[Event "ICC 25 4"]
[White "henriksh"]
[Black "N.N."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "1513"]
[BlackElo "1629"]

My first idea was 9. .. b5 seems a little overambitious and 10. a4 may help to overextend blacks-pawnstructure early on in the game.

Then 11. .. Nd7 was clearly an error as you noticed by playing 12. Nxe6 fxe6 13. Qg4 sadly you go for the wrong side. As mentioned before the b5 was premature in my opinion and 13. Qb3 would have given you a sure extra pawn because of threat to b5 and e6 and black can't save 'em both

Then black enters the weak pawn-exchange on the queen side where the zwischenzug exf4 Bxf4 and then a6 would have sufficed to hold blacks position.

Then until move 26 a good game from you with some minor inaccuracies. On move 26 you missed 26. Bb5 Qf3 27. Qg4 Qxg4 28. hxg4 Nxg3 29. Bxc6 Nxe4 with clear advantage for you and the possible continuation Ne7+ On move 27 the same chances applies Bb5 with the same theme but without the Ne7+ continuation

The last chance to win was probably as you said 45. Kc4 but even then only when played correctly.

Interesting to me is that black didn't try 47. .. Ke3 which should lead to a win-position for black. 48. Kc3 Nxa4 49. Kb3 Nb6 50. Kc3 Kf4 51. Be6 Kxf4

An unanswerable question. As in all openings there are many good methods and it depends on your preferences and perhaps partly on the systems you play with black against 1.e4, 1.d4 and 1.c4.

Personally I like to steer the game in the direction of the 1.e4 c5 and 1.c4 c5 systems like this: J Rodriguez vs Taimanov, 1967

Here is my first "King's Indian Attack" game: http://www.playchess.de/games/HCL-B...

I created a special collection dedicated to KIA: Game Collection: KING'S INDIAN ATTACK

I made use of the wonderful Opening Explorer which IMHO gives very correct answers to the KIA.

Typical position reached: Opening Explorer

1. g3 d5 2. f3 f6 3. g2 c6 4. O-O g4 5. d3 bd7 6. bd2 e5 7. e4

click for larger view

Black to play

What would you suggest as a response to Bg4?

In KIA, the moves <g3> and <g2> are too early, which allows Black to answer <... d5>, then <... c6> and build a <strong pawn diagonal> in front of the fianchettoed Bishop.

1.Nf3 and 2.g3 is a good choice and can lead to all kinds of positions, but if you want to know if it suits you, just play over quickly some games (50 or so) and see if you like them. I suggest you take out the repertoire explorer and look at the games of Barcza, Smyslov, Romanishin or Vaganian to name a few.

<1.Nf3 and 2.g3 is a good choice and can lead to all kinds of positions> Many players (both here and of course certain GMs) have said the same thing. I'm curious to know why you think that is (and what the benefit of "all kinds of positions" is). However, that's probably a theoretical discussion best left for later.

<but if you want to know if it suits you, just play over quickly some games (50 or so) and see if you like them> I don't think I've ever heard this advice for sampling an opening before. I'm also curious as to your definition of 'like.' For instance, I 'like most of Petrosian's games, but I don't really understand many of them :)

<I suggest you take out the repertoire explorer and look at the games of Barcza, Smyslov, Romanishin or Vaganian to name a few.> This sounds like instantly good advice. I'm becoming a devout follower of Smyslov's style and approach to play, and Vaganian is just too cool for school. Don't know much about Barcza or Romanishin, though.

I meant that the position of the central pawns isn’t determined immediately. After 1.Nf3, 2.g3, 3.Bg2, 4.0-0 you can still choose between set-ups with i) d4, c4 and Nc3 ii) e4, d3, c3 and Nbd2, iii) c4, d3, Nc3 and e3 or even e4, iiii) c4, e3, b3 and Bb2 and possibly a few others. Which one you select will depend on your preference, your mood and on the opponent’s build-up.

<<but if you want to know if it suits you, just play over quickly some games (50 or so) and see if you like them> I don't think I've ever heard this advice for sampling an opening before.>

I don’t know any other way. If you want to know how to play a certain opening you’ll have to see how the game might develop, looking at various characteristics, such as which squares often become strong or weak, which side attacks where frequently, and so on.

<< I'm also curious as to your definition of 'like.' For instance, I 'like most of Petrosian's games, but I don't really understand many of them :)>

I’m sorry, I have no other word. Some positions “feel good” and others don’t, even if the theoreticians give a different verdict. Petrosian is actually a good example. His games give me the impression that he didn’t care much about openings or middlegame theories and that he had his own highly individual ideas. That's why we often understand little of his moves at first glance.

<<I suggest you take out the repertoire explorer and look at the games of Barcza, Smyslov, Romanishin or Vaganian to name a few.> This sounds like instantly good advice. I'm becoming a devout follower of Smyslov's style and approach to play, and Vaganian is just too cool for school. Don't know much about Barcza or Romanishin, though.>

There is the Barcza System, right? Which is something that starts like this. I don't know precisely what it is, but if he got his name on it he must be good to look at.

In conclusion, I am not so much worried with the King's Indian Attack... Only an exceptionally brilliant player like Bobby Fischer or Garri Kasparov can afford to play this opening with reasonable winning chances...>

I'm not a brilliant player. However, I do enjoy playing the KIA.

I don't really feel that your 'example' opening is long enough to demonstrate the scope of KIA developement. There is tension just below the surface of this attack.

So...watch out for the Loch Ness monster.

I had a question regarding middlegame development though.

After you have your KIA set up...what is the best way for white to identify which side he should develop? What should I be looking for to advance on the Kingside? What about the Queenside? Any advice and sample PGNs would be very very appreciated.

Black is refusing to play into a pure reversed KID by not playing ...c5. His move...Nc6 of course has the primitive threat of ...Nb4, which White can handle easily enough.

4...Nc6!? also avoids the standard kind of Lasker setup against the KIA or Reti, which would be 4...c6 (the "London System" is Black's anti-Reti reversed, actually)

So, the road to fighting for an advantage may be to ask, what is wrong with Black blocking his c pawn? What kind of situation will make the Nc6 sort of useless, or make Black need to push his c-pawn but not be able to push it?