Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...Nf6/2. c4/2...g6/3. Nc3/3...Bg7

King's Indian Defence
a b c d e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h
Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN) rnbqk2r/ppppppbp/5np1/8/2PP4/2N5/PP2PPPP/R1BQKBNR w
Moves: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7

King's Indian Defense

3...Bg7 is the King's Indian Defense, one of the most heavily analysed openings in chess. Black's idea is to concede the center to white and to then put pressure on it using the bishop on g7, often in conjunction with moves like c5 and Nc6. One of the common themes of the King's Indian Defense is for black to launch a king side attack, typically beginning with the move f5. In reply, White will often launch their own attack on the queen side where they often have a large space advantage.

The King's Indian Defense is a very dynamic opening which can be highly risky but can also give excellent counterplay for black. As such it is often employed by players who wish for a more tactical game than is normal in Queen's pawn openings. In the late 80s and early 90s, Garry Kasparov used it regularly to devastating effect and as a result, it became very popular with players at all levels. In recent years it has been less used at the top level although Teimour Radjabov's excellent results with it helped him to win the strong Corus tournament in 2007 and possibly signalled a comeback for the dangerous defense.

Theory table

For explanation of theory tables, see theory table and for notation, see algebraic notation..

'1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7'

	4	5	6	7
	e4 d6	f4 O-O	Nf3 c5	d5 e6	∞
	Nf3 d6	e4 d6	Nf3 O-O	Be2 e5	∞
	g3 O-O	Bg2 d6	Nf3 c6	O-O Qa5	∞

References

• Kasparov, Garry, & Keene, Raymond 1989 Batsford chess openings 2. ISBN 0-8050-3409-9.