Finding that illusive combination of explanation, analysis, and opening coverage that is understandable and useful for the average player is often elusive, but this book provides an excellent solution for would-be King’s Indian players. This book provides a welcome update of King’s Indian material covered in, for example, the earlier classic from this genre.

Joe Gallagher is an experienced King’s Indian author and practitioner. A former British Champion, Gallagher has made a living on the European tournament circuit, and he is known for his fierce play and knowledge and practice of the King’s Indian Defense. He is also the author of two excellent books on this defense, BEATING THE ANTI-KING’S INDIANS (Batsford, 1996) and THE COMPLETE SAMISCH (Batsford 1995). Both of these books deserve a place in the library of any serious King’s Indian player. The same can be said for his latest book.

The book starts with a three page introduction the covers the type of play encountered in the defense (in a section entitled “Is the King’s Indian the opening for me?”), the defense’s history and popularity, and the objective and layout of the book. This section is well done; often introductions come off as nothing but afterthoughts, but the page spent describing the objective and layout is time and space well spent.

The author notes, at the start, that this book is not aimed at the expert player who has already played the King’s Indian for many years. The book is geared toward inexperienced players or slightly more experienced players who wish to take up the defense for the first time. To make the book useful, long theoretical variations have been kept to a minimum, and explanation of key plans for both sides has been stressed.

There are a variety of features that are meant to make the material more accessible for the target audience. The author highlights concepts by use of notes, tips and warnings. The tips and warnings are flagged in the margins so that players can readily find them. Each section also has a paragraph titled “Theoretical?” and another called “Statistics.” These discuss the amount of theory a player will have to learn to handle the specific variation, and the statistics show, in a large database of games by strong players, how that particular line has fared in practice.

In general, I think the book delivers on its premise. In fact, it is probably useful for a somewhat wider audience than the author indicates. As one who has played the King’s Indian throughout most of my chess career, I believe the book will be useful to most players through class A level; it is a good starting point for players of any level wishing to take up the defense. Even experienced players familiar with the defense will find much useful new material to update their present King’s Indian references.

The book is split into 10 chapters, and the author seeks to spend the bulk of his time on the more popular variations. As a result, the Classical (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2) receives the most coverage – four chapters and 66 pages. These chapters are a stern test for the author, because these lines have been heavily played and analyzed for over 50 years, and the theory often stretches well past move 20.

The first chapter of the Classical four starts with the basic ideas – black pressures d4, which white can no longer protect with pawns. Thus, black’s key move, 6…e5, gets the bulk of the discussion. It is notable that the author also deals with the newly popular 6…Na6, but he does not spend any time on 6…Bg4. The latter move is playable and will be encountered by white players from time to time. The author is more than willing to offer his opinions on what a King’s Indian player should and shouldn’t do – in this case he writes that “[6…Bg4] is not really in the style of the King’s Indian. A real King’s Indian player will preciously guard his light-squared bishop until he can sacrifice it on h3.” It’s remarks like this, which are liberally sprinkled throughout the book, that give the book much of its value – a player gets a real feel for how a “real” King’s Indian player approaches piece placement and move choices in the defense.

The key lines in the chapter, dealing with lines where white closes the center with 7.d5 (Petrosian system) or exchanges and trades queens (7.dxe5 dxe5 8.Qxd8 Rxd8 9.Bg5) are not particularly fearsome to a prepared player. However, I have known several black players who feared the early exchanges inherent in 7.dxe5. Gallagher rightly shows that with just a little bit of knowledge black can play the line with a goal toward obtaining the better position – white is often struggling for equality after logical black play.

The second chapter deals with black alternatives to 6…e5. The key lines here are 6…Na6 and 6…exd4. Both have their advantages, from a preparation standpoint. For one, they avoid the reams of theory that arise after 6…Nc6 7.d5 Ne7. On the other hand, many of the mainline positions are a lot of fun to play for black, who often gets the opportunity to engage in hand-to-hand combat where black attacks on the kingside while white rushes to score first on the queenside. The play in this chapter tends to be more strategic, especially after 6…Na6; it is my impression that less experienced players often flounder in these positions, because black’s ideas are harder to grasp and replicate in practice. That said, there are some interesting lines here. I’ve played the variation after 6…exd4 over the years, and Gallagher updates some standard theory – an example of how this book can be useful for even regular practitioners of this defense.

The next two chapters, comprising 36 pages, deal with white’s primary choices on move eight in the main line – 9.Ne1 (the traditional main line), 9.Nd2, and 9.b4 (the current battleground at the highest levels). Within each of these moves there are several important variations, and it can seem like quite a thicket to the uninitiated. The book’s strength is Gallagher’s ability to logically explain why moves are played when they are played, and how these long variations fit together into understandable strategies for both players. For example, why does white “undevelop” a piece with 9.Ne1? Why might 9.Nd2 be a refinement on 9.Ne1 in terms of the repositioning of the knight? Why might the older 9.b4, which starts white’s queenside play faster but allows black the more “active” placement of the knight to h5 rather than d7 or e8, turn out to be the better method for starting white’s play after all? These methods of explanation continue throughout the chapters, and they are what make the book so useful for many players.

At the same time, there are shortcuts that must be taken. Even at the outset on move 9, there are other white choices that have drawn the attention of white players that receive no mention. 9.Bg5 are the prominent examples. There are plenty of other interesting sidelines that also get little or no mention. Keeping in mind that Nunn and Burgess wrote 400 pages on the Classical variation alone, we have to understand that this is a limitation that the author cannot escape, regardless of how well he prunes his material.

The Samisch Variation (5.f3) further extends the strengths and limitations of the book. The author has already written a full-sized tome on the variation, and he plays the line with both colors, so you can expect a high-class discussion of the variation. Indeed, the author pinpoints the strong and weak points of the variation, and rightly points out that its popularity has slipped remarkably in the past 10-20 years. This is mostly due to the emergence of the pawn sacrifice after 5…0-0 6.Be3 c5. After its acceptance by 7.dxc5 dxc5 8.Qxd8 Rxd8 9.Bxc5 Nc6, white has been able to show no advantage in the lines after 10.Nd5 (the main line; others have faired no better) 10…Nd7!. The point is that white’s development lags (a common problem in the Samisch, where f3 robs the king knight of its natural post, makes another pawn move, and weakens the light squares) and black gets good pressure on the dark squares and free development. After either 10.Nxe7+?! Nxe7 12.Bxe7 Bxb2! 13.Rb1 Bc3+ 14.Kd1 Re8 or 10.Bxe7 Nxe7 12.Nxe7+ Kf8 13.Nd5 Bxb2 14.Rb1 Bg7, black’s game is easier to play; most white players have decided that accepting the pawn is not worth the bother. Unfortunately, white has shown no real advantage either after declining it with 7.Nge2 Nc6 8.d5 Ne5 9.Ng3 e6 10.Be2 cxd5 11.cxd5 a6 12.a4 Bd7 when black will get thematic counterplay with …b5.

While 6…c5 is theoretically very viable, some of the pawn accepted positions lead to an equality that can peter out into a draw if both sides know what they are doing. To the author’s credit, he provides plenty of analysis on two other viable approaches for black, the Panno Variation (6…Nc6) and the older main line with 6…e5. While both of these are viable, the old main line probably gives white good chances of an edge, both practically and theoretically. It is also notable that the chapter covers white’s main method for avoiding the 6…c5 pawn sacrifice lines, 6.Bg5 (and 6.Nge2). While these aren’t necessarily better than 6.Be3, they are different, and the author does a good job of explaining what is going on here as well.

As with the chapters on the Classical, several viable approaches, particularly for black, are not covered. For example, the Byrne variation, where black plays a quick …c6 and …a6 and prepares queenside counterplay with …b5, is a victim of space limitations. This was, at one time, one of the main lines of this variation, although it has admittedly been eclipsed by …c5 and …Nc6 variations. Bronstein’s variation with 6…b6 has had its moments, but since its primary rationale is to force through …c5, it is a bit pedestrian given that 6…c5 is viable without the preparatory pawn move.

The remaining chapters have much of the same pluses and minuses. The chapter on the Fianchetto variation (4.g3) is notable because the author is a noted proponent of the play after 4…0-0 5.Bg2 d6 6.0-0 Nbd7 7.Nc3 e5 8.e4 exd4 9.Nxd4 Re8 10.h3 a6 where black next plays …Rb8 and …c5 (the Gallagher variation). This is an interesting, double-edged line that suits many King’s Indian players. The Fianchetto variation is something of a bane for many doubled edged black players, because black generally cannot attack the kingside and must generally play in the center or on the queenside. Here the author suggests that the old lines, which started with 8…c6 9.h3 Qb6 are having problems after either the bold approach with 10.c5 or the more staid methods.

Gallagher does a good job updating lines such as this one and others. In general, one gets the benefit of the opening preparation of a committed King’s Indian player. That is invaluable, and it shows throughout the analysis.

In short, this is an excellent introduction to a fighting defense from one of its chief practitioners. There is very useful advice to be found and plenty of good analysis as well. Most players will find this a useful introduction to the modern handling of this defense from both sides.

Click to see reviews of this book by Silman and Watson.

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