Reviews Starting Out: The King's Indian

Starting Out: The King's Indian, by GM Joe Gallagher  (Everyman Chess, 2002).

 

The King's Indian Defense is one of Black's most popular responses to 1. d4 both for amateurs and professionals.  Unfortunately, it can be a difficult opening to learn.  There are a large number of variations to cover, many of which have accumulated a huge amount of theory.  Worse, there are very few books devoted to providing the hopeful KID player with an initial overview.  Batsford's Mastering the King's Indian Defense used to serve this purpose, but it's out of print and difficult to find.  Fortunately, a new book has surfaced: GM Joe Gallagher’s Starting Out: The King's Indian.

The English Grandmaster GM Joe Gallagher is a well-known chess author whose works include The Magic of Mikhail Tal, The Trompowsky, The c3 Sicilian, The Complete Najdorf: Modern Lines, Beating the Anti-Sicilians, and others.  He is also the 2001 British Champion and one of the main contributors to Nunn's Chess Openings.  Personally, I can't remember ever reading a poor review of a Gallagher book, and I don't expect that to change with this one.

This book has the same production values as Starting Out: The Sicilian (which I reviewed a few weeks ago): it's slightly larger than most recent Everyman books, it lays open more easily than most books and with minimal stress on the binding, the pages are made from a heavier-than-usual-stock paper, the print quality of the text and diagrams is perfect, there is very little unnecessary blank space, the book has a slick, sturdy cover with an attractive computer graphic design (although unlike the pleasing blue of the Sicilian book, this one is bright orange -- not exactly to my taste . . . ), and it lists for $16.95 US.  It runs 176 pages and contains a bibliography, but no index of variations (which once again is my main gripe with Everyman's otherwise excellent chess books).

The three page introduction is divided into three sections of about one page each.  In "Is the King's Indian the opening for me?" Gallagher invites risk-taking, battling, counter-attacking players to take a look, while advising "careful, defensive" players to go elsewhere.  He also discusses a couple of the basic strategic themes of the opening, but informs us that more detailed accounts of strategy differ according to the variation.  This "History and popularity" section tells a bit about (you guessed it) the history of the opening and some of the players who have championed it (including, of course, Garry Kasparov).  He also points out the popularity of the KID at the club level, especially since a KID set-up can be used against most of White's flank openings (such as 1. c4 and 1. Nf3).  The "Objective and layout" section rounds out the introduction, basically giving the same sort of summary and overview of the book as I'm doing here, so 'nuff said.  Gallagher also mentions in this section that he has tried to write the book as objectively as possible, but that "there is an inevitable slight bias towards Black" since most players buying the book will likely intend to play the KID as Black, and since Gallagher himself is such a fan of the opening.  I'm not sure that this bias is "inevitable," but I suppose an honest admission of subjectivity is better than a dishonest claim of objectivity!

The chapters cover the following variations:

The Classical Variation

1: Alternatives to 7 0-0 (includes "Introduction;" "White Plays 7 dxe5;" "White Plays 7 d5: The Petrosian System;" "White Plays 7 Be3")
2: 7 0-0: Alternatives to 7…Nc6 (includes "The Modern 7...Na6;" "The Old 7...Nbd7;" "Black Exchanges with 7...exd4")
3: 7 0-0 Nc6: Main Line with 9 Ne1 (includes "Introduction;" "Main Lines with 10 Nd3;" "White Blocks the Kingside with g2-g4;" "White Plays 10 Be3")
4: 7 0-0 Nc6: Alternatives to 9 Ne1 (includes "The Bayonet 9 b4: Alternatives to 10 Re1;" "The Bayonet 9 b4: The Main Line 10 Re1;" "White Plays 9 Nd2")
Other Variations
5: The Samisch Variation (includes "Black Sacrifices a Pawn with 6...c5;" "The Panno: 6...Nc6;" "The Traditional 6...e5;" "White Plays 6 Bg5 (or 6 Nge2)")
6: The Fianchetto Variation (includes "The Classical 6...Nbd7 with 8...exd4;" "The Classical 6...Nbd7: Other Systems;" "The Panno Variation: 6...Nc6")
7: The Four Pawns Attack (includes 6...c5: The Main Line 7 d5 e6 8 Be2 exd5 9 cxd5;" "6...c5: Early Deviations;" "The Modern 6...Na6")
8: The Averbakh Variation (includes "Black Plays (for) ...c7-c5;" "Black Plays (for) ...e7-e5 (also 6...Na6)")
9: White Plays an Early h2-h3 (includes "White Plays 6 Bg5, Delaying Nf3;" "White Plays 6 Nf3")
10: Other Systems (includes "5 Bd3;" "5 Nge2;" "The Smyslov Variation")

I'm certainly not an expert on the KID, but after comparing the above lines to MCO and NCO, the theoretical coverage looks more than sufficient for a book with "Starting Out" in the title.  The format and content of the book are similar to Starting Out: The Sicilian. Each variation begins with a list of the moves leading up to the key position of the variation, followed by a few paragraphs briefly characterizing the variations. Especially important strategic concepts are clearly identified by a bolded heading such as "Isn't the knight badly placed on the edge?" or "Pros and cons of 10 Be3" or "What are the methods of combating such a centre?"  Other important ideas are clearly indicated by bold text and an icon in the margin: a clipboard icon to indicate important "Notes"; a skull and crossbones for "Warnings" of typical errors to avoid; a light bulb marking important "Tips". This is followed by a “Theoretical?” paragraph which indicates if the line can be played according to general principles or if it requires detailed theoretical knowledge (or somewhere in between); then a “Statistics” paragraph stating the average results in the line; then a couple of annotated games illustrating the important strategies, tactics, traps, transpositions, plans, and ideas in the line; finally, a brief “Summary” section characterizing all the lines in terms of their soundness, the type of games in which they result, the style of player best suited to them, etc.  A few exercises are scattered throughout the book, with solutions at the end of the book.

The level of discussion is exactly where it should be for a book of this sort.  Gallagher assumes that the reader has a good grasp of the fundamentals of chess, so this isn't a book for total novices.  For example, if you're not sure what "fianchetto" means or have no idea what the strategic significance of a backward pawn is, then you probably aren't ready for this book.  However, any minimally competent intermediate should be able to follow Gallagher's clear and detailed instruction.  For example, if you've read books like Jeremy Silman's How to Reassess Your Chess or The Amateur's Mind or even Irving Chernev's Logical Chess Move by Move, then you probably have the essentials necessary to profit from this book.

In conclusion, I’m just as happy with GM Gallagher's Starting Out: The King's Indian as I am with GM Emms' Starting Out: The Sicilian.  I can't wait to see more of Everyman's Starting Out titles.

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