@tpr Thanks for that comment! I learned something.
In order to be a good KIA player you must be a good player in general and have good positional/tactical understanding. Probably even slightly more so than if you would play a normal opening for example the Queens gambit declined or Sicilian or any other "standard" opening where you get a pretty set in stone number of general plans (also very big of course but in a broad sense very narrow).
White basically with the KIA says. I dont need an opening advantage to outplay you. Ill do that as the game goes on.
Black of course can play billions of setups against the KIA and that is why white needs to be superior in positional/tactical/strategical understanding of the game or else black will just equalize and it will be a game. As it will be anyway but without an opening advantage for white.
To be frank to my students and for myself I like to play mainish lines/to more popular stuff. Only once you have mastered at least the basics of these should you play a bit differently. Though some people have the opposite opinion as I do and its perfectly reasonable as well. For me I like to press my one move advantage as white and make black prove equality instead of giving it up at least whenever possible/reasonable.
With that being said the KIA is a very reasonable opening to just start playing. You get a game of chess but with easier equality or equalizing chances for black.
Lastly ill mention I play a wide range of things on move 1. Ill play e4 d4 c4 Nf3 and whatever else is reasonable. Though I do have my favorites and I do have specific stuff I always prefer to play. And Ill even play the KIA just to not get bored and maybe learn a thing or two that can maybe transfer to other openings I play. When I mention openings I dont generally mean the first 5 moves. I am talking about the resulting middlegames that come from these. And the plans/tactics/ideas commonly connected to them.
White basically with the KIA says. I dont need an opening advantage to outplay you. Ill do that as the game goes on.
Black of course can play billions of setups against the KIA and that is why white needs to be superior in positional/tactical/strategical understanding of the game or else black will just equalize and it will be a game. As it will be anyway but without an opening advantage for white.
To be frank to my students and for myself I like to play mainish lines/to more popular stuff. Only once you have mastered at least the basics of these should you play a bit differently. Though some people have the opposite opinion as I do and its perfectly reasonable as well. For me I like to press my one move advantage as white and make black prove equality instead of giving it up at least whenever possible/reasonable.
With that being said the KIA is a very reasonable opening to just start playing. You get a game of chess but with easier equality or equalizing chances for black.
Lastly ill mention I play a wide range of things on move 1. Ill play e4 d4 c4 Nf3 and whatever else is reasonable. Though I do have my favorites and I do have specific stuff I always prefer to play. And Ill even play the KIA just to not get bored and maybe learn a thing or two that can maybe transfer to other openings I play. When I mention openings I dont generally mean the first 5 moves. I am talking about the resulting middlegames that come from these. And the plans/tactics/ideas commonly connected to them.
@chessanalyst Well, I don't think white is giving up his opening advantage playing KIA. In my case, I spent a lot of time toying with different openings, now I'm focusing on have a better repertoire, with less openings to try to know them more.
@GuerrillaChess You would be wrong.
lmao Julian str8 savage
Yeh zero book means = if you are white. Unless you play crap for example: a3 h3 then follow it up with Ra2 then it means -/+.
You are hoping for zero technical advantage playing the KIA. Since black has more than millions of possibilities to equalize.
You are hoping for zero technical advantage playing the KIA. Since black has more than millions of possibilities to equalize.
Ruy Lopez (Berlin, Marshall) or Italian Giuoco Pianissimo also lead to zero technical advantage for white. If you play the King's Indian Defence with black, then it makes your life easier to play the King's Indian Attack with white.
@tpr
yeh the Marshall is a draw but its a proven equality where black has to still prove it theoretically. You cant just simply play the Marshall and its a draw there is no magical three fold white must fall into.
The window of margin to equalize is much narrower in the Italian and Ruy that it makes little sense to compare them to the KIA. In the KIA as black I can play about 5-6 legitimate moves and be equal.
Its not clear if you make one non book move in any position of the Marshall/ any other variation of the Ruy for example that you will be equal with black.
Narrow window there, and even narrower in sharper stuff like the Najdorf or Gruenfeld where literally for black to equalize he has to lift 400 kg weights and jump through 50 meter high hoops. Your not pressing your white advantage playing the KIA and trying to prove a white advantage. Your proving you can not be worse in the first 5 moves with the KIA and its a perfectly legitimate argument as well you better be good at arguing your case though (with good results as white against similar/stronger opposition compared to theory openings.)
I feel not many people put in the time it takes to learn a bit of theory because they are afraid their opponent is more booked up than they are. Truth is you may be more booked up than them if you just put in the hours.
The KIA is better than passing the move every time to your opponent. But not as good objectively as playing theory. There is no struggle for black to get a game.
The KIA as well sharp theoretical openings are good for must win games. But for an overall repertoire opening makes less sense unless it particularly fits you for some reason. Like MVL he plays the Najdorf with black nearly exclusively. I have only on rare occasion seen him change. And generally for a lot of players Karjakin specifically as seen in his match with Carlsen. The Najdorf only appeared when it was critical. It wasnt a main choice. However for someone like MVL I expect to see Najdorf played in match games.
KIA gives winning chances unlike some openings that just are equal. Lines of the exchange slav, certain marshall lines, and a few other openings I could go on and on about for hours.
For me with black specifically I have my main go to repertoire and my sharp/must win/imbalanced game repertoire against both e4 and d4. I also have my third wheel in both e4 and d4 that gives me options if I know what my opponent is going to do against my other two. Actually I probably employ my third wheel openings more than I do my imbalance/must win openings. Your third choice can be ether solid or sharp depending on what you like.
But I am still currently attempting to master a couple of these. Though I have at least decided what they are.
With white I play a little bit of everything depending on what my opponent will do. But I mostly stick to d4. I have certain lines in openings I like that I will almost play exclusively and in must win situations Ill mix things up.
yeh the Marshall is a draw but its a proven equality where black has to still prove it theoretically. You cant just simply play the Marshall and its a draw there is no magical three fold white must fall into.
The window of margin to equalize is much narrower in the Italian and Ruy that it makes little sense to compare them to the KIA. In the KIA as black I can play about 5-6 legitimate moves and be equal.
Its not clear if you make one non book move in any position of the Marshall/ any other variation of the Ruy for example that you will be equal with black.
Narrow window there, and even narrower in sharper stuff like the Najdorf or Gruenfeld where literally for black to equalize he has to lift 400 kg weights and jump through 50 meter high hoops. Your not pressing your white advantage playing the KIA and trying to prove a white advantage. Your proving you can not be worse in the first 5 moves with the KIA and its a perfectly legitimate argument as well you better be good at arguing your case though (with good results as white against similar/stronger opposition compared to theory openings.)
I feel not many people put in the time it takes to learn a bit of theory because they are afraid their opponent is more booked up than they are. Truth is you may be more booked up than them if you just put in the hours.
The KIA is better than passing the move every time to your opponent. But not as good objectively as playing theory. There is no struggle for black to get a game.
The KIA as well sharp theoretical openings are good for must win games. But for an overall repertoire opening makes less sense unless it particularly fits you for some reason. Like MVL he plays the Najdorf with black nearly exclusively. I have only on rare occasion seen him change. And generally for a lot of players Karjakin specifically as seen in his match with Carlsen. The Najdorf only appeared when it was critical. It wasnt a main choice. However for someone like MVL I expect to see Najdorf played in match games.
KIA gives winning chances unlike some openings that just are equal. Lines of the exchange slav, certain marshall lines, and a few other openings I could go on and on about for hours.
For me with black specifically I have my main go to repertoire and my sharp/must win/imbalanced game repertoire against both e4 and d4. I also have my third wheel in both e4 and d4 that gives me options if I know what my opponent is going to do against my other two. Actually I probably employ my third wheel openings more than I do my imbalance/must win openings. Your third choice can be ether solid or sharp depending on what you like.
But I am still currently attempting to master a couple of these. Though I have at least decided what they are.
With white I play a little bit of everything depending on what my opponent will do. But I mostly stick to d4. I have certain lines in openings I like that I will almost play exclusively and in must win situations Ill mix things up.
This topic has been archived and can no longer be replied to.