Four Pawns Attack

The Four Pawns Attack adds the f-pawn to White's pawns on c4, d4 and e4, creating the widest center the King's Indian allows and preparing e5 to drive away the f6-knight. The cost is time. White's kingside develops slowly, and many squares, especially the dark ones, can no longer be covered by pawns. If Black breaks up the center with ...c5, ...e5 or ...f5, the advanced pawns can turn into targets. Alekhine used it three times at New York 1924, and Larsen tried it occasionally, but it has never become established in elite play. Engines consider the position roughly balanced.

Castling is by far the most common reply, and the main line continues 5...O-O 6. Nf3 c5 7. d5, the Dynamic Attack. Here 7...b5 is a pawn sacrifice in the spirit of the Benko Gambit, while 7...e6 8. Be2, the Normal Attack, can transpose to the Modern Benoni. After 8...exd5, 9. cxd5 leads to sharp play with 9...Re8 or 9...Bg4, and the Florentine Gambit, 9. e5, is usually met by 9...Ne4. The Fluid Attack, 7. Be2, gives Black an easier route to equality. Black has two notable alternatives: 6...Na6, which prepares a gambit with ...e5, and 5...c5, which Radjabov has played.