King's Indian Defense

In the King's Indian Defense, 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6, Black lets White build a big centre and plans to strike back with ...e5 or ...c5, followed by a kingside attack with ...f5. White chooses between the Classical with Nf3 and Be2, the Sämisch with f3, the Averbakh with Be2 and Bg5, and the Fianchetto with g3. The structures are rich, and the pawn breaks create many tactical moments.

The most damaging mistake in our data happens in the Averbakh. After 5.Bg5 O-O 6.Be2 c5 7.d5 Qa5 8.Qd2 b5, White plays 9.Bh6?, and 9...b4 drives the knight from c3, after which 10.Nd1 Nxe4 wins the central pawn and attacks the queen.

White's e5 push is another source of mistakes. After 5.Be2 O-O 6.Bg5 Nbd7, the advance 7.e5? looks strong, but after 7...dxe5 8.dxe5 Nxe5 White has simply lost the pawn. In the Sämisch, after 5.Bg5 O-O 6.f3 c5, developing with 7.Bd3? allows 7...cxd4, and the pawn on d4 attacks the knight on c3.

Black's own typical mistake comes after a d5 push. In lines with ...Nc6, for example 1.Nf3 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.c4 d6 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.e3 Nf6 6.Be2 O-O 7.O-O Nd7 8.d5, Black plays 8...e5? and loses the knight to 9.dxc6. In the Fianchetto, after 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 O-O 5.O-O d6 6.c4 Nc6 7.Nc3 e5, White's 8.Bf4? simply hangs the bishop to 8...exf4.

The King's Indian Defense study explains the main lines and the typical plans on both wings. The puzzles below come from these exact positions, for both colours.