Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...Nf6/2. c4/2...g6

King's Indian Defence
a b c d e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h
Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN) rnbqkb1r/pppppp1p/5np1/8/2PP4/8/PP2PPPP/RNBQKBNR w
Moves: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6
ECO code: E60-E99
Parent: Indian Defence

King's Indian Defence

2...g6

With 2...g6, Black commits to a hypermodern development strategy. They will fianchetto their dark-squared bishop with ...Bg7 and attempt to exert pressure on White's center with pieces and timely pawn breaks. After 2...g6 certain themes are already evident. Preservation of the dark-square bishop will be vital for Black's safety after castling kingside. 2...g6 weakens the dark squares around Black's king; without the dark-square bishop to control squares like f6 and h6, these weaknesses can be fatal. The g7 bishop is not purely a defensive piece, however. White must be aware that opening the center by pawn exchanges may very well unleash the bishop's power by giving it a clear diagonal towards White's queenside.

2...g6 will almost certainly lead to either a King's Indian Defence or a Grunfeld Defence.

In the King's Indian Defence, Black castles kingside as quickly as possible with a fianchettoed structure, in doing so it will allow White to have pawn presence in the centre. Black will then do their best to claim as much as they can back with their own pawns, often chipping away at the residual White presence. A strategist's playground.

While in the Grunfeld, Black uses 2...g6 to wait for Nc3 by White where he will follow with ...d5. Black's play will be the dark diagonal, usually with the help of the move ...c5, while White's advantage will be his broad centre - Hypermodernism exemplified.

Theory table

For explanation of theory tables, see theory table and for notation, see algebraic notation..

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6

	3	4	5	6	7
	Nc3 Bg7	e4 d6	Nf3 O-O	Be2 e5	O-O Nc6	∞
Grunfeld Defence	... d5	cxd5 Nxd5	e4 Nxc3	bxc3 Bg7		=
	Nf3 Bg7	g3 O-O	Bg2 d6	O-O Nc6	Nc3 a6	∞
	g3 Bg7	Bg2 O-O	Nc3 d6	Nf3 ...	... ...	∞
	f3 Bg7	e4 d6	Nc3 O-O	Be3 Nc6	Nge2 a6	∞
	... e5	dxe5 Nh5				∞

References

• Nunn's Chess Openings. 1999. John Nunn (Editor), Graham Burgess, John Emms, Joe Gallagher. ISBN 1-8574-4221-0.

• Kasparov, Garry, & Keene, Raymond 1989 Batsford chess openings 2. ISBN 0-8050-3409-9.