In STARTING OUT: THE KING’S INDIAN, Joe Gallagher does something different, albeit with the standard “Starting Out” format. He strongly emphasizes the Black side of the King’s Indian Defense, and consequently this is very close to a repertoire book.

STARTING OUT: THE KING’S INDIAN has more theoretical ideas and thoughts than books in the rest of this series. Gallagher, an experienced writer like the others, does his usual excellent job and seems more concerned with detail than his compatriots. Before you purchase it, however, you should realize that this is a book for King’s Indian players much more than for their opponents.

For an example of a contrasting philosophy, Gallagher’s other book from this series, STARTING OUT: the CARO-KANN (click HERE to see Silman’s review of that book), is balanced in its judgments and relative excitement about each player’s prospects. There may be a bit too much emphasis (18 pages) on the fashionable 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nc3 variation, but that’s a tendency (“trap”?) that we’ve seen before with opening books.

All in all, STARTING OUT: THE KING’S INDIAN is well organized and quite useful for players wanting to understand the King’s Indian. To see Silman’s review of this book, click HERE.

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