Wow, I wasn't aware that 9...Nbd7 is a move.  I see that 10. e5 was once thought to refute it, and some more recent books don't mention it at all.  So 10. 0-0 Re8 11. Bd3 c4 looks good at a glance, and one might think White should be able to do better than 10. 0-0 Re8 11. Nd2, transposing to an equalish main line.  10. 0-0 Re8 11. Qc2 seems plausible from the standpoint that with ...Nbd7 and 0-0 in there's no immediate...Nxe4 (nor any ...Na6-b4 possibility like in Averbakh-Tal, nor any ...Bg4 which could be a reason to prefer Nd2 to Qc2).  But I gather there is a reason (or reasons) for 10. Qc2 immediately ...

kylemeister wrote on 08/08/08 at 15:17:03:


No, I mean 9...Nbd7.  I admit that 9...Bg4 10.0-0 Nbd7 is another way to play.  I wanted to suggest something without much theory.

That's according to Anatoly Vaisser, not only Markovich.

I play this as White, so naturally I have a high opinion of it.  One reasonable approach for Black is 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f4 0-0 6.Nf3 c5 7.d5 e6 8.Be2 exd5 9.cxd5 (I don't think that 9.exd5 is much if Black knows how to defend) 9...Nbd7.  The immediate 10.e5 is not supposed to work.  Vaisser recommends 10.Qc2.  White may be a little better, but at least it's a fairly ordinary game of chess, not the usual Banzai attack that White yearns for.

I would gather the typical move orders would be ...c5 provoking d5 and follow that up with ...e6 then....exd5 etc.

For tomes, Joe Gallgher's Play The KID, Beating The Anti-KID, Starting Out: KID will answer most of your 4 Pawns Attack questions.

I have just recently taken up the KID as Black, since I often play the KIA as White, especially against the French.

I lost a Four Pawns Attack game in one of my initial Black KID outings. Can anyone give advice on how to learn to play against this system?

Later I will post my game if anyone would like to comment on it.

Thanks