KIA: Why do Books on this Opening Only Showcase These Variations?

Hi,

For context, I'm a 900 rated player and I want to learn the KIA as white as it's very interesting. 

As you can imagine, my opponents typically follow the usual moves of 1..d5 or 1..e5 and follow up by developing both their knights, as that is most intuitive. One example of a position I most often get would be this:

In order to better understand KIA, I've gotten samples on Kindle of books like 'Starting Out: King's Indian Attack' by John Emm or 'The King's Indian Attack Move by Move' by Neil Mcdonald. 

However, as you can see in the content's page, it only shows the following variations or openings that I seldom get to see in my rating.

Are there any books that walk you through move by move with variations other than the ones shown in the books above? 

Side note: I understand some of you may comment that I'm too weak or it's too early to learn openings. When I go through end games with Bobby Fischer, they're like advanced level puzzles that require thinking 4 moves ahead to land a check mate after sacrificing a lot of your pieces. I simply like the flexibility of the opening, and I enjoy playing the position. Even if I lose, I have a lot of opportunities to try again and learn slowly, despite it not being efficient. And in the long run it seems to be a powerful opening. So I'd appreciate it if someone could help me, thank you!

I wouldn't call it a king's indian attack until you play e4. What you show as an example of your game is more like a pirc with colors reversed.

If you begin with 1.e4 or 1.Nf3 it will be difficult for black to get that setup. 

Thanks for the reply!

I actually started with 1.Nf3. It sounds like this position shouldn't have been possible and I missed something. Could you possibly tell me what that is?

My plan is to eventually push e4. I actually enjoy playing the Pirc Defence as black as well. I had no idea a Pirc Defence Reversed was an idea. Were there any books on this as well?

I guess I should also mention that most opening book aren't full repertoire books. Meaning that there will be situations it doesn't cover. It may ignore situations where after 1.e4 your opponent plays 1...e5.

Or if you play 1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nc6 it may assume you're going to play 3.d4 (to stop e5).

Thank you for your input 😁

Hmm, books on reversed pirc. Uh... maybe?

I think most people just use the normal ideas they learn from the non-reversed opening, but keep in mind that they're a tempo ahead (usually that's good, sometimes it's not).

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As for your other question, it just depends on all sorts of stuff. Here is something I'd consider.

But yeah, this is a very common problem with opening study as a newer player... your opponents aren't going to follow the book

My advice is play rapid games with whatever opening you like (the king's indian attack is fine). Then after each game compare the moves with a database to see which of you played an uncommon move first, then look at what the usual options are on that move. Other than that challenge yourself to follow the opening principles more closely (ask whether you could have developed and castled faster if you'd played a different move order or set of moves).

That way you slowly learn about the opening, but only as much as you need for your games.

Hmm I see, hence why you'd play 2.d4 to avoid this possible awkward position. Thank you for your insight! 

No problem

The engine points out 6.c4 is better than 6.e4, I was just forcing white to try to play KIA moves.

That's why I say it just depends on all sorts of things. How stubborn do you want to be about playing the KIA setup? Which move order will you use? Which non-KIA positions are you willing to play?

New players sometimes adopt a system (like the London, colle, even king's indian attack) to make the opening easier... but it's only easier in the sense that you'll probably survive the first 10 moves easily. Once you start to build a repertoire, sometimes it's the case that these systems are actually fairly hard because your opponent is free to choose any setup they want and you'll have to be comfortable with a wide range of middlegame ideas.

Thank you for your advice. 

I can see how this method would help me improve my chess. I'll take this method onboard.

However, I'm still facinated by the opening and wish to understand why certain thematic moves are good, through professional commentary. For example in the KID there's this common idea of the f4 push. 

Hopefully someone may know of a book I can read 😁 Really appreciate the time and effort you put in with the previous study. 

You ask how stubbornly I want to play the KIA, though I assume rhetorically. 

I loves the idea of KID where it's all or nothing and you rush to attack the king while the enemy storms your queen side. It has personality/character and although I may rarely reach such a position in this opening, the opening's 'personality' appeals to me. I presume it's a similar approach with KIA. 

Also, the fianchetto bishop is attractive as, if you have open lines of the corresponding colour, you have a piece that's worth 3 points but possibly worth more than a rook. I also embarassingly admit whenever I capture something with the fianchetto bishop I imagine a sniper hitting its target on a battlefield 😂

But to address your main point, I definitely already feel overwhelmed by the ideas in the middle game. When to pawn storm, when to develop what piece where, what squares are weak when an opponent makes a pawn move. KIA is definitely not the opening for me if I wanted to gain rating fast. But I enjoy the struggle in learning it 😅

Here’s a paid course on the KIA and KID from chessable:

https://www.chessable.com/the-king-s-indian-attack-defense-bundle/course/38029/ 
And here’s a free one for the KIA (more than enough for you, I think. Might not include sidelines though!)

https://www.chessable.com/short-sweet-the-king-s-indian-attack/course/27065/ 

Yeah, chess is tough.

The only thing that makes it playable is our opponents are facing all the same difficulties we do. Hard to know when to push a pawn? Sure, but your opponent is probably confused too

Hey! Thanks so much for the recommendation!

The short-sweet free course already is to my liking! Appreciate the awesome resource!

The bootleg way of understanding thematic ideas is that whenever you get a comment in the book about this thematic idea, put it down, set up the position on the board, and try to play it from both sides. It is what I always did, and quite fun trying to figure things out for yourself.

And you can always post specific examples on the forums.

In response to the OP, what you have is not a KIA.  It depends on whether you follow up with c4 or e4.  Playing c4 puts you in an English or Reti, depending on Black's setup.  Playing e4 puts you in a King's Indian Attack.

That said, the KIA is not a legitimate "Catch-all" system.  First off, it is more often played via 1.e4 than 1.Nf3.  When played via e4, it works best when Black's LSB is blocked (French, 2...e6 Sicilians), is "ok" against the Caro-Kann, and is basically no good against 1...e5 or other defenses like the Alekhine or d6 systems.

Via 1.Nf3, Black is able to play reverse King's Indian setups, particularly the fianchetto or saemisch, and is already fully equalized.

If you want to continue in KIA style, then just continue with your KIA development.

So, in the line you gave:

Your plans next: Nbd2, e4, etc...

For example:

(By the way, black can't push his e-pawn yet, if you're worried about that.) For example:

And black can no longer save his e-pawn.

And what if black trades on e4?

Then you just kind of "play chess" from this point on. For example:

(Note that c3 is a common, and often useful, pawn move in the KIA)

Some general, thematic moves in the KIA:

The c-pawn often goes to c3.

The queen knight often goes to d2, then later moves to f1 or c4 (to allow the queen bishop to develop).

The queen often goes to e2, c2, or a4.

The king rook often goes to e1, or d1.

The more you play the KIA, the more you will begin to understand its general ideas. Hope any of this helps.