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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
While preparing this review, I happened to be at the Los Angeles Chess Club
on July 4th 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.
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
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
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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