E87

King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Closed Variation

Key moves: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3

The Sämisch Variation features the aggressive f3, supporting the centre and preparing for a kingside pawn storm or positional play. It's one of the most critical tests of the King's Indian.

History & Notable Players

Named after Fritz Sämisch. It's been a favoured weapon against the KID at the highest levels.

Best Games

Timman, Jan H vs Kasparov, Gary0-1
Linares • 1992★ Notable
Karpov, Anatoly vs Kasparov, Gary1-0
World Championship 35th-KK5 • 1990★ Notable
Karpov, Anatoly vs Kasparov, Gary1/2-1/2
World Championship 35th-KK5 • 1990★ Notable
Timman, Jan H vs Wibe, Terje1-0
Wch U20 • 1967★ Notable
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Tal, Mihail1-0
World Championship 24th • 1961★ Notable
Tal, Mihail vs Dittmann, Sieghart1-0
WchT U26 • 1957★ Notable
Tal, Mihail vs Mogrev1-0
WchT U26 • 1956★ Notable
Timman, Jan H vs Topalov, Veselin0-1
Moscow ol (Men) • 1994
Ivanchuk, Vassily vs Gurevich, Mikhail1-0
Linares • 1991
Ljubojevic, Ljubomir vs Piket, Jeroen1-0
Tilburg • 1989
Speelman, Jonathan S vs Short, Nigel D1/2-1/2
Subotica Interzonal • 1987
Geller, Efim P vs Diaz, Joaquin C1-0
Biel Interzonal • 1976
Reshevsky, Samuel Herman vs Najdorf, Miguel1-0
Lugano ol (Men) • 1968
Gajek,R vs Gukesh,D0-1
4th IIFL Wealth Mumbai Op • 2019
Kasimdzhanov,R vs Nijboer,F1-0
3rd Julian Borowski A • 2001
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam vs Poldauf, Dirk1-0
Bundesliga 9900 • 1999
Karpov, Anatoly vs Guillouet, Y.1-0
Bastia sim • 1998
Karpov, Anatoly vs Plotnikov, S.1-0
Voronezh simul • 1997
Anand, Viswanathan vs Janus, Elfi1-0
Bad Mergentheim sim • 1993
Karpov, Anatoly vs Jacques, Robert0-1
St Martin simul • 1992

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