Castlerock, 

I actually meant Bc8-h3.  Sorry about the confusion.

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Bc8-a6 you mean?

The whole idea of that bishop in the KID is to support the e5 pawn which in turn exerts some infulence on d4. All this is consistant with the basic strategic aim of the KID which is to control  the dark squares. btw the black square influence is even more evident in the lines where white plays f3 in response to black's f5 & black advances to f4 & follows up with g5. Hence in the classical, it isnt good for black to liquidate the ctr by the exchange on d4. I'm with Smyslov-fan on this. Once in pawn storm mode, the fianchettoed bishop has nothing to do except provide the king with some cover (& protect e5 pawn). Probably the only time it gets active is during the ending stage as the pawn storm is most often supported by the Rs, Kts & Q.

However there are systems where that exchange is good - notably in some of the fianchetto systems & the Gligoric system. (not sure abt the saemisch)

@Smyslov - the Benoni too! I love it once i can get in Bd4.

Castlerock, 

In many variations of the KID, the Bishop does indeed defend the Black King.  However, you need look no farther than the Grunfeld or Benko to realise that Black would love to be able to play Bg7-d4 or even a1 If White allows it.  The main idea behind the exd4 line seems to be to liberate the dark-squared Bishop.

You may be right that this is wrong-headed, which may help explain part of what is wrong with the whole idea.  Of course there are other, more immediate reasons to question releasing the tension so early.  This entire thread seems to support (in words rather than variations) the thesis that Gallagher and so many have stated:  7...ed4 is dubious at best.

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I always thought g7 Bishop should be doing defensive duty till the ending in classical KID setup. After all, with the king side pawns going down the board  black monarch will feel pretty lonely.

In theory, trying to activate dark square bishop early, may prove to be counter productive.

BK said

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In this particular line, his dark squared Bishop is more active than in most KID lines where it's hiding behind the e5 pawn.  The more important problem for Black is that his standard dreams of a king-side pawn storm are not going to be realised.  Teyko found some interesting ways to play as Black in this line, but I agree with Gallagher's general assessment that White is better.  White's play is very natural and has a ready-made Maroczy Bind type of position where Black doesn't have much leverage against the e4 square.   

I know that all I've written so far is very (very) general, but Black's problems are broad. Black is the one that needs to come up with concrete lines to begin to prove his idea is sound and overturn about 50 years of theory.  I still believe that Black's best move instead of 7...ed4 is 7...Nc6, entering the main line of the Mar Del Plata (also known as the Classical) King's Indian.   

If you have a specific line you'd like to analyse from this tabiya (basic position), please let us know!