[Event "KIng's Indian Defense: Theory Section: KIng's Indian Defense: Theory Section"] [Date "2018.10.11"] [Result "*"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "E97"] [Opening "King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Bayonet Attack, Sokolov's Line"] [StudyName "KIng's Indian Defense: Theory Section"] [ChapterName "KIng's Indian Defense: Theory Section"] [ChapterURL "https://lichess.org/study/fIllSlje/BcsQEMML"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/flohahn22"] [UTCDate "2018.10.11"] [UTCTime "08:28:04"] [Orientation "white"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 { Here we are - the starting position of the King's Indian Defense. } 4. e4 { This is by far the main move and you'll encounter it most frequently in practice when playing the King's Indian. } (4. Nf3 { This move often leads to transpositions. White leaves his options open to still play with e3-e4 or to play a Fianchetto Variation. } 4... O-O) (4. g3 { This is the Fianchetto Variation which is a positional line against the King's Indian Defense. It's not too aggressive but White also stops Black from launching his usual kingside attack. } 4... O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. Nf3 { This is the starting position of the Fianchetto Variation. Black has three main moves here - ...Nbd7, ...Nc6 and ...c6. } 6... Nc6 7. O-O { Here, Black has several moves. Recently, the ...a6 and ...Rb8 system is quite popular. } 7... a6 { White has many setups here. A move which is quite good but came out of fashion is 8.Bf4. } (7... e5 8. d5 (8. dxe5!? dxe5 9. Bg5 { This is an interesting try and White's setup definitely has some bite in it. } 9... Qxd1 (9... Be6 10. Qa4 (10. Qc1 { A new suggestion by GM Boris Avrukh, pitching the pawn on c4. })) 10. Rfxd1 h6 11. Be3 $14) 8... Ne7 9. e4 Nd7 10. Ne1 f5 11. Nd3 Nf6 { This setup is discussed in Boris Avrukh's book for White - a 1.d4 repertoire book. However, Black has found many ways to create counterplay since Avrukh published his book. }) 8. Bf4 Rb8 9. Rc1 Bd7 10. Qd2 b5 11. Nd5 bxc4 12. Nxf6+ Bxf6 13. Rxc4 { This is the main line and it's not clear if Black can fully equalize here. } { [%csl Rc6][%cal Gc4c6] } 13... e5 14. Bh6 Re8 15. dxe5 Nxe5 16. Nxe5 Bxe5 17. b3 { White has the slighly better pawn structure and the better chances. }) 4... d6 { Black does not challenge the center immediately. However, with the move ...d6, Black also makes sure that White does not crush through in the center with e4-e5 before Black is fully mobilized. } 5. Nf3 (5. f3 { This is the Sämisch Variation which often leads to sharp play with both players castling to opposite sides. } 5... O-O 6. Be3 { Black has a choice of several moves here - ...e5, ...c5, ...Nc6 and even some more other minor lines. }) (5. Be2 O-O 6. Bg5 { This is the Averbakh Variation. The idea of this system is to stop Black from playing ...e5 immediately as this would lose at least a pawn. } 6... c5 { Black can play ...c5 instead or ...Na6. } (6... e5? 7. dxe5 dxe5 8. Qxd8 Rxd8 9. Nd5 $16 { [%csl Rc7,Rf6][%cal Gd5c7,Gd5f6] } (9. Bxf6 Bxf6 10. Nd5 { [%csl Rf6,Rc7][%cal Gd5c7,Gd5f6] }) 9... Rd6? 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. Nxc7 $18) 7. d5 h6 8. Bf4 e6 9. dxe6 Bxe6 { This resembles a Benoni type of setup. Black's pawn on d6 is hanging but White is behind in development. If White captures the pawn, Black gets good counterplay here. } 10. Qxd6 (10. Bxd6 Re8 11. Bxc5 { White won two pawns but he fell way behind in development. } 11... Qa5 $13 { This variation leads to a sharp position in which Black has excellent practical chances as it's tough for White to defend this position. } { [%csl Re1,Re4][%cal Ga5e1,Gf6e4] }) 10... Qa5 { [%csl Re4,Re1][%cal Gf6e4,Ga5e1] } 11. Nf3 Nxe4 { [%csl Rd6,Rc3][%cal Ge4d6,Ge4c3] }) (5. f4 { This move introduces the Four Pawns Attack. This is a very aggressive variation for White to counter the King's Indian Defense. White builds up a massive pawn center at the cost of falling behind in development. Play is double-edged here. } 5... O-O 6. Nf3 c5 { Black challenges the center. } 7. d5 (7. dxc5 Qa5 { [%csl Rc5,Re4,Re1][%cal Gb5c5,Ga5c5,Gf6e4,Ga5e1] } 8. cxd6? Nxe4 9. dxe7 Bxc3+ 10. bxc3 Re8 { [%csl Re7,Re1,Rc3][%cal Ge8e1,Ga5c3] } 11. Be2 Qxc3+ 12. Bd2 Nxd2 13. Qxd2 Qxa1+ $19)) 5... O-O 6. Be2 e5 { This is the most classical variation in the King's Indian Defense. White has a choice here. He can go for the Mar del Plata Variation with 7.0-0, the Petrosian System with 7.d5 or the Exchange Variation with 7.dxe5. } (6... Qe8!? { This is a very interesting variation with which Black can avoid all the complicated variations in the Mar del Plata Variation. It's a rare move which, however, definitely has some bite and most White players won't know what to do here. GM Damian Lemos explains a lot of details and theoretical ideas of this line in his Deep Dive Opening Course which you can get at the end of this article for 50% off. }) 7. O-O (7. dxe5 dxe5 8. Qxd8 Rxd8 { This is the Exchange Variation. White exchanges queen's and usually tries to prove a slight edge here. However, in terms of pawn structure, it's important to notice that Black has the simple plans of bringing a knight to d4 while White can't easily bring a knight to d5 as Black can always play ...c6. } 9. Bg5 { Black has a to be bit careful here. Playing a move like ...h6, for example, trying to break the pin, would be a very bad idea. } 9... Re8! (9... h6? 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. Nd5 $16 { [%csl Rf6,Rc7][%cal Gd5f6,Gd5c7] }) 10. O-O Na6 11. Rfd1 Nc5 $10 { The position is equal but there is a lot of play left for both sides. }) (7. d5 { This is the Petrosian Variation. } 7... a5 { Black tries to create an outpost for his knight on c5. } 8. Bg5 h6 9. Bh4 Na6 { [%cal Ga6c5] }) 7... Nc6 8. d5 Ne7 { This is the starting position of the famous Mar del Plata Variation. The center is closed and both sides have their own strategic plans. Black aims to launch an attack on the kingside by removing his knight from f6 (usually to d7 or h5) and to go for ...f7-f5-f4, followed by pushing his g-pawn forward. In practice, these attacks are very dangerous for White as Black has various attacking resources at hand. White, in contrast, creates counterplay on the queenside. He usually plays b2-b4, c4-c5, opening up the queenside. White tries to enter Black's camp before Black can succeed with his kingside play. Generally speaking, there is a lot of theory in all these lines and play is very sharp and double-edged. } 9. b4 Nh5 10. Re1 f5 { These are some sample moves how the game might continue. } { [%csl Rg1][%cal Gf5f4,Gg6g5,Gc4c5] } *