Chessville Reviews - Beating the King’s Indian and Grünfeld - By Tim Taylor - Everyman Chess, 2006 - Reviewed by Michael Jeffreys

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Beating the King’s Indian and Grünfeld
by IM Tim Taylor

Reviewed By Michael Jeffreys

Everyman Chess, 2006
ISBN 1857444280
222 Pages, softcover, $23.95
Algebraic Notation

IM Tim Taylor

The Rock of Gibraltar

“The Four Pawns Attack is the most aggressive
way for White to meet the King’s Indian.”
–GM Joe Gallagher
(Starting Out: The King’s Indian, pg. 122)

If having two center pawns abreast is good, than what about three? And if three is even better than two, than why not set up a wall of four pawns that attack six of the eight squares on your opponent’s fourth rank!? If hyper-modernism is one extreme (not bothering with the center until after castling), than some might consider this classical chess run amuck!

Of course, setting up “the Rock of Gibraltar” and then daring your opponent to knock it down is certainly not for every chess player. Knowing how to support the wall of pawns can often be a tricky business if one doesn’t know what he or she is doing.

This is where IM Tim Taylor comes in as he attempts to teach you the ins and outs of the “four pawns attack” in his latest book, Beating the King’s Indian and Grünfeld. From the book’s Introduction:

In this book I’m offering two main variations of the Four Pawns Attack as the best practical way for the creative, attacking player to defeat the King’s Indian. My number one, “win at all costs” line is what I will call the Martz Variation, after the American IM who played it with great success throughout his career. In this line White plays for a Maroczy Bind set-up that gives him space and attacking chances. Even more important, Black will be too busy defending to think of attacking you!

For those not familiar, here are the first six moves of the four pawns attack against the King’s Indian Defense: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0–0 6.f4

The Four Pawns tabiya

Says Taylor: Notice that White plays 5.Be2, and only then 6.f4. The reasons are twofold: First, White looks to see where Black’s king lives: if he castles (by far the most popular move) we know where we can mate him! Second, if he plays 5…c5, we play 6.Nf3, and reach the variation as follows: 6…cxd4 7.Nxd4 Nc6 8.Be3 0-0 9.f4*. [Note that the book incorrectly gives *9.Be3 here (an obvious typo) so I called IM Taylor and he told me the correct move was 9.f4 -M.J.] This avoids the pitfall that could occur after 5.f4 c5!? 6.Nf3?! (6.d5 is best, but that is not a Martz!) 6…cxd4 7.Nxd4 Nc6 8.Be3 Ng4 and Black has the initiative; see Game 15, Taylor-Peters, for further notes.

While preparing this review, I happened to be at the Los Angeles Chess Club on July 4^th of this year when they were having their rapid-play club championship. I arrived just in time for the start of round six and pulled up a chair just a few feet away from the game between IM Taylor and Show Kitagami, a strong expert. Taylor was White and what did he play against Kitagami’s K.I.D.? But of course, the Four Pawns attack. Here is that game:

Taylor, Tim (2421) - Kitagami, Show (2131)
LACC Championship G-25 (6), 7.4.2007
(Notes by Michael Jeffreys)

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0–0 6.f4 c5 7.Nf3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Nc6 9.Be3 Bd7 10.0–0 Ng4?!

An inaccuracy. Correct is 10…Nxd4.

11.Bxg4 Bxg4?

However, this is just a blunder and brings about Black’s quick demise. Black had to play 11…Bxd4 and try to hang on.

12.Nxc6! Qd7 13.Nxe7+ Kh8 14.Nxg6+

Said Tim in an email to me after the game: “You will notice in Game 4 of my book, Capablanca played 14.Qd3 which is a solid way to win, but I didn’t see any reason not to take the second pawn.”

14…hxg6 15.Qd3 Rac8 16.Bd4

During the game I thought that 16.f5 (threatening 17.f6 winning a piece) was a little stronger and Junior 10.1 agrees, but Taylor’s move is Junior’s second choice.

16...Qc6 17.Bxg7+ Kxg7 18.Qd4+ Kg8?

18…f6 was better, but the jig is already up.

19.Nd5! 1–0

White’s next will be either 20.Ne7+ winning Black’s queen, or if say 19…Qxc4 than 20.Nf6+ picks up the bishop on g4.

Besides the Martz variation, the other line that Tim recommends to combat the K.I.D. he calls the “Liz Variation,” which he named after his wife. (To my knowledge the first time that such unbridled love has been responsible for the naming of an opening variation!)

The Liz Variation goes as follows:

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f4 0–0 6.Nf3 c5 7.d5 e6 8.Be2 exd5 9.exd5

Says Liz’s husband:

White disobeys the rule “capture toward the centre” and so avoids a googol of Benoni variations. The move has its positional logic: the obstructing e-pawn is removed from the b1-h7 diagonal, so White’s light-squared bishop will often find useful employment later at d3. Also, while White has the same space advantage as in the Benoni, Black does not have the same queenside pawn majority for counterplay. The disadvantage of this system is that while White’s pawns are further advanced with concomitant space gain, the pawns are also symmetrically arranged. Sometimes all the heavy pieces are traded on the e-file with a subsequent draw. This is why, if White wants to win at all costs, I recommend the Martz Variation, which has no inherent drawishness. On the other hand, the Liz Variation can be a relatively safe line of the Four Pawns Attack (if safe and FPA can be put together!), and White still gets good winning chances in a slightly more controlled environment.

The second half of the book covers Tim’s recipe for beating the Grünfeld Defense. He offers two lines, the first of which is the Knezevic. It arises after the moves: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.e3 Bg7 5.Qb3

Take it away Tim: "The first idea of the variation is simple: a direct, forcing attack on Black’s centre—White threatens to take a pawn for nothing. The second idea is more subtle: White wants to make Black, a Grünfeld player, uncomfortable! In this defence, the standard counterblow is …c5.

By playing 5 Qb3, White says Nyet! to the immediate …c5, and puts so much pressure on Black so fast that the best move is supposed to be the self-blocking 5…e6—but I say, if you make your opponent block his queen’s bishop and simultaneously prevent his usual counterplay, you’re way ahead of the game already!"

As you can see, unlike many opening books Taylor doesn’t even pretend to be unbiased. He is writing this book from White’s point of view and that is that. Yes, he does show ways for Black to fight back and tells which moves he considers Black’s best, but clearly this book’s purpose is to show you how to make Black’s life as miserable as possible.

The other line Tim recommends against the Grünfeld is the Keres: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.e3 0–0 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.Bc4

Says Taylor: "This is the only system in the book (both in the King’s Indian and Grünfeld part) where, so far as I can see, there is a clear path to equality for Black: namely the line seen in Game 5, Najdorf-Korchnoi, where Black counters with 7…Nxc3 8 bxc3 c5 9 0-0 Qc7. Korchnoi’s line leads to a dynamically equal (but not drawish) position.

Therefore I suggest the Knezevic Variation for full strength opening advantage against the Grünfeld, and the Keres line for surprise value. Given the line’s rarity in present day play, most Grünfeld players (who have been staying up nights memorizing the Exchange Variation) will be surprised—but even if not, White can obtain a solid, even position—and just play chess!"

The Bottom Line

Tim and his new son, Nikolay Samuel Taylor

If you are a 1.d4 player and regularly face the K.I.D. and Grünfeld, and are looking to “get off the beaten track,” this book could be just what the doctor ordered. Certainly when you push that fourth pawn out the player of the Black pieces is going know that you mean business and can’t just play on auto pilot.

Taylor colors up the book with his usual entertaining commentary and opinions. Everyman Chess has done a nice job on the book’s layout which features double columns, two to three diagrams per page, and enough white space so things don’t feel too crowded. However, the one place they did drop the ball is on the index of variations in the back of the book, which contain no page numbers and thus makes it hard to find a particular variation!

On a scale of 1-10, Beating the King’s Indian and Grünfeld gets an 8.

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