Samisch King's Indian: Leveling up

The teachers' room at our school has three desktop computers. A couple months ago the one on the right started shutting down abruptly in the middle of powering up, then a month later the middle computer began experiencing powerup failures, and last week the failures spread to the computer on the left. Since it's only at work that the environment exists for me to bring my A-game to the chess board, my wartime streak is on hold until further notice.

Instead, why not polish up my opening repertoire? The Samisch Variation has long been my weapon of choice against the King's Indian Defense. Against inexperienced players it leads to quick checkmates: White trades off the dark-square bishes early, and by the time Black recognizes the danger to his king from White's pawn storm, he is helpless to stop the invasion of White's major pieces on the h-file. Victories in this vein have made me spoiled, lazy and superficial. More experienced opponents delay castling, find ways to avoid trading bishes, or storm my position on the queenside. I like the Samisch for its sharpness and relative obscurity, but it's a double-edged sword and too often I'm the one it cuts.

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Part 1: STROOM-MOORTS (2026-03-27)

Position 1: White to move

Game began 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6, and it is interesting to note that the engine recommends 3.h4 as the top continuation. Even more interesting is that 3.h4 is known as the Anti-Grunfeld. Why is that interesting? Because on those rare occasions when I face the Grunfeld I typically get bulldozed before I know what hit me. 3.h4 is a sideline to file away for future exploration.

Back to the game, we continued 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 and 5.f3, and Black played the puzzling 5...Nh5. Proceeding with the usual plan, I parked my bish with 6.Be3 en-route to h6, and Black correctly struck at the center with 6...e5. The engine wanted 7.dxe5 because Black wasted a tempo moving his knight and if he rechops with 7...dxe5 then we exchange queens and Black's king is vulnerable and if he rechops with 7...Bxe5 then he will waste even more tempos with his bish. I played the nonconfrontational 7.d5, for the moment locking the center and blunting Black's dark-square bish. Black should have struck at the center again with 7...f5, shifting the onus onto me: Do we exchange with 8.exf5 gxf5 and Black gains space and an open file on the kingside or do I ignore and allow 8...f3? Instead, Black struck with 7...c6 -- which I correctly ignored, but in favor of the weakening 8.g4, as it allowed 8...Nf4. Did I forgo 9.Nh3 because I saw Black had a tactic with 9...Nxh3 10.Bxh3 Qh4+? Probably not, but regardless 9.Nge2 was the safer way of challenging Black's knight. Perhaps seeking to overprotect f4, Black pushed 9...g5, subsequent to which we both played top moves with 10.h4 h5 11.hxg5 Qxg5, but I missed that Black's d-pawn was undefended, inviting 12.dxc6. Instead, I added pressure on the c1-h6 diag with 12.Qd2. My advantage surged to +3.2 after Black's 12...Nd7, and here I did find 13.dxc6, but after Black rechopped with 13...bxc6 the engine disapproves of my 14.Qxd6. Black traded his f4-knight for my e3-bish with 14...Ng2+ 15.Bxg2 Qxe3, and I chopped another pawn with 16.Qxc6. After 16...Rb8, threatening 17...Rxb2, my advantage stood at +2.8. It sunk to 0.0 after 18.Rxh5.

1. Why did I choose 18.Rxh5?
I had two attackers on Black's h5-pawn, which was only defended once; and if Black were to rechop, I would have two passed pawns on the board. Moreover, if Black were to preempt 18...hxg4, then 19.fxg4 would result in two iso pawns. Also, while my rook on h1 did not have a path to activation, Black's rook could activate with 18...Rh6.

2. Why is my move not ideal?
What the engine doesn't like about trading the rooks off the h-file is that Black's dark-square bish can maneuver to h4 and team up with the queen to harass my king.

3. Why is the better move better than my chosen move?
The engine's top moves are 18.gxh5 and 18.Nd5. The former would resolve the pawn tension described above while keeping the h-rooks on the board and deterring Black's bish from rerouting to h4. The latter would force Black's queen to move, potentially allowing my king to castle long, and the knight could continue to c7 with check.

Position 2: White to move

Black's capture of my rook with 18...Bxh8 reinstated the light-square bish's attack on my queen. I had a +1.9 advantage, provided I found the right square to move my queen to. I continued 19.Qb5, and the eval bar flipped to -1.4.

1. Why did I choose 19.Qb5?
My queen was under attack from Black's bish, but I wanted to maintain the pin on Black's knight.

2. Why is my move not ideal?
I failed to anticipate 19...Bxe4 with a disco on my queen.

3. Why is the better move better than my chosen move?
The engine's top move is 19.Qd6, continuing to control the sixth rank and to take away the f6- and h6-squares from Black's dark-square bish. The pin on the knight would also still apply, albeit indirectly, as the queen would be targeting Black's rook on b8.

Position 3: White to move

Taking advantage of my queen having vacated the sixth rank, Black activated his dark-square bish with 19...Bf6. Again I failed to consider my opponent's threat, namely to coordinate the bish and queen in pursuit of my king. I had only one move that avoided losing, or at least avoided a losing position, but instead I made matters worse with 20.Rd1. Black checked with 20...Bh4+, leaving 21.Kf1 as my only move, and 21...Qf2# ended the game.

Why did I choose 20.Rd1?
It mobilized a second attacker against Black's d7-knight, threatening 21.Qxd7+.

Why is my move not ideal?
The repositioned rook occupied a crucial escape square for my king, allowing mate in two.

Why is the better move better than my chosen move?
The correct move was 20.Nd1, attacking Black's queen, but more importantly after 20...Bh4+ 21.Kf1 double-defending the f2-square and forestalling checkmate.

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Part 2: Double-U2 (2026-03-24)

Position 1: White to move

Game began 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 0-0 6.Be3, and here Black should have struck at my center with 6...c5 but developed with 6...Nbd7. After 7.Qd2 e5 I correctly locked things up with 8.d5. Now Black played 8...c5; and when Black doesn't have a pawn on e7 I know there can be tricks with his queen coming to h4 with check, so I castled with 9.0-0-0. Lichess considers this an inaccuracy, slicing my advantage from +1.1 to +0.6; and while I had six actual blunders later in the game, this report is mainly meant to improve my opening play and will therefore start here.

1. Why did I choose 9.0-0-0?
My candidate moves were 9.0-0-0, 9.Bh6, 9.g4, and 9.h4. The last of these, 9.h4, is the one that used to get me into trouble, because Black has 9...Nxe4 followed by 10...Qh4+ with a fork. The engine is lukewarm toward 9.g4 because Black has 9...Nh5, and if 10.g4 then 10...Ng3. The engine likes 9.g4, but it gives a line 9...h5 10.g5 Ne8/Nh7 11.h5, which is objectively better for White but not a setup I'm familiar with. Ultimately I went with 9.0-0-0 because it's thematic in the Samisch and because it avoids that check from h4.

2. Why is my move not ideal?
Black's best reply to 9.0-0-0 is 9...a6, which makes me think the problem is time: having committed my king to the queenside, Black will engage my defenses on that side with ...b5 before my kingside pawns can get rolling. Since the center is closed anyway, castling is less a priority than storming Black's kingside.

3. Why is the better move better than my chosen move?
9.Nh3 looks antipositional, as it gets in the way of the h-pawn, but apparently the point is to reroute it to f2 after 10.g4 and then resume the pawn storm. Since the engine also approves of 9.g4 and as that is more intuitive than 9.Nh3, I will likely stick with that going forward.

Position 2: White to move

Black replied to my queenside castles with 9...a5, which the engine considers too ambitious as 9...a6 prepping 10...b5 would have been the better approach. 10.g4 was the right idea on my part, and 10...a4 was correct for Black. I pushed 11.h4 on the kingside, and Black pushed 11...a3 on the queenside. 12.b3 was obvious to try and lock up the queenside, but after 12...b6 I misunderstood the position and continued 13.Bh6. Again, while not a turning point in the game, the eval bar dropped from +2.5 to +1.5 and there is an important lesson to be learned.

1. Why did I choose 13.Bh6?
I was considering three candidate moves: 13.Bh6, 13.g5 and 13.h5. What I didn't want to happen was for Black to slide his rook to e8 before my bish got to h6, for then his bish could hide on h8. 13.Bh6 allowed me to force the dark-square bishes off the board.

2. Why is my move not ideal?
The engine calculates 13...Bxh6 14.Qxh6 Kh8, and if 15.h5 Ng8 16.Qd2 then Black locks with 16...g5. White is still objectively better, but breaking through on the kingside is harder.

3. Why is the better move better than my chosen move?
The engine's top move, 13.h5, is the most immediate means of cracking open the h-file for White. The knight on f6 still holds everything together for Black, but White will maneuver his knight to g3 in order to kick Black's f6-knight with g4-g5.

Position 3: White to move

Ignoring my bish on h6, Black sought to disrupt on the queenside with 13...Ba6. We exchanged dark-square bishes with 14.Bxg6 Kxg6, and with 15.h5 I was at Black's gate. What Black needed to do was create an escape square for his king with 15...Rg8, but still his focus was on the queenside and 15...Rb8 prepped his b-pawn's advance to the fifth rank. I chopped with 16.hxg6, and Black chopped back with 16...fxg6. Having opened the h-file, 17.Qh6+ felt like a natural continuation, and after 17...Kg8 I should have started maneuvering my knight to g5 via 18.Nh3 but advanced 18.g5 instead. Once again Black played on the queenside as though it was the only part of the board that mattered, and after 18...b5 and 19.gxf6 my advantage soared to +3.9; but after Black chopped with 19...Nxf6 I played 20.Bh3, and the eval bar sunk to 0.0.

1. Why did I choose 20.Bh3?
My kingside attackers needed reinforcements, and 20.Bh3 was a transit stop for my bish en-route to e6.

2. Why is my move not ideal?
Even after 21.Be6+ there wasn't enough firepower for a decisive attack on Black's king, which meant Black had time for his own attack on the queenside. I was playing as though my attack was decisive and the queenside could be ignored.

3. Why is the better move better than my chosen move?
There was tension between Black's b5-pawn and my c4-pawn. Black had two attackers on my c-pawn, which was only defended once, but I had three attackers on Black's b-pawn, which was only defended twice. I needed to be the one drawing first blood with either 20.cxb5 or 20.Nxb5. But wouldn't that weaken my queenside? Yes, and in the engine line my queen has to abandon the attack on Black's king and take up position on d2 in order to shore up White's defense.

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Part 3: akark98 (2026-03-22)

Position 1: White to move

Game began in standard fashion with 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 0-0 5.f3 d6 and 6.Be3. Here Black should have struck at my center with 6...c5, in which case 7.Nge2 would be the top move; instead, Black developed with 6...Nc6 and I continued with the usual 7.Qd2. After Black's 7...Bd7 I hung a pawn with 8.Bh6; however, 8...Bxh6 9.Qxh6 ensued and Black missed 9...Nxd4 in favor of 9...Nh5. Engine approves of 10.0-0-0 here, but after 10...e5 it is less enthused with 11.d5 because d4 becomes a potential outpost square for Black's knight. What the engine wanted was 11.g4, but when Black availed himself of the outpost with 11...Nd4 and I pushed 12.g4 the engine labeled my move an inaccuracy and flipped the eval bar from +0.6 to -0.5.

1. Why did I choose 12.g4?
My king safely castled, I wanted to expedite my kingside attack. f3 was defended by my knight, and 12.g4 kicked Black's knight off the h-file to allow an h-pawn advance.

2. Why is my move not ideal?
Just as 11.d5 made the d4-square available for one Black knight, so did 12.g4 make the f4-square available for the other.

3. Why is the better move better than my chosen move?
The engine's top move is 12.Nge2, immediately challenging Black's knight on d4 -- a move that would hang the f3-pawn after 12.g4. Black would be compelled to exchange with 12...Nxe2 13.Bxe2; and after 13...Nf4 forking, the bish and knight would return with 14.Bf1 Nh5 followed by 15.g3 and the game would continue with each side making improving moves without an obvious plan of attack.

Position 2: White to move

After Black availed himself of the f4-square with 12...Nf4, I pushed 13.h4. Black's 13...c6 restored equality to the game, but 14.Rxd4 was a blunder. Black rechopped with 14...exd4, and an exchange of knights ensued with 15.Qxf4 dxc3. I continued 16.h5 and Black should have locked with 16...g5, as 16...Kg7 allowed 17.hxg6 and an open h-file for my major pieces. The game was again equal, but only if Black chopped with 17...cxb2+ or 17...hxg6. Instead, after 17...fxg6 and 18.Qh6+ Kf6 the game was +4.2 in my favor -- but that flipped to -1.7 after 19.g5+.

1. Why did I choose 19.g5+?
I was worried about 19...cxb2+, where 20.Kxb2 would expose my king along a dangerous diag vis-a-vis Black's queen. 19.g5+ was a forcing move that bought me time. I didn't see a path to checkmate, but I was taking away squares from the Black king.

2. Why is my move not ideal?
I was thinking of the b2-h8 diag but overlooked the Black queen's access to the b-file, which soon became crucial. The fact is that after 19.g5+ Ke7 20.Qh7+ Rf7 my attack was over and the initiative shifted to Black.

3. Why is the better move better than my chosen move?
Tactics. Giving a check was the right idea, but I had eight ways of giving it and chose the wrong one. The engine's top move was 19.Qh4+, and next on the list was 19.e5+. The problem is in both cases the sequences are long and, at my level, virtually impossible to calculate. If 19.Qh4+, Black's best moves were 19...g5 and 19...Ke5. Supposing the latter, White would continue 20.Qg3+, whereupon Black could reply 20...Rf4 or 20...Kd4. The latter would lead to mate in nine.

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Part 4: itsme417 (2026-03-07)

Position 1: White to move

Game began with the usual 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 0-0 6.Be3, whereupon Black should have struck with 6...c5 in which case 7.Nge2 but struck with 6...f5 whereupon 7.d5 was correct. 7...a5 8.Qd2 Na6 followed, and my +0.8 flipped to -2.9 after 9.Bh6.

1. Why did I choose 9.Bh6?
As in Game 2, my objective was to trade off Black's dark-square bish early.

2. Why is my move not ideal?
How I walked into Black's tactic of 9...Nxe4 10.fxe4 Qh4+ after playing the Samisch for as long as I have been and being familiar with it is a topic for another discussion on queen check forks and why I can't stop blundering them, but that was the tactic I failed to recognize.

3. Why is the better move better than my chosen move?
In game 2 the engine wanted 9.Nh3 because Black had a knight on d7 and his light-square bish couldn't directly see the h3-square. In this game Black's bish could see h3 and the engine preferred 9.Nge2, which is still puzzling given how sad White's own light-square bish looks on f1 with no scope. Presumably the idea is to pawn-storm the kingside and bring the knight to g3 at the right moment so Black can't park his own knight on h5 and clog up the lanes.

Position 2: White to move

With Black failing to find 9...Nxe4, the eval bar rebounded to +0.3 after 9...Nc5. My 10.Bxd7 got labeled an inaccuracy, however, and the eval bar dropped to -0.5.

1. Why did I choose 10.Bxd7?
Again, I had an opportunity to trade the dark-square bishes off the board and seized it.

2. Why is my move not ideal?
I'm starting to wonder if I'm misusing the dark-square bish in the Samisch. Google Gemini advises against trading off the dark-square bishes in positions where the center is closed because of how poor a piece Black's dark-square bish is. Better is to wait until the kingside starts to crack.

3. Why is the better move better than my chosen move?
The engine's top recommendation is 10.Bg5, pinning the knight on f3 to the queen and making it harder for Black to execute an f5-break.

Position 3: White to move

Black rechopped with 10...Kxg7, and after 11.g4 the computer finds a wild line where Black sacs with 11...Bxg4 in order to give a check with the queen. Black, however, retreated his knight with 11...Ng8, and when that happened I correctly pushed 12.h4 to prevent the queen from deploying to the h-file. Black should have broken in the center with 12...f5 but played the more timid 12...f6.

What the computer wanted here was 13.h5, but I didn't like how 13...g5 locked up the kingside. Instead, I castled long with 13.0-0-0, and only after 13...a4 did I finally advance 14.h5. Black correctly replied 14...g5 and I developed my knight, but with 15.Nh3 instead of the more prudent 15.Nge2. Black pushed 15...h6, and I activated my light-square bish with 16.Be2 to connect rooks. Black activated his light-square bish with 16...Bd7, and I tried to improve my knight with 17.Nf2. Black's 17...Qb8 prepped a break with the b-pawn, and I challenged Black's c5-knight with 18.Nd3. Black should have defended with 18...Qa7 but withdrew with 19.Na6. My advantage of +0.5 sunk to -1.8 upon playing 19.f4.

1. Why did I choose 19.f4?
My pieces were poised for a kingside attack, but there were no open files on which to attack. Frustrated, I sought to bust through with force, even at the cost of material.

2. Why is my move not ideal?
It was a desperation move, with no sound followup plan. Whichever way Black chopped, everything stayed closed. Even after 19...exf4 20.Nxf4 gxf4 21.Qxf4, the pieces around Black's kings were coordinated and I could generate no meaningful threats with mine.

3. Why is the better move better than my chosen move?
The engine's top recommendations were 19.Kb1 and 19.Nb5. Stockfish doesn't even bother suggesting a line after 19.Kb1; apparently, it's a waiting move. As for 19.Nb5, the line Stockfish suggests consists of both sides shuffling pieces around but neither breaking through.

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Part 5: Mr09 (2026-02-25)

Position 1: White to move

Game started normally with 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 0-0 6.Be3 Nbd7 7.Qd2 e5 8.d5, and 8...Ne8 was played to prep the move that came after 9.g4, namely 9...f5. Stockfish would have preferred I chop with 10.exf5 but I did so with 10.gxf5, whereupon Black rechopped with 10...gxf5. My advantage of +0.8 plummeted to -4.9 on the next move: 11.Bh6.

1. Why did I choose 11.Bh6?
As covered above, back then I though trading off the dark-square bishes was a good plan.

2. Why is my move not ideal?
As covered above, because my king is still on e1 and I haven't pushed h2-h4 yet Black has a fork with 11...Qh4+.

3. Why is the better move better than my chosen move?
The engine's top recommendations are 11.h4 and 11.0-0-0. Besides the fact that they don't clean lose a piece, 11.h4 gets the h-pawn rolling and neutralizes the threat of Black's queen check and 11.0-0-0 whisks the king to safety and neutralizes the threat of Black's queen check.