Kings Indian leads to an "unbalanced" position from the beginning -- rather then answering 1 d4 with 1 d5. Usually the better player will win, as the middle game has chances for both sides.
There is no 1 Main line of the King's Indian. There are many very good, solid lines for White, ie; Saemisch, Fianchetto, Averbakh,
Kings Indian can be enjoyed on many different chess levels. What is your chess level ? I see no games listed for you when I click on your name.
The main line is still the Classical (Nf3 and Be2), but there are other fashionable lines like Be2-Be3, h3 systems (h3-Nf3 or h3-Be3 mainly), 5. Nge2 and the Sämisch 5. f3.
Kings Indian leads to an "unbalanced" position from the beginning -- rather then answering 1 d4 with 1 d5. Usually the better player will win, as the middle game has chances for both sides.
There is no 1 Main line of the King's Indian. There are many very good, solid lines for White, ie; Saemisch, Fianchetto, Averbakh,
Kings Indian can be enjoyed on many different chess levels. What is your chess level ? I see no games listed for you when I click on your name.
My level... I play only at PlayOK, where my ranking at the moment of writing this is 1430. Take it with even bigger grain of salt then any other ranking. I think it is safe to call me a lower intermediate player, as I am clearly no longer a beginer.
I am asking about KID's mainline because, i am aware how many possibilities are there. What is sound, and what is a dubious sideline?
White can try to crush black with four pawns or with saemish variations, may play it slow with fianchetto or gligoric variation, may close the centre with d5 or keep the tension after which black may go for Maroczy bind formation with exd4, but that is of course ony if e5 was played, as there is the option of c5. Black can aim for the famous Mar der Plata attack, or can play on both sides with Nh3. And on top of that all there are some subtle move order tricks, as i noticed while comparing one of my games to databese. A real maze. This is what i had in mind, when i wrote that I understand how little I understand.
I studied it about 20 years ago and was driven off by the fianchetto variation
1. Yes it is sound. One of the better ways if not the best way to play for a win vs 1. d4
The engine evaluations of hypermodern openings will always favor the side with more space, as engines love space advantages. The actual position doesn't have that extreme of an advantage for white
2. I'd say the Mar Del Plata is probably the most common line against the King's Indian but the Samish variation (5. f3), Mokogonov (5. h3), Four Pawns attack (5. f4), Fianchetto variation etc are all still very popular
I studied it about 20 years ago and was driven off by the fianchetto variation
I've found the Panno to be a very solid reply to the Fianchetto variation.
I studied it about 20 years ago and was driven off by the fianchetto variation
I've found the Panno to be a very solid reply to the Fianchetto variation.
What is the panno? I play the fianchetto but I don’t know any names lol
O.P. Radjabov thinks white is better but the black always has counter chances, even at the highest levels.
I studied it about 20 years ago and was driven off by the fianchetto variation
I've found the Panno to be a very solid reply to the Fianchetto variation.
What is the panno? I play the fianchetto but I don’t know any names lol
Black plays Nc6 instead of an early e5 or c5.
Here's a chess.com club match game against a player who had (at that time) a 2550+ tactics rating:
That symmetrical Maroczy line looks entirely playable for Black, but I would probably try to keep more dynamic tension with 11. ... bxc6 instead of 11. ... Nxc6.
what do you do against
Typically, in the Panno, if White does not do an early d5, Black will play a6, Rb8, b5, etc.
Another to watch out for is 7.Nc3, 8.b3, 9.Nd5. This is recommended in Wojo's Weapons. Black should not trade on d5. I know 9...Nh5 is the main response, but there are other answers White must be aware of, but 9...Nxd5 is bad for Black.
#1
"My first question is, whether KID is considered sound by the theory?"
++ No, it is dubious, but it is suitable to play for a win as black at greater risk of losing
"The second question is what is currently KID's mainline?"
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1070932
I think the White pieces could put the KID out of business on a theoretical level from all the investigation I have done in my attempts trying to incorporate from the Black side ...but it is as said above the stronger player has chances to complicate and keep the game highly unbalanced in most lines. Yet White has chances to make it dogmatically technical as well. IMHO.
#1
"My first question is, whether KID is considered sound by the theory?"
++ No, it is dubious, but it is suitable to play for a win as black at greater risk of losing
"The second question is what is currently KID's mainline?"
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1070932
The King's Indian Defense is NOT dubious! Do not listen to him!
There are a few lines that have been viewed as a problem lately for Black. That doesn't make the whole opening unsound.
The Mar Del Plata and Bayonet Attacks have been an issue for Black. The specific line that has been causing Black problems in the Mar Del Plata is the 13.Rc1 line (9.Ne1 Nd7 10.Be3 f5 11.f3 f4 12.Bf2 g5 13.Rc1!), and the Bayonet has seen some solutions proposed, but I personally don't trust them.
That doesn't make the King's Indian unsound. Black still has the following options:
A) 7...exd4 8.Nxe4 Re8 9.f3 Nc6 - ROCK SOLID!
B) 7...exd4 8.Nxe4 Re8 9.f3 c6 - A little riskier
C) 7...Na6 - A completely different idea that is fully sound
D) 6...Qe8 - This has been known to give White a slight edge if he knows what he's doing, but not a refutation by any stretch of the imagination.
None of the other lines (Saemisch, Fianchetto, Four Pawns Attack, Averbakh, etc) has shown any signs of outright refuting the King's Indian Defense. There is nothing unsound about the King's Indian. People are simply starting to drift away from the Mar Del Plata and Bayonet Attacks by avoiding 7...Nc6.
The problem with the KID is that it is an extremely complex opening, which requires a lot of knowledge on positional themes, as well as being up-to date on theory, which is a huge task (not a very relevant one against class players, as the game does not follow book for long).
Actually Black can play it safe against the Classical approach, although I admit that the resulting positions are rather far from the supposed style of the opening. Actually mentioned already at the previous post by @ThrillerFan
This is a very solid and safe line, where Black can equalize if he knows what he is doing (typically something like ...Nh5 and ...Be5, touching some soft spots on the kingside). It is also extremely well analysed and tested, and black is doing just fine.
But it is not the usual "attack at all costs" style of the chaotic Mar del Plata, which in some lines has been analysed over move 30.
indeed. My question to you is what is your Primary Defence to 1. d4? MY Primary Defense is 1. ... d5. KID is also my Secondary but is also my Primary according to Circumstance.
I play KID as my secondary answer to 1d4. The opening is a fascinating but extremally complex one - I understand it just enough to understand how little i understand it.
My first question is, whether KID is considered sound by the theory? I know it was played by some great players - Fisher, Tall, Kasparov. Recently it showed up on Polish Women's Chess Cup. Not the very pinacle of players, but the ladies definetally know how to play chess.
On the other hand, as i look into the base, KID's scoring is very bad for black - it is about as succesfull as scandinavian defence, which gathers a lot of hate. Computer also shows some +1 for white. I also stumbled on an opinion, that KID popularity is far bigger then it deserves.
Note that i know that at my level KID's theoretical evaluation probably doesn't matter. If it was good enough for Fisher... Still, i am curious.
The second question is what is currently KID's mainline? There are so many possibilities here. Is the mainline same with the most popular moves as given in chess.com's databese?