ 35.Kxf2 Bc1 36.b4 Kf7 37.Kf3 Rg5 38.h4 Rxh5 39.Kg4 Rh8 40.Bf2 Bd2 41.Kf5

Here, I was pondering how to induce the h4 pawn forward so I can play Rg8-g5 mate! Anyway, the idea came in handy later.

41...Rg8 42.Bb6 Rc8 43.Ba7 Rc1 44.h5 Rf1+

to gain an important tempo [44...b5!? 45.axb6?? Rg1 Mate in 2]

45.Kg4 Rb1 46.Bb8 Ke6 47.Nc7+ Kd7 48.Nd5 Bxb4 49.h6 Bxa5 50.h7 Rg1+ 51.Kf5 Bd8!!








The satisfaction that I derived from e-mailing this move is far greater than any OTB win I have ever attained. [51...Bd8 threatening mate in one! 52.Nb6+ deflecting the bishop but 52...Bxb6 53.h8Q Bd8 54.Qh5 Rg5+ 55.Qxg5 Bxg5 56.Kxg5 b6








The Bb8 is boxed in and the a pawn sprints home!] 0-1