fredthebear: Yet another King's Indian Attack mislabel.
The games on this site with a fianchetto are often mislabeled with the wrong opening name going back years. The Liren vs Caruana game is an English-Reti double fianchetto, not a KIA double fianchetto.
For clarification, either opening can be played with one or two bishop fianchettoes, depending upon choice of variation. This adds to the confusion. Let us realize that b3/Bb2 and g3/Bg2 is not what makes the difference. It's the play on the files BETWEEN the fianchettoes that determines the proper opening name.
If the pawn is advanced to c4 before the e-pawn moves, it's an English-Reti. That's a cold, hard fact not up for debate!
Yes, <ajile> the KIA plays d3 for the purpose of Nbd2, connecting the knights. Additionally, there are some "hybrid" KIAs that play Na3 instead, heading to Nc4. (In some KID games, Black will play Na6 heading to Nc5.) Sooner or later, the KIA advances to e4.
The problem with KIA mislabels is that those searching for similar fianchetto openings have to investigate every Tom, Dick, and Harry KIA game (like stars in the night sky) to sort and find what they're really after. Closed Sicilians often get caught up in this mess, as does the Vienna Opening, Glek Four Knights, etc. Or was that Bob, Mick, and Garry?
My advice is search for a particular fianchetto opening by the name of the PLAYER who often uses your preferred opening, and include a check of his/her KIA labels, which might not be KIA at all. Of course, Opening Explorer move-by-move should come in handy.
One size does not fit all, particularly when it comes to chess theory/labels.
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Philosophically, it's my belief that it is easy to bitch and moan, point the finger of blame, and run for president as a hater. Complainers, finger pointers, and false accusers should provide VIABLE alternative solutions for the better, not just pander to the cameras and claim they can do better w/out providing any evidence of such.
Thus, in a few days FTB will post various lines that demonstrate the differences of these fianchetto openings. I'll save the various lines in a word document and continue to provide for other mislabeled KIA games. I'll do my part to help clean up the misunderstanding.
Yes, there is a grey area of transpositions. (The other day I saw a Caro-Kann Advance transpose to a Colle c3 System, IMHO.)
Also, for the record, I LIKE the KIA opening. It's a safe "system" played by many of the greats. Regular folks can have success with it instead of trying to memorize 25 moves/branches of Informant. There are too many KIA mislabels on this site, but the opening itself is a good choice for most.
Perhaps try using the KIA as a back-up system for casual games at your local club if you like, hiding your memorized repertoire for rated games. (To be accurate, the KIA has acquired a bit of opening theory itself, but its not as sharp and testy as most others.)
More to come (but don't expect an Informant rehash). Whatever you play, take good care of your center! Generally, if your center holds up and ALL your minor pieces are developed to active squares, you'll get a fair game or better.
Kibitzing
