Possibly helpful: Starting Out: The King's Indian by Joe Gallagher (2002)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627055734/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen38.pdf
Can someone explain KID?
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The Wikipedia page says that Black can challenge White's center with e5 or c5, but I don't understand how moving the knight and fianchettoing the bishop helps anything.
The answer is in the question: move the knight. How to move it? pick it up with your fingers and put it on a square where you simply don't lose it, or a pawn, by doing so.
Problem solved.
However, I would clearly not advise a beginner to study the KID first.
Anyone who wants to master the King's Indian Defense must dedicate 5 years of his life atop a mountain, eyes stuck on games played by Fischer, Kasparov, Sax or Radjabov, whispering variations and tactical combinations like crazy.
More or less. If you live on a island without mountain, find a cave, it also works. Good luck.
Sep 26, 2016
0
#4
Merovwig wrote:
The Wikipedia page says that Black can challenge White's center with e5 or c5, but I don't understand how moving the knight and fianchettoing the bishop helps anything.
The answer is in the question: move the knight. How to move it? pick it up with your fingers and put it on a square where you simply don't lose it, or a pawn, by doing so.
Problem solved.
However, I would clearly not advise a beginner to study the KID first.
Anyone who wants to master the King's Indian Defense must dedicate 5 years of his life atop a mountain, eyes stuck on games played by Fischer, Kasparov, Sax or Radjabov, whispering variations and tactical combinations like crazy.
More or less. If you live on a island without mountain, find a cave, it also works. Good luck.
You could also lock yourself in the bathroom and sit in the toilet for 5 years. I do recommend wiping and flushing occasionally!
Should I use Queen's Indian or Nimzo-Indian instead? Are they just as complex as the KID?
Pete Tamburro suggested Nimzo stuff in Openings for Amateurs. Seirawan suggested KID in Winning Chess Openings. John Watson suggested 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 in Mastering the Chess Openings, Volume 4. I think the Watson suggestion is the most common suggestion for those near the beginning of their chess carreers (along with not spending too much time on opening study generally).
Sep 27, 2016
0
#7
I think beginners like the opening because it feels totally safe during the first 5 moves, and you can basically play the same first 5 moves no matter what the opponent does.
After that though it's not so easy.
Comparatively something like the queen's gambit seems harder... but is actually much easier to play during the middlegame, and follows classical principals.
Sep 27, 2016
0
#8
Teichmann70 wrote:
Or players that want excitement
KID is for players who cannot handle QGD well.
instead of switching opening to another when u cannot handle it well, just try to play it better (try to understand why u don't play it well, then fix it. If u can't make this analysis, then a coach or anybody to help would be useful), u will likely improve.
Playing another variations would just remove a problem to create another one...
And for beginner's level, symmetric openings are the best one to improve, they are more easier to understand than KID which needs lots of knowledge and abilities that a beginner doesn't have.
Sep 28, 2016
0
#11
The Kings Indian Defence is probably the richest and most complex reply to 1.d4, even top-level GMs can't memorise all the main lines.
Fischer and Kasparov both adopted it as their favoured weapon and look what happened to them, both ended up going completely bonkers...
I know that KID is a defence designed to lure the opponent into setting up his nice cozy center before attacking it - a hypermodern opening. However, to my knowledge, the knight is blocking the bishop from attacking much.
The Wikipedia page says that Black can challenge White's center with e5 or c5, but I don't understand how moving the knight and fianchettoing the bishop helps anything.