The King's Indian

Hi everyone,

I'm currently and expert and have aspirations to become master. My main reply to d4 is to play the King's Indian Defense. However, I don't know how difficult it is to play this the higher I get. Should I stick with the KID or go for something like the Grunfled, Queen's Gambit, or the Semi-Slav as my main weapon?

breaker, I'm actually in the exact same boat. I'm ~2150, and I'm looking to expand from the KID, which I've played for years, into something more solid. Of course, for me this is a stylistic issue. I tend to prefer quiet positions over tactically charged ones, and often the KID demands extremely sharp play. I don't know anything about your style though, so this may not be a problem. It's really all about what feels right to you personally. If you generally enjoy the types of positions you get in the King's Indian, there isn't really a need to switch, but I can give you an idea of my experience playing it against master level opposition.

The biggest difference you'll notice is that masters don't panic when you get the typical kingside pawn storm in a classical KID. This means you need to be comfortable being a creative attacker, because you can't expect to just play the obvious maneuvores and expect mate to follow. Really, though, I haven't seen nearly as many classical KIDs anyway. I see a ton of Saemisch variations, a lot more fianchettos, and some Petrosians as well. 

Another thing to keep in mind is that if you decide to switch, you need to prepare something against the English as well. That's the most annoying thing to me, it was just so nice to not have to think about move order stuff. But if you do decide you'd like to try something else, I'd be happy to play some training games with you so you can get a feel for your new opening before busting it out in a tournament.

The KID is perfectly viable many top GM's play it occacionly some play it often. However if you get higher you will start running in prepared lines and that is where it gets more difficult. 

My advice is not to drop the KID as a main opening but to have some backup weapons. I for example play 60% nimzo/QGD and 30% QGA and 10% different. I look up games of my opponent and see if i like what he plays against the Nimzo if not i play the QGD or QGA (depending on variation and mood) Against people I personally know i might play other openings for example i have a friend who likes closed positions but goes into open grunfeld making it easy for me to play for a win. 

If you face Gelfand, then you're fine.

If you face Kramnik, then you're dead.

Thanks cheesemate. I have a question for you though... Why did you play the KID in the first place if you prefer quieter positions? If White plays normally, then the KID game always gets into a sharp tactical game. I personally enjoy these types of game which was why I was attracted to it in the first place.

What other openings are you trying to learn?

In a similar spot too, about 2100 OTB, I plan to stick with the KID, but I try to add a few lesser known, quieter side-lines, like the Nbd7 lines, Na6 or even the Old Indian.

I would try out the Semi-Slav for awhile...its surprisingly aggressive as black, and as a KID player you'll enjoy the activity you get while having a solid position at the same time.  However, like all KID players, you'll be back! 

I have been playing KID since the early 70s and also had to add a more solid option to my black repertoire against 1 d4 and chose the slav with 4 ... dc4 and it has served me well . 

Which do you prefer to use more OTB?  

@breaker Well I was a little younger when I first learned the KID, and the complicated positions that came up quite appealed to me back then, and often against weaker players who didn't understand the structures the games can take on a positional nature. I've really just stuck with it for this long out of convenience (read laziness ) because it really is a cure-all for 1.d4, 1.c4, and 1.Nf3, so there's a lot to learn. Against 1.d4 I'm looking into a slav based repertoire, in some lines transposing into QGD territory. Against the English I think the symmetrical English looks promising, heading for a hedgehog type game. If you want another tactical option to try out I'm with Fixing_A_Hole on the semi-slav. The slav structure is great to learn to play, and the positions in the semi-slav are very exciting.

breaker90 wrote:

I honestly believe knowing multiple openings makes you a better chessplayer. Because the more openings you know, the more middlegames you know.

Plus there's the transposition factor.

And if you're really rated 2000+, there is also (likely) the opponent's-preparation factor.

Think about it this way. If you were a baseball player, would you rather face a pitcher who throws only one pitch great? On one who throws 5 pitches well?

If youre Randy Johnson. all you need is 1 pitch :-)

v1's right....you'll get better w/ nth openings. But, anyone below master not playing overtly tactical should probably do so - every time....tactics is so much more than a move here or a move there....it's identifying weak, strong and key squares - at each move. Take it from me my love....I'm a 1400 player....I should know.

It depends on the tournament situation . If I am in a must win position I will play the KID . If a draw is ok then I will play the slav . 

Randy Johnson had a full repetorie.  His slider was more feared than his high nineties fastball.

Mariano Rivera is the gold standard for a one pitch pitcher.

I read parts of a great little book called The King's Cowboy. It's white's counterplay and answers to black's play. The cowboy is actually a really important chess piece that tips the scales to a white advantage....and can be sacrificial. Can you guess which piece it is ?

Thanks. I think you're right about learning different openings to know more middlegames. When an opponent sees that I main d4 defense is KID, I guess it's good to go to other openings to avoid his prep.

But do Masters use the KID regularly? Do they have good results with it?

Of course they do! If players like Kasparov, Shirov, Nakamura, Grischuk, and Radjabov can play the King's Indian successfully at the 2700+ elite grandmaster level, then it's not like it can be busted for average NMs. Certainly it's an opening that carries quite a bit of risk, but that's how it goes with any sharp opening.