Openings · A07–A08

King's Indian Attack

A setup rather than an opening: Nf3, g3, Bg2, O-O, d3, Nbd2 and e4 — the King's Indian reversed, with a move in hand.

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3played as White

Play it through on the board below.

Practise the line

You play White; the other side answers on its own. Nothing here is saved or graded.

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Your move 1 of 20/2
  1. 1.Nf3d5
  2. 2.g3

Your move. Drag a piece, or tap it and then its square.

The idea

The moves are the same against almost anything, which is the whole appeal: no theory, one plan, and a middlegame you have played before. That plan is e4, then e5, the knight from b1 to d2 to f1 to g3 or e3, h4 behind it, and an attack on the king.

The catch is that Black chooses the structure. Against …e6 and …c5 the attack has something to hit; against a fianchetto and an early …dxe4 it does not, and playing the same eight moves anyway is how the King's Indian Attack gets its reputation for dullness.

Common mistakes

Three that come up again and again below master level: named traps and the errors every coach corrects.

Attacking with a pawn and one knight

After 9…b5
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
  7. 7.
  8. 8.
  9. 9.
The mistake
Pushing e5 and then playing on the kingside before the pieces that attack have arrived.
Why it costs
Black's queenside play — …b5, …a5, …c4 — is fast and it is aimed at a real target. The pawn on e5 gains space but attacks nothing on its own, and until the knight has reached g3 or e3 and the h-pawn is moving, there is no attack for it to be part of.
Instead
Nf1 and h4 first, and meet …c4 down the d-file. The KIA's attack is slow by nature, so it cannot also start late.

Playing it against a mirror

After 8…e5
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
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  8. 8.
The mistake
Playing the whole setup against a Black king's-fianchetto, which is the same setup facing the other way.
Why it costs
There is no target: Black's kingside is exactly as solid as White's, and …e5 takes away the advance the plan is built on for good. What is left is a symmetrical position with White a tempo up and no way to use it — an extra move is not an attack.
Instead
Choose a different structure when Black fianchettoes — c4 and d4, a real centre. The KIA earns its tempo against …e6 formations.

Waiting for the fianchettoed bishop to do something

After 8…Nd7
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
  7. 7.
  8. 8.
The mistake
Expecting the bishop on g2 to be an attacking piece once the pawns are on e5 and d3.
Why it costs
The pawn chain sits on its diagonal, and it is White's own. That bishop is a defender in this structure — it holds the light squares round the king and supports the centre — and the attack has to be carried by the knights, the queen and the h-pawn.
Instead
The knight to g3 or e3, the queen to e2, then h4–h5. If the bishop is wanted for the attack as well, the diagonal has to be opened first by a trade on d5 — it does not open itself.

What the engine says

After 1.Nf3 d5 2.g3, these are Black's six best moves according to Stockfish, with the bar showing Black's chance of winning. The whole list sits within 2 percentage points of win chance: none of them is a mistake, and the choice is about the positions you want to play.

  1. g6+0.2
  2. c6+0.2
  3. c5+0.2
  4. Nf6+0.3
  5. e6+0.3
  6. Bf5+0.3

The engine's main line from g6: g6 Bg2 Bg7 d4 Nf6 c4 c6 O-O.

Stockfish 18, depth 24. Scores are in pawns from White's side. Another engine or depth will move individual numbers a little; the picture does not change. How we check.

Where it fits

The King's Indian Attack is a variation of the Réti Opening, whose page covers the ideas this one takes for granted.

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