Jan's Opening Clinic 23: Part 1

We're now in Season 23 of Jan's Opening Clinic, where Grandmaster Jan Gustafsson takes a break from working for World Champion Magnus Carlsen to tackle the chess opening problems and queries of chess24 Premium Members. This first instalment begins with Jan explaining why the 9.b4 Bayonet Attack, and in general the KID championed by Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov, has fallen out of fashion. Other openings covered include the Grünfeld, the Catalan and the Italian. 

You can find all the questions Jan was asked under this article. And here's his first batch of answers:

One highlight not to miss is CaptainCocaCola asking about a dodgy sideline of the French Defence. Jan doesn't hold back...

So you’re trying to get the French, but two tempi down, because the French itself is not challenging enough, and now you come to me asking for help… You cannot be serious! Play a normal opening, Nil!

You can jump straight to that answer, or to whatever interests you, by using the clickable timestamps below - you'll also find those timestamps in the description under the video at YouTube:

1. Fyodorovich: What is the status of the Bayonet Attack 9.b4 in the KID? (1:05) 
2. neiman: What's the state of theory in 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5? (7:30)
3. TheBigChessTheory: Can Black equalise after 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 g6 5.cxd5? (13:18)
4. Snooks: What to do after 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Ng6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e5 Nfd7 6.h4? (16:15)
5. dr4kan: Grünfeld 8.Rb1 - are the pawn sac lines ok? (22:25) 
6. formless (FM): Catalan Bb4+ main line - what should White try? (27:02)
7. CaptainCocaCola: 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Ng8 5.Nce2 - what to do? (32:57)
8. mineriva: Plans after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 0-0 6.0-0 d5 exd5 Nxd5 7.b4 Be7 8.b5 Na5 9.Nxe5 Bf6 10.Re1? (36:50)
9. chessterfish: Italian Giuoco Piano - 6...a6 or 6...a5? (40:32)

Part 2 of Jan's Opening Clinic will be published next week at 17:00 CET on Thursday 7th March.

See also:

• Jan's Opening Clinic 23 article with all the questions for Jan