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

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.

Practise the line

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

Your move 1 of 20/2

1.Nf3d5
2.g3

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

Common mistakes

Three that come up again and again below master level. Each is ordinary opening theory — a named trap, or the error every coach corrects — not a statistic, and not drawn from anybody's games.

Attacking with a pawn and one knight

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 c5 3.Bg2 Nc6 4.O-O e6 5.d3 Nf6 6.Nbd2 Be7 7.e4 O-O 8.e5 Nd7 9.Re1 b5

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

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 O-O 6.Nbd2 c5 7.e4 Nc6 8.Re1 e5

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

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 e6 4.O-O Be7 5.d3 O-O 6.Nbd2 c5 7.e4 Nc6 8.e5 Nd7

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.

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.

Try it on one of your own

The board above is for the line itself; this is for a game you played. Paste a game in this opening, or pull one from chess.com, and every move is graded against what the engine would have played. Open the board, read how the grading works, or go back to the other openings.