How good is the King's Indian defense?

Hello. I have just recently heard about the King's Indian defense. It is a system where you will move your kingside knight to f3 or f6, push the g pawn up a space, and then move your kingside bishop to where your g pawn was. Lastly, you kingside castle. I am considering playing this more often. The question is, should I?

Coli, dont focus on openings. We are too weak for that,

The KID is a great solid opening that will get you castled quickly. It's called the King's Indian Attack when you play it as White. It's more of a system, which means you play the same moves regardless of what your opponent does. This is why I would recommend it for beginners and bullet players. It's been played at the highest levels as well, so definitely one that should be in your repertoire.

The King’s Indian Attack is the name for White, while the King’s Indian Defense is the name for Black. The Attack can be played...

Against the French Defense. 1. e4 e6 2. d3 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. Ngf3 c5 5. g3 Nc6 6. Bg2 Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. Re1 b5

Against the Sicilian Defense. 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d3 g6 4. g3 Bg7 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O Nf6 7. c3 O-O 8. Re1

Against the

Dutch, and Caro Kan.

The Kings Indian Defense is perfectly fine, but it requires some degree of sophistication to play it as Black. I think it is a very poor choice for a less experienced player. I would concentrate on openings where you fight for the center and for rapid development. 

Instead of concentrating on openings, maybe you should quit sandbagging to drop your rating...

You might not be ready for openings quite yet. I would recommend that you practice utilizing the Opening Principles. Those will benefit you more than any openings at your current level.

Opening Principles ~
1. Develop your pieces...
2. Don't make too many pawn moves...
3. Don't bring your queen out too early...
4. Don't move the same piece twice. ...
5. Castle early...
6. Develop towards the centre...
7. Clear the back rank and connect your rooks.

(These rules are general truths that do have exceptions. But do try to follow them.)

- - -

The lines in the King’s Indian Defense can turn very complex in just a blink of an eye. Stick to what you know and develop towards the center.

I knew a kid who was a pretty weak player..(like 1000 rating) who started playing nothing but the KID, and he got to know it pretty well and a lot of people he played thought he was much stronger than he really was. He still lost a lot with it, but the games lasted a longer than the average fish can go against a good player. 

Sadly, a year later he was still playing only the KID and really hadn't improved that much. 

Why do you always point out the negative qualities in people?

He doesnt... At least I dont think he does.

Oh wait... So you do???

They're usually easier to spot than any hypothetical positive qualities.

Here's one:

You can spell correctly, and can use proper grammar. Rare qualities in today's world.

Thank you. Here is a good quality for you: you are very friendly even though some people on chess.com are not.

From time to time, I have seen a book suggest that kind of thing for inexperienced players. The last time was the ~1998 book, Winning Chess Openings by Yasser Seirawan.

https://web.archive.org/web/20140627132508/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen173.pdf

Before that, I think you have to go back to the 1970s. It seems to me that the usual advice has been like this:

"... For players with very limited experience, I recommend using openings in which the play can be clarified at an early stage, often with a degree of simplification. To accomplish this safely will take a little study, because you will have to get used to playing wiith open lines for both sides' pieces, but you can't eliminate risk entirely in the opening anyway. ... teachers all over the world suggest that inexperienced players begin with 1 e4. ... You will undoubtedly see the reply 1 ... e5 most often when playing at or near a beginner's level, ... After 2 Nf3, 2 ... Nc6 will occur in the bulk of your games. ... I recommend taking up the classical and instructive move 3 Bc4 at an early stage. Then, against 3 ... Bc5, it's thematic to try to establish the ideal centre by 4 c3 and 5 d4; after that, things can get complicated enough that you need to take a look at some theory and learn the basics; ... Of course, you can also play 1 d4 ... A solid and more-or-less universal set-up is 2 Nf3 and 3 Bf4, followed in most cases by 4 e3, 5 Be2 and 6 0-0. I'd rather see my students fight their way through open positions instead; however, if you're not getting out of the opening alive after 1 e4, this method of playing 1 d4 deserves consideration. ... a commonly suggested 'easy' repertoire for White with 1 Nf3 and the King's indian Attack ... doesn't lead to an open game or one with a clear plan for White. Furthermore, it encourages mechanical play. Similarly, teachers sometimes recommend the Colle System ..., which can also be played too automatically, and usually doesn't lead to an open position. For true beginners, the King's Indian Attack and Colle System have the benefit of offering a safe position that nearly guarantees passage to some kind of playable middlegame; they may be a reasonable alternative if other openings are too intimidating. But having gained even a small amount of experience, you really should switch to more open and less automatic play." - IM John Watson in a section of his 2010 book, Mastering the Chess Openings, Volume 4

With the Black pieces, I think the usual advice for inexperienced players is to reply to 1 e4 with 1...e5 and to reply to 1 d4 with 1...d5. Illustrative games are explained in books like First Steps: 1 e4 e5 and First Steps: Queen's Gambits.

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7790.pdf

https://chesscafe.com/book-reviews/first-steps-1-e4-e5-by-john-emms/
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7652.pdf

One doesn't have to choose between considering openings "last" or "first". Beginners are often encouraged to play through illustrative games at some time or other. Why should there be any problem with looking at some games for this or that specific opening? The main thing is to not allow opening worries to crowd out all other sorts of study.

"... for those that want to be as good as they can be, they'll have to work hard.
Play opponents who are better than you … . Learn basic endgames. Create a simple opening repertoire (understanding the moves are far more important than memorizing them). Study tactics. And pick up tons of patterns. That’s the drumbeat of success. ..." - IM Jeremy Silman (December 27, 2018)
https://www.chess.com/article/view/little-things-that-help-your-game

For openings, the first goal is to make sure that you know the sort of principles that are discussed in a book like Discovering Chess Openings by GM John Emms.
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627114655/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen91.pdf

If you want to follow the Watson 1 e4 advice, you might want to look at some of the games in a book like My First Chess Opening Repertoire for White
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9033.pdf
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/vincent-moret/
or Opening Repertoire 1 e4.
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7819.pdf

If you really want to go for this King's Indian stuff, you can start with this article

https://www.chess.com/article/view/has-the-king-s-indian-attack-been-forgotten

and maybe the Seirawan book. Perhaps go on to look at some games in books like The King's Indian Attack: Move by Move by GM Neil McDonald,

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7277.pdf

First Steps: The King's Indian Defemce,

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7969.pdf

and The Pirc: Move by Move.

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7604.pdf

In any event do not fall into the trap of believing that you have to completely know an opening before attempting to use it.

"... you certainly don't need to remember every single variation and all the notes before playing the opening. Take in the first few moves and the key ideas, and then try it out in your own games! …" - GM John Emms (2018)

After one of your own games, you can gradually expand your knowledge by seeing what a book has to say about it.

He is not pointing out the negative qualities.  He is pointing out the TRUTH!

If the truth happens to be negative, so be it.  There are certain things that have more negative qualities than positive and so the negatives stand out.

 

The problem is, while IMBacon points out the truth and spills everything (like Elizabeth Warren), the rest of you sugar coat and redact the truth, blacking out a bunch of stuff to make it sound good, and then brag about how great you are, like Bill Barr, Moscow Mitch, and Traitor Donnie!

Yet @IMbacon did not have to point out that I time out in some of my daily games in a forum where I was talking about an opening.

Is a sandbagging accusation comparable to a cheating accusation?

I was not sandbagging my daily games my friend, I just had too many on my hands and not enough time to complete them

Maybe you should resign them instead of letting the time run out. Theyll ban you if you do.