Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...Nf6/2. c4/2...g6/3. Nc3/3...Bg7/4. e4/4...d6/5. f3

Sämisch variation E80 King's Indian defence → 4...d6 5. f3 · Sämisch variation The Sämisch variation is one of the major alternatives to the king's Indian main line. 5. f3 bolsters the e4 pawn. This solidifies White's position and makes it a tough nut for Black to crack. Black would prefer for White to overextend in the centre. The drawback is that White's king's side development is impeded because the king's knight cannot go to its usual square, f3. Secondly, the g1-a7 diagonal is open and on a direct line to white's king, should white castle short. This is the only major system in the king's Indian where White may castle long (White has a standard mode of attack against king's side fianchettos seen in many different openings: f3, Be3, Qd2, O-O-O, h4, h5 etc.), although White has yet to commit to that in many modern variations they castle short. Black doesn't have much to think about yet: 5...O-O is the priority and main move, and Black is ready to exploit their lead in development by breaking the centre. Alternative fifth moves usually transpose in the next couple of turns. History Friedrich Sämisch (1896―1975) was a German grandmaster. His name, and the name of the line, is sometimes rendered Saemisch. Sämisch introduced the line in 1925.Sämisch v Yates, 1925. Chessgames.com In the 20th century, the Sämisch became a major battleground at the highest levels of chess. Mikhail Botvinnik employed it in the World Chess Championships in 1960 and 1961 against Mikhail Tal. It was employed by Anatoly Karpov against Garry Kasparov in World Chess Championship 1990. The Sämisch has fallen in popularity in favour of the more natural-looking 5. Nf3, but it's still sometimes seen in grandmaster play. Today it is about half as popular as the fianchetto variation and as quarter as popular as the main line.In the Lichess master game database, as of August 2026, the position after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 accounts for approximately 55,000 games; after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O 19,000 games; after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Be3 15,000; and after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Bg5 6,000 games. Theory table Panno variation 5...O-O 6. Be3 Nc6 7. Qd2 a6 8. Nge2 Rb8 Sämisch gambit 5... ... 6. ... c5 7. dxc5 dxc5 8. Qxd8 Rxd8 9. Bxc5 Closed variation 5... ... 6. ... e5 7. d5 c6 References See also King's Indian Defence, Sämisch Variation The Sämisch King's Indian Gallagher Joe B. T. Batsford 1995 0-7134-7730-X London The Sämisch King's Indian Uncovered Cherniaev Alexander Everyman Chess 2007 978-1-85744-5404 London Prokuronov Eduard