The King's Indian Defense - Is It The Right One for You?

Are you an aggressive, attacking chess player? Maybe you love playing an Open Sicilian (such as the Sicilian Sveshnikov, Sicilian Dragon, or Sicilian Najdorf) when White plays 1. e4. But if White instead chooses to push the queen's pawn on move one, you need another way of playing with the Black pieces and that the King's Indian. The King’s Indian may be the answer. Few other chess defenses offer Black a fighting chance for a win against 1. d4. The King’s Indian is also an option if White instead leads off with 1. c4 or 1. Nf3. This makes the opening a suitable weapon against all of White’s main first-move options except for 1. e4 (leaving aside the irregular openings such as 1. b3 or 1. Nc3). However, the King’s Indian Defense certainly isn’t for everyone. In this article, we will explore the character of the opening and help you decide whether the King’s Indian is right for you. The basic setup of the King’s Indian Defense sees Black go for kingside castling, with the dark-squared bishop on g7. Depending on White’s play, this bishop can become extremely powerful on the long a1-h8 diagonal.

Do You Enjoy Wild, Unbalanced Positions?

The first and most important thing to understand is your preferred playing style. Think about the sort of games you thrive in and the types you would rather avoid. Your choice of opening should stem from this.

• Certain openings tend to result in quieter, more positional games, with slow maneuvering and gradually building up small advantages.
• Other openings tend to liquidate quickly into an endgame.
• However, other openings, such as the King’s Indian Defense, are highly unbalanced and dynamic.

Many King’s Indian Defense games are decided by tactics. These tactics can appear at any moment and disappear quickly if the opportunity is passed up. So, if you are going to play the King’s Indian, you must be the sort of player who thrives in these complications. You should have a sharp tactical eye with strong confidence in your calculation abilities.

Are You Prepared For Serious Opening Study?

To become a proficient King’s Indian player, you must have a strong appetite for opening study. Many of the lines get very sharp and go very deep - 15 moves or even 20 moves at times. The “right move” in these lines is often difficult to find over the board if you haven’t studied it previously. Each of your would-be opponents will have their way of meeting the King’s Indian Defense, and you can expect that they will have studied it carefully because meeting the King’s Indian is one of the sternest challenges for a 1. d4 player. More than most Black chess openings, there are many alternative ways White has of meeting their preferred setup. For example:

• The Main Line - White castles Kingside, closes the center by playing d5, and plays on the queenside - usually aiming for the c5 pawn break. Meanwhile, Black pushes f5 and attacks the kingside, pushing pawns in front of their king.
• The Fianchetto Variation - White essentially copies Black’s Fianchetto setup. This makes the f5 pawn break for Black less effective at causing the White King safety problems. Depending on what White does, Black may end up playing mainly on the Queenside (instead of on the Kingside, as in the mainline).
• The Samisch Variation - with an early f3 to support the e4 pawn, White may look to castle queenside or forego castling altogether. White will try to attack Black’s castled king with a kingside pawn storm if allowed.
• The Averbakh Variation is another variation where White leaves his king in the middle and, with a quick h4-h5, tries to crack open lines against Black’s king

If you are a player who prides themselves in their hard work away from the board, then the King’s Indian Defense could definitely be for you. See it as an opportunity to leverage your strengths in pre-game preparation and prove that you know the opening better than your opponent.

Are You Adaptable?

Like many other openings, the King’s Indian has its standard plans and pawn breaks. In a Main Line King’s Indian game, each player must balance advancing their plans on the side of the board where they have an advantage while also keeping an eye on their opponent's progress on the other side of the board and taking countermeasures when necessary. The winner is often decided by whose plans come to fruition first. However, many players with the White pieces will not want to engage in a theoretical battle with a King’s Indian player. We already touched on some of the alternative setups White can go for - but really, at almost any point, White can play a move that isn’t “theory” but which also isn’t terrible. In such cases, you must think for yourself. If the King’s Indian is to become part of your opening repertoire, none of this should deter you. Instead, you should be excited about the opportunity to experience a wide and varied range of games with the Black pieces.

FAQ: Getting Started With The King’s Indian Defense

Q: How To Know If The King’s Indian Defense Is Right For You? A: If you enjoy playing the Sicilian (1. …c5) with Black against 1. e4 and the types of games that the Sicilian Defense tends to lead to, then chances are you might also enjoy playing the King’s Indian Defense. Both of these Black chess openings usually lead to dynamic, attacking games. You must prepare to be aggressive and sacrifice material if necessary. Many games will be won or lost with tactics before reaching the endgame. Q: How To Learn The King’s Indian Defense? A: Before investing too much time into the King’s Indian Defense, give it a try in an online blitz. Just play the basic setup and see what White tries to do against it. Diving right in and playing is the best way to give you a quick feel for the King’s Indian without having too much at stake. After that, a good next step could be to take a free chessable course, such as this one by GM Alex Colovic. A short video and a few trainable variations will get you started with some of the most essential lines. Once you have decided to study the King’s Indian seriously, the usual methods will stand you in good stead - a mixture of reading up on the theory, studying master games, and reviewing your own games. Engaging the services of a coach who is already experienced in playing the King’s Indian Defense can also accelerate your progress if you have the time and money to do so. Q: Which Grandmasters Play The King’s Indian Defense? A: Former world champion Garry Kasparov was legendary for using the King’s Indian Defense to score many vital wins with Black against elite opposition. Although Kasparov’s games at the top level took place decades ago, club-level and tournament-level players can still learn plenty from them. Today, GM Hikaru Nakamura is a noted King’s Indian player, regularly crushing titled players with consummate ease, especially in online games played under fast time controls. Those with a premium chess.com account can even watch an instructive video series covering several of Nakamura’s games in the King’s Indian, narrated by the ever-entertaining GM Simon Williams.