The Gligorić System (also known as Gligorić-Taimanov) is one of the most flexible choices for white against the King’s Indian Defense. It keeps the central tension and lets black decide on the nature of the position.
For an introduction to the KID, watch this video on the basics:https://youtu.be/mND6TK5dSKQ
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Svetozar Gligorić was the greatest Yugoslavian player of the 20th century. He was the candidate for the World Champion, and he was considered one of the world’s top for a very long time. He contributed a lot to chess theory, to the Sicilian and to the King’s Indian mostly. This variation is justly named after him. Some sources refer to it as the Gligorić-Taimanov System.
The word “system” doesn’t suit the variation well. It’s a flexible waiting move rather than a system in my opinion. The variation starts after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5, and white playing 7. Be3. This move, as opposed to the very direct d5 covered in the last video, is flexible, and it’s a waiting move which keeps the central tension.
You could call it a trap of sorts because it doesn’t allow black to play in normal King’s Indian style. The normal continuation 7…Nc6, would be met by d5, the knight would be forced to e7 a in other variations, but the difference would be that white’s bishop is on e3 already! That means that when the f3 knight retreats to d2 to allow the f3 pawn to move, the bishop would no longer be stuck on the c1 square. Black, therefore, has to find a different plan of attack.
His main move exploits the main downside of the Gligorić System – the e3 bishop can serve as a tempo gain for the f6 knight. Black plays Ng6, attacking the bishop and starting the action. Sidelines played against the variation are interesting, especially 7…Na6, which is in my opinion an improvement to the main line, and if played correctly, it gives black equality or even a slight edge, which is extremely rare in the KID.
Perhaps this variation is used by white when he wants to confuse black and make him play an opening he doesn’t understand well. Because it is very different to normal KID positions in which both sides follow their own plans on separate sides of the board.
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