How the King's Indian works, why Black hands White the centre, the attack with ...f5, and what to do against the Classical, the Sämisch, the Four Pawns and the fianchetto.
The King's Indian is the defence of a player who wants a fight. Against 1.d4, Black does not contest the centre straight away: Black hands it over, develops quickly, castles, and only then attacks that centre —or lets it close and goes straight for the king—.
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6
Fischer and Kasparov turned it into an attacking weapon with Black, and it still produces some of the most spectacular games in chess. At club level it has one huge advantage: Black knows what to do in almost every variation.
Black lets White build a big centre in order to hit it later with ...e5 or ...c5; if the centre closes, Black attacks the king with ...f5.
Black:
...e5 break, or ...c5, to fight for the centre.f6 knight moves to e8 or h5, followed by ...f5, ...f4 and ...g5.g7 bishop, which may look shut in but comes back to life when the centre opens.White:
b4 and c5, which is where White's advantage lies....f5 attackAfter 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Be2 e5 7.O-O Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 the centre locks and the race begins: Black attacks the king with ...f5 while White advances on the queenside. It is the classic image of the King's Indian.
In the Exchange Variation (7.dxe5 dxe5 8.Qxd8) White trades queens looking for a quiet game; Black is comfortable as long as the structure is understood. In the Four Pawns Attack (5.f4) it is the other way round: White builds the biggest centre possible and Black has to hit it at once.
5.f3White reinforces e4, plays Be3 and Qd2, and often castles long to throw the kingside pawns forward. It is one of the most dangerous systems, and it forces Black to find quick counterplay in the centre or on the queenside.
7.d5White closes the centre immediately, before Black can develop the queen's knight, and often follows with Bg5 to harass the f6 knight. It changes the rhythm of the usual race.
g3White develops the bishop on g2 and plays more calmly. Black has to find other plans, because the ...f5 attack loses strength against a well-defended king.
...f5 attack works when the centre is blocked; with an open centre, Black just weakens itself....f5 is usually to advance on the other side.g7 bishop. It is the piece that defends Black's king and drives the counterplay.For players who want to win with Black against 1.d4 and do not mind the risk. It produces unbalanced games with attacks on opposite wings, and it rewards initiative. If you want something more solid against 1.d4, the Nimzo-Indian is the classical choice; if you want another dynamic defence with more piece play, have a look at the Grünfeld.
Start with the classical systems, because that is where the whole idea is learned: the closed centre and the race. Then, one by one, the systems you face at your level. Look at complete games: the King's Indian is understood in the middlegame, not in the opening.
The course King's Indian Defense: systems, plans and main lines, with grandmasters Andrés Rodríguez Vila and Diego Flores, covers in six lessons the classical systems with ...f5, the Exchange Variation and the Four Pawns, the Sämisch, kingside expansions, the Petrosian and the fianchetto lines.
If you want to put this into practice with structured material:
A complete study of the King's Indian Defense: classical systems, Exchange Variation, Four Pawns, Sämisch, Petrosian, and fianchetto lines.
ARDFBy GM Andrés Rodríguez Vila and GM Diego Flores
Why the ...Bb4 pin is one of the best ideas against 1.d4, what to do about doubled pawns, and how to play against 4.e3, 4.Qc2, 4.Bd2 and the surprise systems.
Read the articleWhat the Stonewall structure of the Dutch Defence is, why e4 is the key square for Black and e5 for White, and how to play with the bishop on d6 or on e7.
Read the articleWhat the Najdorf is after with 5...a6, how Black plays with ...e5 and with ...e6, and what changes against 6.Bg5, 6.Be3, 6.Be2, 6.Bc4, 6.h3 and 6.Bd3.
Read the articleARDFBy GM Andrés Rodríguez Vila and GM Diego Flores