Working Through the King's Indian Defense
KID - Fianchetto variation!

Working Through the King's Indian Defense

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I've played the King's Indian Defense against 1.d4 for years at this point. I'm not sure why exactly I settled on the hypermodern attack other than the fact that it was one of the first experiences stumbling into an ocean of theory via one of the earlier chess.com lessons, the ones without the videos in which you just learn through playing through positions with a little text to support your understanding. I remember sitting on the Metro with my face buried in my phone, trying to figure out the nuances of one of Bobby Fischer's favorite lines. 

I appreciate how the plans are simple in the King's Indian: fianchetto your dark squared bishop and build a kingside attack by closing the center and pushing the f, g, and h pawns towards the top boy. GM Simon Williams has a great series on Hikaru's legendary attacks using the KID. Despite the many variations, the plans are mostly the same, so it is an approach I've stuck with over the years. 

Last night, I shared some of these thoughts with my friend Dan, but I also noted that I didn't think that my record was very good with this opening and that it might be time for me to switch things up. 

I discovered that I was right. In this position, my winning percentage as black is not good: 




This morning I lost again in the KID, so the question is at what point do you start working on a new opening or do you continue to explore and improve upon the work you've already put into one branch? 

At some point, I will branch out into a new body of theory, but with a tournament coming up tomorrow, I'm not going to start anything new. I'm just going to work through it. Here is some of my analysis: 

Key take away: Don't allow your dark squared bishop to be traded early in the game. When White's bishop comes to g5, go on the attack instead of passively allowing for trades. 

Key take away: First, look for discovered double attacks in every position, that is basic and necessary. What are my opponents threats? Second, if White's pawn is isolated on the e-file, maneuver a knight to create a blockade. This will limit the scope of White's own fianchettoed bishop. 14.e5!!! was a Christmas gift! 

An adult amateur's reflection on playing and learning the game of chess.