The King's Indian Defence
Let White build the biggest centre in chess, castle behind a fianchetto, and then attack the king standing behind it with every pawn you own. The King's Indian is the sharpest answer to 1.d4 there is - and the most demanding.
Last updated
- First moves
- 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3
- ECO
- E61
- Best for
- Black
- Style
- Aggressive
- Theory
- Heavy
- Level
- Advanced
The King's Indian is 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 and one refusal: Black declines to fight for the centre and builds a house on the kingside instead - bishop on g7, king castled behind it, pawn on d6. Then, with everything safe, Black hits the centre with ...e5.
That is the whole bargain. A pawn centre is only powerful while it can advance; the moment Black plays ...e5 and White answers d5, those pawns are frozen for the rest of the game and Black is free to throw the entire kingside at White's king.
The main line
The Classical King's Indian. Step through all twelve moves and watch Black build a house and then knock on White's door.
Now play Black's side of it.
You are Black. White has played 1.d4. Build the King's Indian: knight, fianchetto, bishop, pawn, castle - and then hit the centre.
The Mar del Plata: two attacks, no defence
If White locks the centre with d5, both sides get a wing and neither defends. This is the position the King's Indian exists to reach.
The Mar del Plata - White attacks on the queenside, Black attacks the king, and it is a race.
The Sämisch: White refuses to be attacked
The Sämisch Variation - White props up e4 with a pawn and prepares to castle away from the storm.
The trap: the early queen trade
7.dxe5 dxe5 8.Qxd8 Rxd8 looks like White's way out - queens off, no attack, a dull endgame. It is fine for Black, and if White grabs the pawn on e5 afterwards, it is much better than fine.
You are Black. Take back correctly, let the queens go, and punish the capture.
White has traded on e5 to kill your attack. Recapture, let the queens come off, and then find the tactic when White takes the pawn.
The plans, for both sides
Black's plans. One plan, executed with total commitment: ...e5, invite d5, then ...Ne8 or ...Nd7 to clear the f-pawn, then ...f5, ...f4, ...g5, ...g4, ...h5 and mate. Do not defend the queenside. Do not trade queens if you can avoid it. If White breaks through on the c-file three moves before you break through on the h-file, you lose - that is the deal, and it is why the King's Indian is scored as a fighting defence rather than a sound one.
White's plans. Choose your poison. Lock the centre and race (the Mar del Plata), prop up e4 with f3 and castle the other way (the Sämisch), fianchetto and trade pieces so no locked centre ever appears, or trade queens early and play for the endgame. The one thing that never works is drifting: an unprepared White position in a locked King's Indian gets mated around move thirty.
The tactics are the ones that decide any race. A fork on a loose piece behind the pawn storm ends the game a tempo early, the pin on a knight that must not move is what holds the attack together, and castling into the storm - which is what the Sämisch player deliberately avoids - is the mistake that loses the fastest.
If the fianchetto appeals but the risk does not, the Dutch Defence attacks on the same wing from a different pawn structure, and the Queen's Gambit is what you are refusing to play when you choose this.
Try it
Move two as Black. Play the move that makes this a King's Indian.
The King's Indian is the defence to learn when you would rather lose fifty games and win the fifty-first with a mating attack than draw a hundred. It teaches pawn storms, opposite-wing attacks and the value of a fixed centre better than any other opening - and the lessons pick up from there.
Common questions
- What is the King's Indian Defence?
- 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6, followed by ...Bg7, ...d6 and ...O-O. Black deliberately allows White a huge pawn centre with d4 and e4, then attacks it - usually with ...e5, and if White locks the position with d5, with a full kingside pawn storm aimed at White's king. It is a defence that plays for a win from move two.
- Is the King's Indian good for beginners?
- It teaches wonderful things and it is not a beginner's defence. The setup is easy - the same six moves against almost anything - but the middlegames are the hardest in chess: you are often objectively worse for twenty moves while your attack builds, and if the attack does not arrive you simply lose. Learn it once you are comfortable being uncomfortable.
- What is the main line of the King's Indian?
- The Classical: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Be2 e5, when White chooses between 7.O-O (into the Mar del Plata), 7.d5 and 7.dxe5. The whole opening turns on that one pawn on e5 - whether it stays, trades, or gets locked in by d5.
- What is the Mar del Plata Variation?
- The main line after 7.O-O Nc6 8.d5 Ne7, where White pushes on the queenside with c5 and Black storms the kingside with ...f5, ...g5, ...f4 and ...g4. Both sides attack on opposite wings and neither defends, so the game is a race - and it is the position the whole King's Indian exists to reach.
- How does White stop the King's Indian attack?
- Three ways, all respectable. The Sämisch (5.f3) props up e4 and prepares to castle queenside, out of the storm's way. The Fianchetto (g3 and Bg2) trades pieces and keeps the position fluid so Black never gets a locked centre to attack behind. And 7.dxe5, trading queens early, aims for a dry endgame - the answer to which is the trap on this page.
- Why give White the centre at all?
- Because a big pawn centre is only strong while it can move. Once Black hits it with ...e5 and White answers d5, those pawns are fixed, White's play is slow queenside expansion, and Black gets to throw four pawns at the king with no risk of the centre opening up behind. Handing over the centre buys the right to attack on the wing.
Ideas this opening runs on:
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