King's Indian Defence


The King's Indian Defence is a common chess opening. It arises after the moves:
Black intends to follow up with 3...Bg7 and 4...d6. White's major third move options are 3.Nc3, 3.Nf3 or 3.g3, with both the King's Indian and Grünfeld playable against these moves. The Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings classifies the King's Indian Defence under the codes E60 through E99.
In the most critical lines of the King's Indian, White erects an imposing pawn centre with Nc3 followed by e4. Black stakes out his own claim to the centre with the Benoni-style...c5, or...e5. If White resolves the central pawn tension with d5, then Black follows with either...b5 and queenside play, or...f5 and an eventual kingside attack. Meanwhile, White attempts to expand on the opposite wing. The resulting unbalanced positions offer scope for both sides to play for a win.

Overview

The King's Indian is a hypermodern opening, where Black deliberately allows White control of the with his pawns, with the view to subsequently challenge it with the moves...e5 or...c5. Until the mid-1930s, it was generally regarded as highly suspect, but the analysis and play of three strong Soviet players in particular—Alexander Konstantinopolsky, Isaac Boleslavsky, and David Bronstein—helped to make the defence much more respected and popular. It is a dynamic opening, exceptionally complex, and a favourite of former world champions Garry Kasparov, Bobby Fischer, and Mikhail Tal, with prominent grandmasters Viktor Korchnoi, Miguel Najdorf, Efim Geller, John Nunn, Svetozar Gligorić, Wolfgang Uhlmann, and Ilya Smirin having also contributed much to the theory and practice of this opening. In the early 2000s the opening's popularity suffered after Vladimir Kramnik scored excellent results against it, so much so that even Kasparov gave up the opening after relentless losses to Kramnik. However, Kramnik himself won a fine game on the black side of the KID in 2012, and current top players Hikaru Nakamura, Teimour Radjabov, and Ding Liren all play the opening.

Variations

The main variations of the King's Indian are:

3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6

Classical Variation: 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5

The Classical Variation is 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5.
A minor but still significant sideline occurs for White on move 6, with 6.Bg5, the Zinnowitz Variation, instead of 6.Be2 e5. The line was played several times by German Grandmaster Burkhard Malich in the 1960s and 1970s. It is currently unfashionable at master level; Black gets a good game with either 6...h6 or 6...Nbd7. This line is distinct from the much more popular Averbakh Variation, described below, since in the Zinnowitz, White has played 5.Nf3 instead of 5.Be2, as in the Averbakh, and then follows with 6.Bg5.
Another, more significant and quite popular sideline occurs for Black on move 6, with 6...Bg4, in place of the mainline 6...e5. One idea for Black here is to relieve his somewhat cramped position by exchanging his light-squared bishop, which is often relegated to a passive role in the King's Indian. White's most popular response is 7.Be3, similar to the Gligoric System ; White seems to retain a small edge in every variation. Top players who have used this line for Black include two former World Champions: GMs Mikhail Tal and Boris Spassky.

Sämisch Variation: 5.f3

The Sämisch Variation is 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3. It is named after Friedrich Sämisch, who developed the system in the 1920s. This often leads to very sharp play with the players castling on opposite wings and attacking each other's kings, as in the Bagirov–Gufeld game given below, though it may also give rise to heavyweight positional struggles. Black has a variety of pawn breaks, such as...e5,...c5 and...b5. This can transpose to the Modern Benoni after 5...0-0 6.Bg5 c5 7.d5 e6. World champions Mikhail Botvinnik, Mikhail Tal, Tigran Petrosian, Boris Spassky, Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov have all played this variation. This line defends the e4-pawn to create a secure centre and enables White to begin an attack kingside with Be3, Qd2, Bh6, g2–g4 and h2–h4. It allows placement of a bishop on e3 without allowing...Ng4; however, its drawback is that it deprives the knight on g1 of its most natural square, thus impeding development of the kingside. Black can strike for the centre as previously mentioned or delay with 6...Nc6, 7...a6 and 8...Rb8 so that Black can play...b7–b5 to open lines on the queenside.
The Classical Defence to the Sämisch is 5...0-0 6.Be3 e5, when White has a choice between closing the centre with 7.d5, or maintaining the tension with 7.Nge2. Kasparov was a major proponent of this defence.
The Sämisch Gambit arises after 5...0-0 6.Be3 c5. This is a pawn sacrifice, and was once considered dubious. As Black's play has been worked out, this evaluation has changed, and the gambit now enjoys a good reputation. A practical drawback, however, is that a well-prepared but unambitious White player can often enter lines leading to a forced draw. The line where White accepts the gambit runs 5...0-0 6.Be3 c5 7.dxc5 dxc5 8.Qxd8 Rxd8 9.Bxc5 Nc6. Black's activity is believed to give sufficient compensation. White's most frequent play is to decline the gambit, and instead play 7.Nge2, and head for Benoni type positions after a d4–d5 advance.
5...0-0 6.Be3 Nc6 7.Nge2 a6 8.Qd2 Rb8 leads to the Panno Variation of the Sämisch. Black prepares to respond appropriately depending on White's choice of plan. If White plays 0-0-0 and goes for a kingside attack, then 7...a6 prepares...b7–b5 with a counterattack against White's castled position. If instead White plays more cautiously, then Black challenges White's centre with...e5.

Averbakh Variation: 5.Be2 0-0 6.Bg5

The Averbakh Variation is 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Bg5, which prevents the immediate 6...e5.
Black often repels the bishop with...h6 giving him the option of a later g5, though in practice this is a weakening move. White has various ways to develop, such as Qd2, Nf3, f4 or even h4. However, Black obtains good play against all of these development schemes.
The old main line in this begins with 6...c5.
However, 6...Nbd7 and 6...Na6 are also seen.
It is possible that the Averbakh System can transition to the Averbakh Variation of the King's Indian Defence.

Four Pawns Attack: 5.f4

The Four Pawns Attack continues with 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f4 0-0 6.Nf3. This is the most aggressive method for White, and was often seen in the 1920s. With his fifth move, White erects a massive centre at the price of falling behind in development. If Black can open the position, White may well find himself overextended. From this 6...c5 is the main line.
The Fianchetto Variation 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 0-0 5.Bg2 d6 6.0-0, is named for White's development of his light-squared bishop to g2, and is one of the most popular lines at the grandmaster level, with Korchnoi once its most notable practitioner. This method of development is on completely different lines than other King's Indian variations. Here, Black's normal plan of attack can hardly succeed, as White's kingside is more solidly defended than in most KID variations. The most common responses are:
Finally, White has other setups, such as Nf3 and h3 and Nge2, but these are currently not as popular at the grandmaster level. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nge2 followed by 6.Ng3 is called the Hungarian Attack.

Famous games

One of the most famous King's Indian games was a by the late Ukrainian-American grandmaster Eduard Gufeld, who called it his "Mona Lisa":

''ECO'' codes

The Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings classification of variations of the King's Indian are: