The 9...a5 Move and Deceived Memory: When the King's Indian Defense Rediscovers Itself

I sat in my small apartment on the fourth floor of an old building in the Petrogradskaya district of Saint Petersburg. It was November, and the Neva River had begun to freeze at its bends. On my desk, beside a cup of cold tea, lay a blue-black DVD that a friend in Germany had just sent me. It was titled: "King's Indian: A Strategic Antidote to the Bayonet Attack." A chess product. A promise. A move — 9...a5.

I have spent forty-nine years observing this sport. From my early days in Vietnam, playing chess in clubs damp with the smell of tobacco and strong tea, to my move to Russia and my career as a sports editor. Forty-nine years, and the stories still haunt me in ways no one expects.

Luzhniki night, July 1, 2026. I was there, among seventy-nine thousand spectators. Spain held seventy-five percent of possession. Akinfeev, thirty-two years old, stood in goal like a birch wall against the storm. I wrote about him, about the hands that saved Koke's and Iago Aspas's shots. Russia won 4-3 on penalties. I did not write about the score. I wrote about an old bird like a birch tree holding firm in the Spanish storm. Luzhniki night, the old bird understands that landing is also a way of flying.

But today, my hero is not a goalkeeper. My opponent is a chess move. And the story I want to tell is about how our collective memory — those of us who love chess — is deceived by what we think we know.

I remember the nights of 2026, when I began writing the column "Stories in the Grass" for my magazine. Back then, I thought I understood the King's Indian Defense. I had watched hundreds of games. I had taken notes, analyzed. But only when I sat alone in this room, when someone sent me a DVD product that someone called an "antidote" to the Bayonet Attack, did I realize that I had never truly understood anything.

That is the nature of chess. You can read thousands of books, watch millions of games. But your memory of an opening will always be challenged by a move you have never seen. 9...a5. Just one of eighteen possible moves. But it contains an entire philosophy.

When the stadium no longer has a ball, memory begins to score. And when the board no longer has familiar moves, memories of old games begin to replay in the most distorted ways. That is why I decided to write this article. Not to sell a product, but to tell a story about how we remember, how we forget, and how we face a game that has changed forever.

THE KING'S INDIAN DEFENSE: A HYPERMODERN PHILOSOPHY

To understand why the move 9...a5 matters, we need to return to the essence of the King's Indian Defense. This is a hypermodern opening, where Black accepts ceding the center to White in the early phase, only to counterattack that very center with flank attacks.

The opening begins with 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6. Black places a knight on f6, develops the bishop to g7, and will push the pawn to e5 to establish a dynamic center. Moves like ...d6, ...O-O, and ...e5 are the backbone of this system. White usually has more space, but Black has flexibility and attacking potential.

The philosophy of the King's Indian Defense is the philosophy of patience. Black does not try to gain an advantage immediately. Black accepts that White will have space, will have the center, will have active moves. But Black believes that White's center can be attacked. That White's space can be shrunk. That White's initiative can be reversed.

It is a beautiful philosophy. And it has created one of the most complex openings in chess.

The Mar del Plata Variation is one of the sharpest branches of the King's Indian Defense. It emerged from games in Argentina in the 1960s, and quickly became a weapon for many top players. In this variation, Black plays ...Nc6 and ...e5, while White usually plays d5 to lock the center. The result is a position where both sides attack on opposite wings: White pushes queenside pawns, Black attacks the kingside.

The name "Mar del Plata" comes from the coastal Argentine city, where the 2026 tournament witnessed the birth of this system. Players like Miguel Najdorf, Oscar Panno, and later legends like Bobby Fischer, Garry Kasparov, and Vladimir Kramnik contributed to its development.

What is interesting is that the Mar del Plata Variation was never an opening for the masses. It requires deep understanding of pawn structures, of when to attack, of how to evaluate positions. It is an opening for players who want to fight, not for players who want safety.

And precisely for that reason, it attracts a loyal fan base — people who believe chess is a battle rather than a game.

THE BAYONET ATTACK: A MOVE OF THE NEW ERA

The Bayonet Attack — the move 9.b4 — is a more modern idea. White pushes the pawn to b4, gains space on the queenside, and prepares for the attack. This move first drew high-level attention in the 1980s, when players like Garry Kasparov and Artur Yusupov used it. Since then, it has become one of White's main weapons against the King's Indian Defense.

Before the Bayonet Attack, White usually played 9.Ne1 or 9.Nd2, preparing the kingside attack by moving knights out of the center. That was the classical approach, analyzed dozens of moves deep. But the Bayonet Attack proposes a different approach: attack on the queenside first, force Black to defend, then switch to the kingside.

It is a clever idea. It exploits White's space advantage, forces Black to face two fronts, and creates complex positions that White can control.

Black's main response to the Bayonet Attack is 9...Nh5. The knight jumps to h5, preparing to push f5 and open the path for the kingside attack. This is the main move, analyzed dozens of moves deep, with variations extending to the endgame. It is sharp, requires precise calculation, and often leads to positions that the computer evaluates as balanced but that humans must endure under extreme pressure.

9...Nh5 is a move of commitment. It says: "I will attack the kingside. I will not retreat. I will fight to the end." It is a statement, not just a move.

But it is also a move of compulsion. After 9...Nh5, White has forced moves, Black has forced moves, and both sides are swept into an arms race that no one can stop.

That is why many Black players seek a different option. An option that is less forced. An option that allows them to think rather than memorize. An option that allows them to play chess.

And that is when 9...a5 appears.

9...a5: THE MOVE THAT CHANGES THE GAME

9...a5 is a strange move. Instead of attacking the kingside immediately, Black attacks the very pawn structure White has just built. The a5-pawn threatens to strike at b4, forcing White to decide: keep the structure, or accept the change.

This is not a new move. It has long been known in analytical circles. But it has never been considered the main move. It is a "sideline" — a secondary branch, an alternative for those who want to avoid the forced variations of 9...Nh5.

What is interesting is that this DVD does not promise a new move. It promises a new philosophy. According to the product's advertising, 9...a5 "leads to sound positions with very few concrete lines." Instead of memorizing hundreds of moves, the Black player can understand the idea and find moves at the board.

It sounds appealing. But I have lived long enough to know that every promise of "no memorization needed" in modern chess requires verification.

The Bayonet Attack is considered "fashionable." In chess circles, an opening becomes fashionable when it is frequently used by top players, and when it troubles opponents. 9.b4 meets both conditions. It gains space, prepares the attack, and forces Black to prepare carefully.

And this is when this product appears. It positions itself as an "antidote." A solution to a difficult problem. An escape route for King's Indian players who do not want to face the sharp variations of the Bayonet.

In the chess world, "antidote" is an extremely effective marketing keyword. It strikes at players' fears: fear that the opponent knows more, fear of being defeated right from the opening. A product that promises to solve that fear will sell well, regardless of its actual content.

But between promise and reality lies a gap. And that gap is precisely where our collective memory is deceived.

WHAT IS ACTUALLY BEING SOLD?

I opened the DVD and watched the introduction. No author name. No sample games. No computer evaluations. Only advertising slogans: "Sound positions," "very few concrete lines," "for players who like to think on their own."

I remembered an old colleague at the magazine. He used to say: "When someone sells you a move, ask them how many games they have won with that move." It is a simple principle, but effective. And in this case, the answer is: no one says.

No author name, no tournament results, no actual games. Only a promise. And a title.

Ah, yes, the title. The title of the original article I received was: "Samarkand R2 (open): Despite close calls, all top teams grab wins." A report about a team event in Samarkand. But the content below is about a chess DVD. Two completely unrelated things.

This is a serious source-quality problem. No one knows what happened: perhaps a compilation error, perhaps editorial confusion. But it reminds us that even seemingly reliable sources can contain errors.

And in the chess world, where information is a weapon, such an error can have consequences.

I checked several times. The title speaks of a tournament in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The content speaks of a chess DVD. There is no connection. No transition. Only two pieces of two different pictures placed side by side.

It is an error. But it is also a metaphor. Because in chess, we constantly face pieces that do not fit. Memories that do not match reality. Promises that do not match results.

And sometimes, we accept the mismatch. We do not check. We do not question. We simply believe.

That is our mistake.

IS 9...a5 REALLY AN "ANTIDOTE"?

But let us set aside the title issue. Let us talk about the move.

Is 9...a5 really an "antidote" to the Bayonet Attack?

The short answer is: no. Or at least, not in the way the advertising wants you to believe.

9...a5 is a legitimate branch. It leads to balanced positions. It avoids the forced variations of 9...Nh5. But it does not "solve" the Bayonet Attack. White can still play, can still gain an advantage, can still win.

What 9...a5 does is change the nature of the game. Instead of a calculated battle, it becomes a strategic battle. Instead of forced moves, it opens up choices. Instead of time pressure, it creates space for thought.

That is real value. But it is not an "antidote." It is a choice. A different choice.

I spent many nights analyzing 9...a5. I put it on the board, tried different variations, checked with the computer. And the result is: 9...a5 is a good move, but not a miraculous move.

In some positions, it leads to equality. In others, it gives White chances. In some cases, it creates complex positions where both sides have chances. In others, it leads to simpler positions.

That is the nature of chess. No move is perfect. No opening is invincible.

And that is what this DVD's advertising tries to hide.

ADVERTISING AND TRUTH: THE GAP OF MEMORY

In forty-nine years of writing about sports, I have witnessed many products over-advertised. From shoes promising to make you Usain Bolt, to books promising to teach you to play chess like Kasparov. But I have never seen a product advertise itself as an "antidote" to an opening while lacking data to such a degree.

The advertising says that "computers often do not know how to handle these complex strategic positions." This is a remarkable claim. And it is an outdated claim.

In the era of AlphaZero and neural-network engines, computers no longer "fail to handle" such positions. They evaluate them better than humans. They understand them deeper than humans. The claim that "computers do not understand" is a relic of the pre-AlphaZero era, when traditional engines truly struggled with long-term strategic positions.

But it remains an appealing argument. It strikes at human desire: the desire that there is some field where humans still surpass machines. In chess, after computers beat Kasparov in 2026, after AlphaZero appeared in 2026, humans increasingly struggle to find that field.

And so they create it. An imaginary field, where "strategic understanding" still matters more than "computer calculation." A field where 9...a5, a human move, can still beat the Bayonet Attack, a computer's opening.

It is a beautiful illusion. But it is still an illusion.

I recall a story. In 2026, I interviewed an elderly player in Moscow. He spoke of the 1970s, when opening preparation relied mainly on books and magazines. He said: "Today, anyone can access a huge database. But that does not mean they understand."

I thought about that while watching this DVD. It promises to teach you to "understand" instead of "memorize." But it does not give you the tools to verify. No games, no computer analysis, no actual data.

It is an empty promise.

In chess, as in sports in general, "understanding" cannot be separated from "data." You cannot understand an opening if you do not know how it has been played, by whom, and with what results. You cannot understand 9...a5 if you do not know where it has appeared, in which games, and with what results.

And this DVD provides none of that information.

CONTEXT: WHEN AN OPENING BECOMES A BRAND

To understand why products like this DVD exist, we need to understand the chess opening market.

In the era of the internet and online databases, opening theory has become an industry. There are hundreds of thousands of games archived, thousands of variations analyzed, and millions of players worldwide. Everyone wants an advantage. Everyone wants to find the move the opponent has never seen.

And in that market, the King's Indian Defense is a special product. It is not the most popular opening at the top level. But it has a loyal following — people who love complexity, who do not fear risk, who believe chess is a battle rather than a game.

For them, the Bayonet Attack is a problem. It is White's opening, and it threatens their style. When White plays 9.b4, Black faces a choice: memorize the complex variations of 9...Nh5, or find another option.

This DVD proposes that other option. And as I said, it is not a bad option. 9...a5 is a legitimate move. But it is not an "antidote." It is just a choice.

The problem is in how it is marketed. "Antidote" implies that the problem is solved. That White can no longer do anything. That Black no longer needs to worry. It is too big a promise.

In chess, there is no real "antidote." Every move has a response. Every opening has a sideline. Every "advantage" can be challenged. That is the nature of the game.

What is interesting is that this DVD itself acknowledges that, to some degree. When speaking of 9...Nh5, it says it "opens the position, forces the lines, and makes computer analysis important again." That is an accurate description of 9...Nh5. It is a sharp move, requiring precise calculation, and in the computer era, it becomes a test of human memory and understanding.

But this DVD does not want you to play 9...Nh5. It wants you to play 9...a5. It wants you to give up sharpness for stability. It wants you to give up calculation for strategy. It wants you to give up the computer for the human.

It sounds appealing. But in modern chess, you cannot give up the computer. You can choose not to follow the longest variations, but you cannot choose not to know them. Your opponent will know. And they will exploit.

THE TRUTH ABOUT "COMPUTERS DO NOT UNDERSTAND"

I want to spend part of this article discussing the claim that "computers often do not know how to handle these complex strategic positions." This is a claim that frequently appears in opening-product advertising, and it is usually wrong.

Before AlphaZero, there were positions that traditional engines truly struggled with. They were often confused by closed positions, where the advantage did not clearly manifest in the short term. In those positions, engine evaluations could fluctuate, and humans could sometimes play better.

But that has changed. With AlphaZero and neural-network engines, computers have learned to evaluate these positions more accurately. They are no longer confused by complexity. They see what humans do not see.

The claim that "computers do not understand" is outdated. It belongs to an era when humans could confidently believe they had a field where they surpassed machines. But that era has passed.

That does not mean humans cannot play the King's Indian Defense well. Humans can still produce beautiful games, still understand strategy deeply, still enjoy the game. But they cannot rely on the computer's "failure to understand" to gain an advantage.

And this is the crux. If you buy this DVD because you believe it will teach you a way of playing that computers cannot counter, you will be disappointed. Because your opponent, if well prepared, will use the computer to find a way against 9...a5. And the computer will find it.

That is the reality of modern chess. You cannot hide from the computer. You can only try to understand better, prepare better, and play better.

CONTRARIAN VIEW: THE ALLURE OF MEMORY

But there is one thing this DVD gets right. It speaks of memory.

In chess, memory is a weapon. Top players can remember thousands of variations, hundreds of games. They can remember moves they played ten years ago. They can remember mistakes they made in important games.

But memory is also a weakness. Because our memory is imperfect. We remember what we want to remember, and forget what we want to forget. We create stories about the past, and those stories are not always true.

I have seen this throughout my career. I have seen players misremember a game, and believe in that false memory. I have seen fans remember a match as a legend, when in reality it was just an ordinary match.

And in this case, our collective memory of the King's Indian Defense is being challenged. We remember it as a complex opening, requiring calculation. We remember the games of Kasparov, of Fischer, of other legends. But we forget that chess has changed. We forget that computers have changed.

There is a phenomenon in psychology called "false memory." It is when we remember an event differently from how it actually occurred. We may add details, omit details, or completely change the nature of the event.

In chess, false memory occurs frequently. A move we remember as good may actually be bad. An opening we remember as strong may actually be weak. And a product like this DVD exploits that false memory.

It tells you there is a way of playing you have never seen. That there is a move you have never known. That there is an escape from complex variations you do not want to learn. And you believe it. Because you want to believe it.

But the truth is, 9...a5 is not a new discovery. It has long been known. It has been analyzed. It has been played. If it were truly an "antidote," it would have been used at the top level long ago.

That does not mean it has no value. It can be a good choice for some players. But it is not a miracle.

DEPENDENCE ON COMPUTERS: A PARADOX

There is a paradox in modern chess. Increasingly, we depend on computers to analyze and prepare. But increasingly, we want to find ways of playing that computers cannot understand.

We want both: the precision of computers and the creativity of humans. We want to prepare as thoroughly as computers and play as freely as humans. We want to use technology and transcend technology.

It is an impossible desire. You cannot both use the computer and hide from it. You cannot both memorize and play freely. You must choose.

And this DVD, by promising an "antidote" without providing data, tries to sell you both. It says: "You do not need to memorize, but you can still win." It says: "You do not need computers, but you can still compete." It is a beautiful promise, but it is not realistic.

I have seen this before. In the 1990s, when computers began to become common in chess, there was a wave of products promising to teach you to "play like a computer" or "beat the computer." Most of them failed. Because they did not understand that the computer is not an opponent to beat — it is a tool to use.

And now, in the 2020s, we see a new wave. Products promising to teach you to "play like a human" or "beat the computer with strategy." They too will fail. Because they too do not understand that the computer is not an opponent to beat — it is a reality to accept.

THE OPENING MARKET: WHERE BELIEF IS SOLD

I have spent many years observing the chess market. I have seen products succeed and products fail. I have seen good ideas forgotten and bad ideas celebrated.

And I have learned one thing: in the chess market, belief matters more than truth.

Players buy products because they believe it will help them win. They do not buy because they have verified data. They do not buy because they have watched games. They buy because they believe.

And product sellers know that. They know a compelling promise can sell more than an accurate analysis. They know a sensational title can attract more than an honest title.

That is why we see products like this DVD. It does not promise to teach you a move. It promises to teach you a way of playing. It promises you an advantage. It promises you victory.

And in a world where chess becomes increasingly difficult, where everyone can access the same database, where everyone can use the same engine, the promise of a unique advantage is an appealing promise.

But it is also a dangerous promise. Because it creates unrealistic expectations. It creates disappointments. It creates players who believe they have found a secret, when in reality they have only found another option.

THE LESSON FROM LUZHNIKI

Back to Luzhniki night. I wrote about Akinfeev, about his hands, about how he saved shots. But there is one thing I never wrote.

In the penalty shootout, when Akinfeev faced Iago Aspas, he did not rely on luck. He relied on preparation. He had studied, analyzed, memorized opponents' shots. He did not "play freely." He played with a plan.

That is the lesson I want to draw from this story. In chess, there is no "antidote." There is no way of playing you can use without preparation. There is no move you can play without understanding.

9...a5 is not a miracle. It is a choice. And like every other choice in chess, it requires understanding, preparation, and adaptation.

I have seen many players buy products like this DVD hoping to find a shortcut. They want to avoid the hard work of study and analysis. They want a simple solution to a complex problem.

But chess does not work that way. There is no shortcut. There is no miracle. Only work, patience, and understanding.

And that is what Akinfeev understood. That is what every successful athlete understands. That is what those selling products like this DVD hope you will forget.

CONCLUSION: MEMORY NEVER RECEIVES A RED CARD

I looked back at the DVD on my desk. It was still there, with its appealing title and its promise of an "antidote." I know it will sell well. Because it strikes at a real need: the need to find a way of playing that is simpler, more understandable, less dependent on computers.

But I also know it will not solve the problem. Because the problem is not in the move. The problem is in memory.

We remember the King's Indian Defense as a human opening, of creativity, of complexity. We want it to remain so. But chess has changed. Computers have changed it.

In this new world, the "antidote" is not a move. It is understanding. It is preparation. It is adaptation.

And that is something no DVD can teach you.

I closed the DVD and placed it on the bookshelf, beside old books about the King's Indian Defense. Outside the window, the Neva still flowed, cold and silent. I thought of Akinfeev, of Luzhniki night, of old birds that do not land.

And I thought of the move 9...a5. A small move, in a great opening, in a magnificent game. It is not a miracle. It is not an antidote. But it is a story.

And sometimes, a story is all we need.

Memory never receives a red card. It simply continues, like an endless chess game. And in every move, in every decision, we write our own story — a story that cannot be erased by any misleading title.

Luzhniki night, the old bird understands that landing is also a way of flying. And on the board, in this small room in Saint Petersburg, I understand that memory — however distorted, however false — is still the only thing we truly own.

I will not forget the move 9...a5. But I will also not forget that it is not a miracle. It is just a move. And in chess, as in life, no move is final.

Until the game ends.