KID - Rapport's Knight Sacrifice in the Sämisch!

Interview

Let's start today's post with a fragment of an interview between Sonja Bluhm and Richard Rapport published by World Chess on Youtube:

Sonja: Would you like an opening named after you?
Richard: In a way, yes, I believe there should be a couple. At least some variations which I popularized or which I kind of invented. But as it goes in chess (you know) these things get very much lost in transaction, mostly based on people's influences whom I'm probably not the favorite of. So you know, I'm trying to come up with newer and newer things. Eventually maybe I will get there, I don't know.

Sonja: Which variation are you talking about?
Richard: But if I reveal that then you'll expect that I will play it again (smiles). A couple, for instance: in Stonewall with Black I had this idea to play ...Be7, ...Ne4, ...d5 and at some point some ...h5. It was a fun line and it was only me and my one student at the time, my wife, who where playing it for a very very long time. And then, next thing, I check a book and it says "The Aggressive Variation" or something. I was very impressed by the person to figure out that 1+1 is actually 3 or 4.

How is this post structured?

This time full credit will be given to Rapport who introduced a stunning knight sacrifice in the Sämisch to beat Praggnanandhaa in UzChess Cup 2025! Apart from investigating Rapport's idea, I will present a broader overview of the Sämisch to back it up.
\- Chapter 1: White's most common setup against ...a6 + ...Nbd7. This is where Rapport's idea is!
\- Chapter 2: A smart move order by White to dodge Rapport's idea.
\- Chapter 3: Other relevant tries by White.

6.Be3 a6 7.Nge2 Nbd7 8.Qd2 (Pragg vs Rapport)

6.Be3 a6 7.Qd2! (smart move order)

Sidelines

Have fun with this idea in the KID Sämisch! Please let me know in case you got the chance to try it out in practice :)

Follow for more opening ideas. Liking is appreciated.
Feel free to reach out to me or use the forum. Insights, questions and suggestions are very welcome!
\~LittleSoapBubble