Queens Gambit Declined or Kings Indian?

What are the pros and cons of playing Queens Gambit Declined as opposed to the Kings Indian Defense as black and vice versa? Thanks

Richard Reti in "Masters of the Chessboard" advises beginners and amateurs to play open games exclusively (if possible of course) by which he means Double KP Openings as White and Black. He recommends learning open games prior to playing semi-open games (Single KP and Double QP Openings - in general)  and saving closed games (Single QP Openings such as the KID) for last.

After looking at your profile I highly recommend following his advice as much as possible. Trying to learn the KID ahead of Double QP Openings such as QGA, QGD, London System etc is like trying to learn trigonometry and calculus ahead of arithmetic, geometry and algebra.

I meant if white plays 1. d4 what would be the pros and cons of playing Queens Gambit Declined as opposed to the Kings Indian Defense and vice versa?

Basically he's telling you to play the Queen's Gambit Declined because the ideas behind the King's Indian have a prerequisite course in the Queen's Gambit Declined.

The King's Indian Defense is based on hypermodern principles of letting White control the center early on and trying to attack it later, and also locking up the center to create pawn-storming opportunities on the kingside. However, doing this without knowing what you're doing is much more of a recipe for disaster than playing the Queen's Gambit Declined and having a nice, safe, solid share of the center. Classical principles of controlling the center are generally considered to be more useful for beginning players.

I introduce hypermodern opening ideas into my chess classes around the second year, but with the caveat that you have to know the rules well before you know when it's okay to break them. In this case the rule is control the center with a pawn early in the game.

+1. Hypermodern openings are a double-edged sword to beginners and even intermediate players. You can memorize the break points of the KID (f5, g5, g4) and do the same for white, but unless you know the concepts behind the pawn formation, it is difficult to prevent white expanding on his center control and gaining the positional advantage. I would stick to QGD, or maybe even QGA, simply because beginners are typically better in tactical positions. Doing so allows you to improve tactically.

 It's really just a matter of how comfortable you are with the pawn structure. I enjoy the Old Benoni because it is difficult to play against correctly and black has such natural development in many lines. Also the Nimzo-Indian fits my style. Against 1. e4 I will play the French, a very solid and positional opening, just because I am comfortable with the pawn structure. 

In short, try to play QGD if you're just looking to improve. If you're looking to build a repertoire (not something many people recommend to players of lower rating like myself and yourself) pick a solid response and study the classic break moves, concepts, and development advice on the openings. You can play a nimzo-indian, benoni, KID, or just the queen pawn. 

Play whichever one you enjoy more. If you're going to play chess for 20 years, it might make sense to optimize your opening progression for maximum learning potential, but if you're going to end up playing for a few years, then plateau and play off/on not very seriously for the rest of your life, you'll feel stupid for having played the QGA for years scoring 30%.

The idea behind the QGD is basically slowly neutralizing White's initiative by trading off all the pieces and pushing c5 eventually, and going to an equal endgame. The downside is you don't have much of an active plan, and you can frequently get ground down in variations like the Exchange minority attack, feeling like you never got a chance to do anything.

One idea of the KID is that is if White wants to play on the queenside, you'll play on the kingside, and if your attack breaks through you win. I didn't play the KID because I felt it was a "sucker's opening" -- it scores terribly at the Master level, but by the time you've reached master you're probably too stuck in your ways to switch. I think you can get too comfortable always fianchettoing your bishops. Also, I flipped through a KID book and it looked to me like Black was in trouble in almost every line (Classical, 4 Pawns, Samisch, Bg5). Of and if White wants he can just trade the queens off on move 6.

Recently I switched to the Nimzo and am loving it.

For me, i basically started with KID early on-exclusively because

I realized The Man, Bobby Fischer...i combed through every

Game, even anything his every move

(I meant to say 'anotated' ) but alas, some of his concepts were beyond me at the time..

Soo even i was successful i began to retool my basics (tactics, positional play etc)

And began to appreciate the QGD (even HE played it!). Now,

Depending on my opponent, i would play either or.

A beginner playing the Kings Indian as black is a recipe for disaster!

I have a very simple piece of advice for beginners - especially when playing as black: TRY NOT TO CREATE WEAKNESSES

In which opening does black create more weaknesses - the QGD or the Kings Indian? The Kings Indian for sure. Its a great opening, but not for beginners. The QGD is very solid.

However, I wouldnt say that you are restricted to the QGD either. You can always play the QGA or the Slav (d4,d5,c4,c6) which gives you the possibility of not having to play with a bad bishop on c8.

When I was a beginner I tried to keep the same structure as black against everything and I think it was really good for my chess. I tried to get c6,d5,e6,Bf5/Bg4 against everything and create no weaknesses. So I played the Caro Kann and Scandinavian with 2...Qxd5 against e4, the Slav against d4 and 1...c6 followed by 2...d5 against everything else. Playing systems which are similar to each other really helps develop your understanding of the positions.

Obviously when I got stronger I started playing other things but I firmly believe that playing what I played as a beginner helped me to become a strong positional player. The two biggest strengths in my game are 1. Understanding good and bad minor pieces and 2. pawn structure and its nuances.

My advice to beginners:

1. Avoid pawn weaknesses at all costs (you learn how to play with them later)

2. Avoid bad bishops at all costs (pieces need to be active)

Cheers, FM Grant Szuveges

yo

Pros of QGD:

Black gets to choose the variation. (true only to the French Defense and QGD as far as I know).

Solid.

Your light-squared bishop is better than White's: dxc4 followed by b6. (assuming White tries to put it on d3 and not on g2, which is old-fashioned).

Cons: I always lose with it. fact. I win with QGA.

cool

Albin counter gambit