Latest Updates:
Normal Topic King's Indian Attack (Read 3425 times)
Nietzsche
Senior Member
****
Offline


Huggy Bear is coming.
You'd better run.

Posts: 394
Location: USA
Joined: 02/13/06
Gender: Male
Re: King's Indian Attack
Reply #3 - 06/08/06 at 00:29:46
Post Tools
I spent a fair amount of time (and money) working on a reportoire based on 1.Nf3 and going for the KIA. 
John Emms recently put out a well-written book called Starting Out: King's Indian Attack which I thought was both objective and interesting.  The statisitics on the KIA are not very encouraging, but that's the tradeoff for simplicity (you don't present you opponent a lot of problems to solve in simple positions).

The KIA is at its strongest against the French and ...e6 Sicilians.  Many GMs play the KIA under these conditions. Fischer, the most famous proponent of this system, would only venture the KIA when ...e6 had already been played.  Against the Caro-Cann or ...d6 Sicilians he would deviate and go into the main lines.

After several years of playing this system I found that while the KIA is certainly a viable option against the Caro-Kann or the Open game, it gives too much space and central control to Black for my liking.  I'm learning to appreciate space more and more.
I don't know if you care, but I decided to play 1.Nf3/c4/g3 and the reveresed Gruenfeld setup; with the Catalan against 1...d5.  I think it offers white a bit more than the KIA and is more strategically challenging for both players.

Anyway, I recommend "Starting Out: KIA" by Emms and Dunnington's "Ultimate KIA" if you wish to study this system more fully.  It is a great place to start building a cohesive reportoire. And again, it is very strong once Black commits to ...e6 because of the tempo it can save and the space it can allow white to take (i.e. the e4-e5 push is the spearhead of many KS attacks)

I hope this helps answer your question.
  

"By some ardent enthusiasts Chess has been elevated into a science or an art. It is neither; but its principal characteristic seems to be what human nature mostly delights in - a fight." - Em. Lasker
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
dsanchez
Full Member
***
Offline


24.Nh1!?N

Posts: 182
Joined: 01/24/06
Re: King's Indian Attack
Reply #2 - 06/07/06 at 14:55:52
Post Tools
Based on my readings on the KIA, it is my understanding that some believe that the KIA is stronger against Black systems where Black has played ...e6 (as JEH intimated) than against systems where black has not made this committment with his e-pawn.  This is because in a lot of systems, Black would be better served with a pawn on e5, which is now going to take him an extra tempo to achieve.

For this reason, some players will head to a KIA against the French or 2...e6 Sicilians.

As JEH suggested, even against ...e6 systems, any theoretical advantage obtained by White is very slim.  The psychological advantage may be worth more.

I am currently trying to get comfortable with a "system" or "formula" for White against various Black setups, and it it proving extremely difficult.  It seems like it almost always boils down to a matter of whoever plays the best moves wins (what could be more fair?), so spending a lot of time studying this openining's theory is not real productive.  Of course, there is more to chess than the opening.  Or so I've been told.
  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
JEH
God Member
*****
Offline


"Football is like Chess,
only without the dice."

Posts: 1456
Location: Reading
Joined: 09/22/05
Gender: Male
Re: King's Indian Attack
Reply #1 - 06/07/06 at 12:34:02
Post Tools
It's playable against them all if you are happy that Black gets equality in a number of ways. However I think White has a hard time in Sicilian lines where Black hasn't played e6 and was the main reason that I gave up the KIA. The second reason was that reversed KID lines (tranposable after a Nc6 Sicilian or after 1. Nf3) are fine for Black too.

Against the Pirc, the fianchetto line is better played with the Ne2. With Nf3, it's pretty tame.

I don't think the KIA is all that theory-lite either, as White has to know a lot of stuff just to not hand Black an advantage on a plate. It should be the other way round!

You can play it against anything except the Scandinavian. Against the Alekhine or 1. ...e5 you have pretty much turned yourself into Black. Against these lines, the extra temp allows a reversed Hanham Philidor, or you could play a reversed Pirc where the extra tempo will help you reach equality. The extra tempo does not give you an advantage as Black can steer for positions where it is useless or even a disadvantage (opening zuzwang)

  

Those who want to go by my perverse footsteps play such pawn structure with fuzzy atypical still strategic orientations

Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, stuck in the middlegame with you
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
Dinomike100
Full Member
***
Offline


I Love ChessPublishing!

Posts: 103
Joined: 05/17/06
King's Indian Attack
06/07/06 at 10:21:00
Post Tools
I was wondering how strong the KIA is against the following defenses:

1. Caro-Kann
2. French
3. Sicilian
4. Pirc

From what I have heard (please correct me if I am wrong), the KIA is strongest against the French defense.  I'm not sure how strong it is against the Caro-Kann.  I heard that it isn't that great against the Sicilian, but is white at least not worse off?  I haven't heard much about using it against the Pirc, though that may be because there are probably other lines that are clearly better.  Can the KIA be used effectively against anything else?

Thanks. 

  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
Bookmarks: del.icio.us Digg Facebook Google Google+ Linked in reddit StumbleUpon Twitter Yahoo