Barcza (KIA) Opening

Ok, heres the deal. I'm my schools chess champion (yeah, yeah, weak school, bla bla bla...) and I usually walk around pretty unopposed. I like helping out everyone else there- and recently, the schools number 2 needed massive improvement on his play as white. He was looking for some openings, but none of them seemed to agree with him.

I suggested the KIA, also known as the Barcza (below), as it was suggested in Seirawan's Winning Chess Openings as an opening solution. It's worked out great for him, but it has one problem - every time he uses it, he beats me! With my championhood at stake, what are the best possible counter measures against this annoying opening?

Play against it as you would against a KID, moves like d5, c5, Nc6...

If I play c6, then I cant play Nc6, as suggested by Ryan below you.

Don't you just hate mixed responses? 

This position scores about equal for black.

Ok, cheers Ryan. I'll look into it.

If gaining alot of center space doesn't work for you (c5,d5,Nc6,e5) then you can try to copy his moves (Nf6,g6,Bg2,0-0):

Very helpful, thanks, Amiraz. I am particuarly interested by the apparent ability to transpose into variations of other openings.

Black needs to quickly counter with a strong centre and well-positioned army. Since White has chosen a cramped position, try to keep it that way. Cramp him up as much as possible, and keep the h1-a8 diagonal closed. Castle Queenside (NOT Kingside!) and start an attack with a pawn roller on the Kingside.

That's usually how I handle it, and White loses quite quickly.

Castling queenside, Daniel3? You appear to differ in opinion with chess.com's Game Explorer. I haven't witnessed O-O-O in any of the lines I've looked at.

It makes sense that if White is going to attack on the Kingside (Which is usually the point of his moves.) then you should castle on the opposite side because 1.You aren't castling into the attack, which would be follish as you know, and 2. You are ready to start your own attack against White without being the object of an attack yourself.

 im totaly agree whit you, white players almost all the time are searching for open space and using the space advantage for combinations.....

 Why listen to , or argue with someone much lower rated than you who also has a losing record ? Its not logical.

But I'm sure you agree that it would not be a good idea to castle into White's attack?!

Daniel3, you also hve to consider that, white best piece, his light squared bishop is aimed right at your queens side, so in many cases you be castling right in to an attack on the queenside.

Normally white doesn't commited to an attack on the king side until black castles. Here's a line I like, and I tried to explain why I play each move:

It's true that White's Bishop could pose the threat of an attack there, but in the King's Indian Attack proper, White usually attacks on the Kingside. This is why I recommend that the long diagonal be kept closed at all times to ensure no active counterplay by White.

Also, it is a common method of attack against a fianchettoed Bishop to employ an h-pawn advance backed up by an h-Rook. This is not an option after castling Kingside.

you can still push the h pawn after castling, it really depend on the position.

That's totally true. Generalities are just that; not hard and fast rules. I don't like to commit to an attack, though, until my King is safe. I find trouble guaranteeing this when facing the Barcza Opening; thus long castling.

There's no law that says White has to attack kingside in the KIA.  It just tends to happen that way often because:

1. If Black closes the center, it's a thematic counterattack to hit the pawn base on e5 with an f4 advance,
2. White has a bit of a spatial advantage in this sector which can be expanded upon with f4/f5 and then a wholesale pawn advance, and
3. The KIA appeals to unimaginative players, who attack kingside because that's what the recipe said to do.

Whoops, maybe #3 is a bit editorial.  Seriously, though, castling queenside hardly insures you against an attack -- there's nothing to stop White from advancing his own pawns over there instead, especially since you probably moved your own c-pawn at some point, and it will be easy to open a file.  Considering the pressure from the fianchettoed king bishop, you're probably less secure over there.

Yes, but you'd also have an opportunity to start your own attack on White if castled on an opposite side. It's really not necessary, but opposite side castling makes it easier to form an attack.