King into the Line of Fire (Ke8-d8-c7)

Bold Monarchs Now and Then

One of the highlights of the recent Rapid World Championship in Samarkand was a pivotal clash of the leaders.

In the diagrammed position from the game Fedoseev - Carlsen, white has just played 11. Be2 and, to my astonishment, black replied 11...Kd8.

Moving the king toward what appears to be a precarious, semi-open b-file, with the white queen and rook poised for an assault, struck me as extravagant.

Is this a new idea, I wondered? Is this another of King Magnus's daring experiments?

Well, no. Another legend, King Anatoly executed a similar plan, in a similar position, back in 1974, just before he was crowned World Champion.

This game is the earliest instance I have found where the concept of maneuvering the black king from e8 to c7 was employed in a position characterized by a closed center, white's doubled c-pawns, and the semi-open b-file.

What about between "Now and Then"?

Exploring the databases unveiled instances where the pawn structure, coupled with the king's d8-c7 maneuver, is not uncommon in specific openings. Notably, such instances can be found in the Nimzo-Indian, particularly in the Leningrad Variation following the b4-bishop capturing the c3-knight. They also make appearances in the Modern Defense and similar setups, where the black bishop strikes from g7.

The latter can be seen in quite a few games by the strong GM Aleksandr Shimanov in online blitz tournaments.

Strategy and Tactics

Black's strategy is to secure their king on c7 or even b8/a7, in the, kind of, fortress supported by the c5- and a5-pawns with the rook on a6 (sometimes on b8) guarding the b6 square. Black may place the b-pawn or the knight on b6.

Here's an example where Black achieved a great position with such a setup:

However, it is easy for Black to step on one of many tactical mines, typically with White sacrificing the knight on d4, c5 or even b4 as well as the dark-squared bishop on c5.

Boom!!

Where can I find out more?

Glad you asked! I have posted twice before about the Free and Open Source chess training program called Chess Forge (all images in this blog are Chess Forge's screenshots). Unfortunately, neither post made it to the main community page so they received minimal attention.

Both the program and all its workbooks (which are .pgn files in the extended PGN format) are completely free. No conditions, no catches.

To view and analyze a number of games and tactical exercises related to the subject of this blog, download and install Chess Forge and select File->Online Library from the main menu.

On the Library Content dialog, click the Black King into the Line of Fire link to open the workbook.

Note that Stockfish 16 is included with the installation and integrated into the program "out of the box".

Enjoy!