The King's Indian is one of the most combative answers to 1.d4: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6. Black concedes the centre in order to strike at it later and unfold an attack on the king. The main branches are gathered here: the Classical System, the Saemisch, the Four Pawns Attack and the Averbakh System. At each branching point, choose which line to play.
The dimmed moves are the rest of the main line, and the dots mark branching points. Click any move to jump to that position.
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The starting position. Choose your moves - at a branching point several continuations are available.
The King's Indian is the flagship of hypermodernism for Black. He lets White occupy the centre with pawns on c4, d4 and e4, fianchettoes the bishop on g7 and prepares the central counter-strike ...e5, followed by the kingside pawn storm ...f5-f4-g5-g4.
The main idea is an asymmetrical battle on opposite wings. White advances on the queenside, where he has the space, while Black throws pawns at the king. Whoever breaks through first usually decides the game.
It is a risky but very ambitious opening: you can play for a win with Black. Bronstein, Tal, Fischer and Kasparov all loved the King's Indian - every one of them a great attacking player.
In the Classical System 5.Nf3 White develops naturally and after 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 locks the centre - producing the famous Mar del Plata with its race of attacks on opposite wings. The Saemisch System 5.f3 shores up the centre and prepares a storm of White's own.
The most aggressive is the Four Pawns Attack, 5.f4, with a huge centre. The Averbakh System (5.Be2 0-0 6.Bg5) cunningly stops Black's main break ...e5 by pinning the f6 knight.
The King's Indian is built on a bold idea: Black voluntarily gives up the centre in order to strike at it later. After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 the main move is 6...e5, and the whole game is built around it.
If White locks the centre with d4-d5, Black's signature plan begins: the knight leaves f6 (for e8 or d7), ...f5 follows, then ...f4, ...g5 and the kingside pawn storm. The game becomes a race - Black attacks the king while White breaks through on the queenside.
The main rule is not to dawdle. The King's Indian does not forgive passivity - if Black has not started his own attack, White's advance on the c-file gets there first.
White has several fundamentally different systems. The Classical is 6.Be2 and 7.0-0, with c4-c5 and the opening of the c-file on the queenside. Everything here comes down to speed: whose storm arrives first.
The Saemisch is 5.f3, shoring up e4 and preparing queenside castling with the g4-h4 attack. The Fianchetto is 3.g3 and Bg2: White declines sharp play and simply keeps a solid position in which Black has none of his usual targets. The Four Pawns (5.f4) is the most aggressive route, and the riskiest.
Practical advice: prophylaxis works against the King's Indian. The move h3, a timely Nd2 and control of f4 devalue Black's entire pawn storm - and then White's positional edge on the queenside decides.
The typical set-ups this opening leads to - learn them, and the plan follows by itself.
After 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7. The centre is locked: Black throws the pawns ...f5-f4-g5 at White's king while White advances with c5 on the queenside - a pure race of attacks.
After 5.f3 0-0 6.Be3 e5 7.d5. White shores up the centre with f3 and prepares his own h4-h5 storm, giving Black no easy counterplay.
After 5.f4 0-0 6.Nf3 c5 7.d5. A huge c4-d4-e4-f4 pawn centre: either it crushes Black, or it collapses under the blows ...c5 and ...e6.
These are the main named variations. Click any one of them and it loads straight onto the board above, where you can play it out move by move. The trainer itself holds more lines than this: it also covers main-line continuations and transpositions that have no name of their own.
What to avoid, and what catches an unprepared opponent.
Once the centre is locked with d5 it becomes a race: White pushes c5-c6 on the queenside, Black ...f5-f4-g5 on the kingside. Delay is fatal - count tempi instead of improving your position.
The g7 bishop is the soul of the King's Indian. Do not trade it off needlessly and do not shut it in with your own pawns: without it the attack on White's king falls apart.
Do not rush ...exd4: it releases the tension and hands White comfortable play on the d-file. The King's Indian lives on a locked centre and a pawn storm, not on exchanges.
Traps in other openings - the 12 most common opening traps.
It is a deliberate strategy: Black lets White occupy the centre with pawns in order to strike at it with ...e5 and unleash a pawn storm against the king. The occupied centre becomes not only White's strength but also his target.
Yes, it is one of the sharpest and most double-edged openings. If Black's attack on the king is late, White crushes him with queenside space. But when it works, Black gets a ferocious attack - which is why it is played for a win.
It is the key tabiya of the Classical System after 8.d5 Ne7: the centre is locked and a pure race begins - White storms the queenside with c5, Black throws the pawns ...f5-f4-g5-g4 at the king. Named after the tournament in Mar del Plata, Argentina.
Every great attacking player: David Bronstein, Mikhail Tal, Bobby Fischer, and above all Garry Kasparov, for whom it was the main weapon with Black. It is an opening for those who like playing against the king.
Want the tactics that decide these positions? Start with the 12 most common opening traps and tactics for beginners. If you are just starting out, read the rules of chess and how to set up the board.
Судейские навыки не понадобятся. Приложение берёт на себя ту часть, из-за которой турниры обычно и не проводят: кто с кем играет в каждом туре и кто в итоге первый.
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