Exeter Chess Club

Playing White against

Unusual Replies (Continued)

C. King's Indian Attack against the common Half-Open defences Introduction to the King's Indian Attack

"Club players and home enthusiasts often ask me to recommend an openings system for White which is safe, yet aggressive and does not require a superb memory and months of intense learning. In such cases I invariably recommend the KING'S INDIAN ATTACK." - KEENE

To understand the KIA it is important to understand the standard KING'S INDIAN Defence ideas, which you will play as White. Here is an early KING'S INDIAN Defence game, which alerted the chess world to a new way of handling the Black pieces.

C1. KIA vs. Alekhine 1. e4 Nf6:
1. e4 Nf6 2. d3 and 3. g3/Bg2

Sadly, this line has no real force and is not a good line to adopt. Black can transpose into other openings but can also just go 2...e5.

C2. KIA vs. Caro-Kann 1. e4 c6:

C3. KIA vs. French 1. e4 e6:
1. e4 e6 2. d3 d5 3. Nd2

The lines mostly start with

2. d3 d5

3. Nd2 Nf6 4. Ngf3

See below for examples: all the same ideas and sacrifices crop up over and over again in your own games. The attack is good fun to play for White, and many Black players have come unstuck against it.

The important theory you must know about is, what if Black tries to avoid the LONG Variation? This can be awkward. I recommend you play 4. Ngf3, waiting for ...c5 until you play g3. Let's see why:

C4. KIA vs. Pirc/Modern 1. e4 ...d6/...g6:
1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Nge2 and
5. g3, 6. Bg2

Black has a lot of choice, as usual. In this system with 2. d4 instead of 2. d3, White means to play in the centre and hold on to the space by restraining Black's pawn breaks. When everything is secure and development is complete, you can think about where to expand yourself.

C5. KIA vs. Sicilian

The KIA can be played against all lines of the SICILIAN, and in fact many FRENCH variations start off in the SICILIAN (e.g. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d3).

Again, we won't bother too much about variations and get straight into the games. A few you do need to know about:

D. A single Repertoire for Attacking the Unusual Semi-Open defences

D1. Centre Counter (Scandinavian) 1...d5

In recent years several GMs have experimented with this move, and for some it is a regular part of their repertoire. Someone once described this as a line for "Black players who want to suck all the life out of the position".

After 2. exd5 Qxd5 Black will be behind in development for a long time, but will also be very solid. I have been frustrated by trying to beat this annoying defence even with a useful space advantage.

D2. Gurgenidze Defence ...c6/...d5/...g6

Black plans to gum everything up by encouraging e5, then developing around it.

I assume you don't want this to happen, and want to avoid it. You can if you are careful with move order.

D3. Nimzovitch Defence

D4. Other Defences

Rarer continuations include:

E. A Repertoire for Attacking the Unusual 1...E5 Defences

I assume you will aim for the Giuoco Piano, an opening I expect you won't tire of for a year or two.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3

This is the natural follow-up, developing the Knight to its best square and attacking the Black e-pawn. Good alternatives include:

Black has all sorts of alternatives in reply to 2. Nf3, most of which needn't delay us for long:

The most important deviations are:

E1. Hungarian Defence

E2. Philidor Defence

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6

Now play

3. d4

when Black has a choice between 3...Nd7, 3...Nf6 and 3...dxe4. 3...f5 is occasionally played, too.

E3. Latvian Gambit 2... f5