How do you defend against King attacks?

I am so tired of just getting destroyed by getting my king attacked. To me, it literally feels like there is never a defense to a kingside attack. 

So can someone tell me how to defend against kingside attacks, and what to do when my king smells danger?

just do a king sac smh

Thank you very much Robert!

So even moving pawns in front of the king one square is bad?

Jeeze... with accurate defense, it's really HARD to mate somebody... to the point that I tend to use my King as a Matador's Cloak, to draw the opponent out of position so that I can counter-attack him.

 

 

Not always of course. This is an opposite side castle position. In general, those positions requires more urgency. So if the opponent starts moving pawns towards your king, you have to start creating counterplay either on the opposite side, or sometimes in the middle of the board.

In this position, you probably have to find a way to play g5, f5 at some point and so on.

I understand your a6 move. You were like: "If he plays b5, I could take now", but in these positions you have to calculate. You have to be aware that if you take that pawn, sometimes even for free can be deadly. His plan is not that complex, he can play Rb2, Qb2 and you are in trouble, just a simple lining up in the semi open file which leads to your king.

So you had to anticipate this in advance, you have to calculate and be like: a6 is no good, if he plays b5, I will play Na5 and in the meantime I have to do something active.

In the same manner, Qf5 was slow as well (you waste a move and he just reroute his queen towards your king, where he wants it anyway), you have to attack him in order for him not to have the time to beat you. Sometimes you can create counterplay in the center, but not here because you do not have central pawn breaks, but there will be positions like that as well. I had games where I did this and I just exchanged a lot of stuff after a central pawn break, and got an equal endgame.

Now, this is easier said than done. I am playing Najdorf as black, and in some games, I just get crushed as well, because I am in some prophylaxis mode, which many times just don't work in these positions.

Yeah, this question is probably easiest to answer in terms of how attacks work.

 

This is an important point...  sometimes there is no defense.

Generally, the two factors that make attacks work is lack of pieces (defenders) and lack of space. If your opponent has open lines, more attackers and more space then direct defense is usually impossible. Particularly in opposite side castling scenarios, the player to open lines and/or start making threats first is usually ahead.

Several people have made some excellent points, but I think the ultimate cause of your defeat was that you didn't understand what the position required. When the players castle on opposite sides, the game often boils down to a race to see who can advance there pawns and force open lines for their heavy pieces--lines that lead to the king. Your opponent had an idea what to do, and you didn't. 

 

 

While this is not wrong, there is always an alternative - as Nimzowitsch says, "centralize and don't despair!" after Nxe6, fxe6 was possible, threatening e5. if f4, simply g5 breaks the position.

And now this topic has covered the 2 basic ways to "defend" when direct defense is impossible... seek play on the other side, or seek play in the center.

And in general this is good strategic advice for any position: if your opponent has play and you don't, then you're worse.

"Play" isn't well defined, but I'll make an attempt... it's the process of non-pawns coming into contact with squares around the enemy king (or weak pawns anywhere), usually made possible by opening lines with a pawn break and infiltrating.

In OP's game 15.b5 was the pawn break that opens lines. Bb5 and Na5 crossed the center line and came into contact with squares near black's king. In B1Z's analysis line e5 is the pawn break that opens lines and you'd try to get active pieces in the center.

Another point is that in my opinion, you castled rather early. 

Castle when you must get your King out of the center, or when you need the Queen's Rook available for action.

Instead of playing 0-0-0 immediately, you might have replied to White's 0-0 with immediate K-side action... either f6 or h6, in either case preparing g5.

At the very least, you could wait until White brings a Rook to e1 before you 0-0-0... since either Rook move represents a concession (bringing the White Queen's Rook to e1 weakens the Q-side attack, while bringing the White King's Rook to e1 weakens the King's defenses).

9...O-O-O was all right.
14...a6 weakened the position of your king and thus facilitated white's attack, but at that point white was already winning.
The real culprit was 12...Rhe8? The rook was fine at h8 to support your own attack. You could immediately start your own attack on the white king with 12...f5, 13...g5, 14...f4.
In such sharp positions with opposite side castling loss of a single tempo often means loss of the game.

So, aside from the moves already mentioned, I’d also like to call attention to 17… Kb8.
The problem with this move is that it puts your king directly on an open file — when there isn’t really a real threat against it. White can’t mate the king when the king is on c8, 18. Qa8+ is a useless check that you can dodge with 18… Kd7. After that, you have the option of continuing to flush the queen out with, say, 19… Ra8, and black is only slightly worse.
18… Kb8, on the other hand, means that if white plays a rook to b1, it’s going to be really, really good. After that, it’s kind of tough to defend your position.
People smarter than me have already commented on this thread, but the way I understand it, when you’re defending, you want to keep the following ideas in mind:
- don’t weaken your king’s position unless you have to
- you really, really need to start making problems in some other area of the board
- you need to respond to real, killing threats, but you do -not- want to respond to threats that do not actually exist, because that takes away time from you creating problems elsewhere
- you ought to look for counter-tactics at every step of the way, because when an opponent creates an attack, it leaves weaknesses in their own camp
I feel like defending is hard for me because it’s hard to identify which threats are real and which threats I can ignore. The thing that helped me the most in getting better is, honestly, looking at how good players defend, and getting a feel for what types of defenses make sense, and what types of defenses crumble. It’s easier to defend if you see some defensive ideas and know how they work.

To clarify on why 18. Qa8+ Kd7 19. Qxb7 is not such a problem — your king would have been surprisingly difficult for white to get at even while it’s in the center. Think about how, exactly, white would have had to crack your king’s position, and how you could have been pressing your own attack on the kingside. You also would have had 19… Rb8 available to you, when you likely would have forced white to trade the bishop for a knight at some point.

So, you’d have a surprisingly safe king (kings tend to be pretty safe in the middle of the board of the position is closed), a counterattack, and the b-file, all for the investment of just one pawn. You’d have to use your judgment if that’s the right investment, but in this case, it’s a viable option.

Yes ...a6 helps White to destroy the pawn shield.

Also Bf5 is better than Be6. Black should be fine after that.

Thanks everyone for your points. So in summary, when my kingside is getting attacked I have to:

Not push my pawns in front of my king

Counter attack them if they are opposite castled or open up the center

Work on your defensive skills - it will solve you this problem, any other problem (same side attacks for example), boost your rating, help you making moves faster, get you a new insight/picture at positions and how chess works, make it easier for you to play any position and much more.

Yes that is a big lesson I learned that opposite castling is just a race for who can destroy their opponents king the fastest. 

This is why I suggested delaying your 0-0-0 move.

White had already played 0-0, and his King was now a valid target for your K-side attack. His Q-side attack had no bite until you castled into it.

So why not just play f6 and g5, prepare a Pawn Storm on White's King, and leave your King in the center until the center becomes too hot for you... THEN castle when you need the a1-Rook.

Sounds good. 

thanks