1. d3 and the Kings Indian Attack

For about two years I was playing 1.d3 2. g3. 3. Bg3 4. Nf3 and 5 0-0 as White, against any move order by my opponent. This was my first homemade opening system. During the previous year I’d lost several games to opponents who were simply following book moves in the opening. I decided I could either book up on openings myself, or play something to get my opponents out of book. Since I was a bad student of the openings, I chose to create something new.

During this period I was experimenting with a concept I called “don’t lose.” I got this idea by looking over several games from a local chess tournament. I learned that most of the games were lost by somebody hanging something, not from the triumph of a great plan. My idea wasn’t actually completely plan-less chess, it was simply keeping pieces and pawns flexible. I’d try to keep my pieces active, not hang anything, and just make reasonable moves. Eventually my opponent would hang something.

My goals in this opening were to a) avoid any book analysis, b) with d3 and g3 to delay attacking any center squares hoping to c) provoke my opponent to put pawns in the center so I could d) play the King’s Indian or Pirc with an extra tempo.

This system actually worked out very well for me. I would challenge the center with c4 at some point, often fianchettoing my queen bishop. Usually I was able to engineer a couple of trades to open lines on the queenside. I won many endgames from this opening. It was surprising how often Black would hang something.

So why did I abandon this opening? I felt I was getting stale and not learning anything by constantly playing the same middlegame plans. I abandoned the stonewall system for Black for the same reason. I also wanted something more aggressive to take advantage of having the White pieces, so I shifted to 1. e4.

Mike Splane

Jerry Pajor (1864)

4-7-1979

Comments:

This is my initial game with this opening idea.

1

d3

e5

2

g3

Nf6

3

Bg2

d5

4

Nf3

Nc6

5

0-0

Bd6

6

Na3

a6

7

c4

Ba3

8

cd

Qd5

9

ba

0-0

10

Bb2

Re8

11

Ne5

Qb5

12

Nc4

Ng4

13

h3

Nge5

14

Be5

Ne5

15

Rb1

Qd7

16

Rb4

a5

17

Ne5

Re5

18

Rc4

Rb8

19

d4

Re7

20

e3

Qd6

21

Rc5

Be6

22

Ra5

Ba2

23

Qc2

Be6

24

Rc1

c6

25

Qc5

Qd7

26

Ra7

Bd5

27

Rb1

Bg2

28

Kg2

Qd5+

29

Qd5

cd

30

Rb6

Rd7

31

a4

Kf8

32

a5

Ke7

33

a6

Rd6

34

Rab7+

1-0

Analysis: 7. … Ba3 enters into a Pirc line two tempos down. (a6 is a waste of a move). After 18 Rc4 the position has simplified and Black is already lost. He has nothing to counterbalance the pressure White exerts on his b and c pawns. This position is similar to the pressure Black gets in the Benko gambit. 19 d4 and 20 e3 stop any counterplay, since Black can’t get at the pawn chain’s base. This is a standard endgame idea: when your opponent has no counterplay, first strengthen your position before embarking on the final attack. 22. Ra5 Ba2 swaps a bad pawn for a good one. 34. … Rb7 35. Rb7+ Ke6 36. a7 Ra6 37. Rb6+

Mike Splane

Glenn(?) Good (1762)

4-21-1979

Comments:

I didn’t remember anything about this game. I found it when I was researching my old notebooks looking for material for this page. I set a nice trap and win a piece.

1

d3

d6

2

g3

g6

3

Bg2

Bg7

4

Nf3

Nc6

5

c4

e5

6

Nc3

Nge7

7

Rb1

0-0

8

0-0

h6

9

b4

Nd4

10

Nd2

f5

11

e3

Ne6

12

c5

dc

13

bc

Nc5

14

Ba3

Nd3

15

Qb3+

Kh7

16

Be7

Qe7

17

Nd5

Nc5

18

Ne7

Nb3

19

Rb3

Be6

20

Rb7

e4

21

Nb3

Rf7

22

Nc6

Bc8

23

Ra7

Ra7

24

Na7

Be6

25

Rc1

c5

26

Nb5

Bf8

27

Bf1

Kg7

28

Bc4

Bc4

29

Rc4

Kf6

30

Nc5

1-0

Analysis: a) 10 Nd2 avoiding the piece exchange is a good idea. Black would like to trade on f3 then maneuver his inactive e7 knight to d4. By avoiding the exchange, the e7 knight has trouble finding a home. 14. … Nd3 loses, but retreating the knight loses the b7 pawn. After 20. … e4 Black is playing with 4 pieces against 4 on the queenside, so the position requires care. The extra bishop on g2 is only worth a pawn for the moment. 28. Bc4 activates the extra piece and immediately ends the game.

Mike Splane

Ron Deluca (1696)

9-22-1979

Comments:

For the first ten moves or so we are ignoring each others moves, each of us adopting our favorite setup. Then it becomes a typical game: Black gets attacked on the queenside and loses a piece to a tactical trick.

1

d3

Nf6

2

g3

d5

3

Bg2

Bf5

4

Nf3

e6

5

0-0

Be7

6

c4

c6

7

b3

0-0

8

Bb2

h6

9

Nbd2

a5

10

a3

Na6

11

Qc2

Nd7

12

Bc3

Bf6

13

Rfd1

b5

14

Nd4

b4

15

Nc6

Qc7

16

Bf6

Nf6

17

cd

ed

18

ab

ab

19

Nb4

Qe5

20

Ra6

Rac8

21

Nf3

Qb8

22

Qd2

Nd7

23

Nd5

Rfe8

24

Nd4

Bh7

25

Rc6

1-0

Analysis: a) I have no idea why I played 13. Rfd1. Perhaps I intended Nd2-f1-e3. Or perhaps I was saw that b7-b5 was no good and was setting a trap. b) 19. … Qe5 is a blunder, but he was two pawns down with no play.