Kings Indian Attack, Almost

I usually play 1.e4 2.Nf3 3.Bc4, the Italian. In the past few days, as an experiment, I've been playing 1.e4 2.d3. Hardly ambitious or agressive. However, I do like playing with different pawn structures now and then, and this one is quite different, for me.

It can lead to a Kings Indian Attack structure, but doesn't always need to go that way. I don't like playing on auto-pilot, and may try the Reti next (1.Nf3), as it offers lots of flexibility.

I find Nbd2 of great interest right now, as opposed to my usual Nc3. It affords me the opportunity to push my c-pawn early on, when it makes sense to do so, with a d3-d4 break in the center, like in the Guioco Pianissimo, not to be confused with the Guioco Piano.

I am surprised at how popular the Guioco Pianissimo is at the highest level of play (d2-d3), more so than d2-d4.

Here's my most recent game played with a c2-d3-d4 pawn structure with lots of my own annotation/thoughts and some engine analysis.

I've looked into those lines, and want to give those a try as well.

What are your thoughts on the Kings Indian Attack set-up? I like the idea of Nbd2 adding an extra defender to e4 in the beginning, with future jumps kingside after Rf1-Re1, i.e., Nbd2-Nf1, followed by Ne3, Ng3 or Nh2. Quite a journey.

I got this idea from some of Bobby Fischer's games. I've heard that Fischer had a problem at one time with the French Defense, so he would play a KIA against it. This is one of my favorites, especially how Fischer makes use of both knights on the kingside. 

I have noticed that the King's Indian Attack is easier to play than something like the Italian opening, as all my pieces are well protected .

I still find the KIA interesting for more reasons than what I listed, one being the liberty to push my c-pawn early in the game, since Nbd2 is played, and not Nc3.

With that said, I'm going to do as you suggested for tactical reasons and look deeper into the variation of the Italian opening called the Giuoco Pianissimo, where 1.e4 is not all alone and easy to capture, getting support from d2-d3.

Regarding the difference between the Giuoco Piano and the Giuoco Pianissimo, I may have gotten it a bit wrong in my first post. The Giuoco Piano is reached after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5. The Giuoco Pianissimo (Very Quiet Game) has the move d2-d3, and a modern variation on this theme is to combine d3 with c3.

Here's a few high level Blitz games opening with the Giuoco Pianissimo with c3 and d3. It doesn't look like a quiet game, at all!