The King’s Indian is a hypermodern opening, where Black deliberately allows White control of the center with his pawns, with the view to subsequently challenge it with the moves …e5 or …c5.
Until the mid-1930s, it was generally regarded as highly suspect, but the analysis and play of three strong Soviet players in particular—Alexander Konstantinopolsky, Isaac Boleslavsky, and David Bronstein—helped to make the defence much more respected and popular.
It is a dynamic opening, exceptionally complex, and a favourite of former world champions Garry Kasparov, Bobby Fischer, and Mikhail Tal, with prominent grandmasters Viktor Korchnoi, Miguel Najdorf, Efim Geller, John Nunn, Svetozar Gligorić, Wolfgang Uhlmann, and Ilya Smirin having also contributed much to the theory and practice of this opening.
In the early 2000s the opening’s popularity suffered after Vladimir Kramnik scored excellent results against it, so much so that even Kasparov gave up the opening after relentless losses to Kramnik. However, Kramnik himself won a fine game on the black side of the KID in 2012, and current top players Hikaru Nakamura, Teimour Radjabov, and Ding Liren all play the opening.
The King’s Indian Defence is a common chess opening. It arises after the moves:
1. d4 Nf6
2. c4 g6
Black intends to follow up with 3…Bg7 and 4…d6 (the Grünfeld Defence arises when Black plays 3…d5 instead, and is considered a separate opening). White’s major third move options are 3.Nc3, 3.Nf3 or 3.g3, with both the King’s Indian and Grünfeld playable against these moves. The Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings classifies the King’s Indian Defence under the codes E60 through E99.
In the most critical lines of the King’s Indian, White erects an imposing pawn centre with Nc3 followed by e4. Black stakes out his own claim to the centre with the Benoni-style …c5, or …e5. If White resolves the central pawn tension with d5, then Black follows with either …b5 and queenside play, or …f5 and an eventual kingside attack. Meanwhile, White attempts to expand on the opposite wing. The resulting unbalanced positions offer scope for both sides to play for a win.
