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  3. /King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Closed Variation (E87)
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.

Top Players in this Opening

Karpov, Anatoly7 gamesGeller, Efim P6 gamesTal, Mihail6 gamesTimman, Jan H5 gamesKasparov, Gary4 gamesPortisch, Lajos4 gamesPetrosian, Tigran V3 gamesNajdorf, Miguel3 gamesPolugaevsky, Lev3 gamesFischer, Robert James3 games

Related Openings

E80 - King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation90E81 - King's Indian Defense: Steiner Attack392E82 - King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Double Fianchetto45E83 - King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Yates Defense51E84 - King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Panno Main Line70E85 - King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Orthodox Variation43E86 - King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation55E88 - E8858E89 - King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Closed Variation, Main Line44

Best Games

Timman, Jan H vs Kasparov, Gary0-1
Linares 1992Notable
Karpov, Anatoly vs Kasparov, Gary1/2-1/2
World Championship 35th-KK5 1990Notable
Karpov, Anatoly vs Kasparov, Gary1-0
World Championship 35th-KK5 1990Notable
Timman, Jan H vs Wibe, Terje1-0
Wch U20 1967Notable
Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Tal, Mihail1-0
World Championship 24th 1961Notable
Tal, Mihail vs Dittmann, Sieghart1-0
WchT U26 1957Notable
Tal, Mihail vs Mogrev1-0
WchT U26 1956Notable
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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