The Averbakh is a solid and respectable variation against the KID. It bears thename of the well-known Soviet grandmaster, theorist, and endgame specialistAverbakh (photo). Yuri Lvovich Averbakhis the oldest living grandmaster who recently celebrated his 99th birthday inMoscow on 8 February. In the early 1950s, Averbakh was one of the firstgrandmasters to play the variation more than once. He contributed greatly to thedevelopment of its theory. Averbakh used the variation several years, then changedcourse to other variations to fight the KID. Occasionally, he returned to hisold love that by then bore his name
