Play the King's Indian: A Complete Repertoire for Black in this most Dynamic of Openings [Paperback]

Joe Gallagher (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2004

The King's Indian has always been one of the sharpest, most complex, and popular openings that Black can play; it still provides the setting for many encounters at the elite level of Grandmaster chess. In this book, Grandmaster and King's Indian expert Joe Gallagher provides a Black repertoire in the King's Indian Defence against all of White's possible options.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The King's Indian has always been one of the sharpest, most complex and popular openings that Black can play; it still provides the setting for many encounters at the elite level of Grandmaster chess. Straight from the start, Black fights for the initiative and in many variations, while White pursues material gains, it is Black who has the psychological advantage of trying checkmate the opponent's king.
Despite its many advantages, some prospective King's Indian players are put off by the seemingly endless amount of theory one is supposed to learn. In Play the King's Indian, however, Grandmaster and life-long King's Indian devotee Joe Gallagher has produced a comprehensive and yet workable black repertoire against all of White's most dangerous possibilities.

*Written by a renowned King's Indian expert
*Includes up-to-date theory on a fascinating opening
*Covers all of White's replies

About the Author

2001 British Championship winner Joe Gallagher is an English Grandmaster who has been living in Switzerland for a number of years and is a regular member of the Swiss national team.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Everyman Chess; 1st edition (November 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1857443241
• ISBN-13: 978-1857443240
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #807,905 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars play the kings indian, June 7, 2006

By 

Johnathan (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Play the King's Indian: A Complete Repertoire for Black in this most Dynamic of Openings (Paperback)

I am writing this review fresh after slaughtering a cheeky 1.d4 player who attempted the Petrosian system against my WELL INFORMED Kings Indian. Indeed, I can still taste the victory; after sacrificing 2 pawns I gained a devastating initiative on the kingside. Here is a quote from the book (Main Line): "White will attempt to tear Black from limb to limb on the queenside while Black will endeavour to hang, draw, and quarter White on the kingside. Sometimes both sides succeed in their aim and then Black wins. That is the advantage of attacking the King". I just want to add to other reviewers by giving my thoughts on this book as compared to Gallaghers other fantastic book: "Starting Out: the Kings Indian". I was completely new to the Kings Indian prior to buying SOKID and it helped with some of the basic themes but, after buying PTKID shortly thereafter, I will not be going back to that other book. PTKID is just so much richer in ideas etc. So if you really are just starting out in the KID, but are somewhat strapped for cash, I would recommend you to get PTKID first, so long as you are not a beginning chess player. (Again, SOKID is a fantastic book. It explains the typical themes w/ diagrams, etc. very well). Happy hunting!
------- USCF 1420

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very well explained Kings Indian (I use it for white), April 28, 2009

By 

couldbeyou - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Play the King's Indian: A Complete Repertoire for Black in this most Dynamic of Openings (Paperback)

This book says its written for black and it is. I play only the white kings indian and this book is very useful. He doesn't just get you memorizing moves but tells you the plans and stratagies that you should know when making beginning moves. To simplify, white is trying to attack the queenside while black will be attacking the kingside often sacrificing the light colored bishop.

Everyman has always had good opening books but this one is written one step up in terms of plans and stratagies. He talks about the plans mainly as Black. How he defeated a player with the black pieces but he explains the reasons so clearly that I as white get loads of information from the book. Fun and interesting also.

18 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars comprehensive, April 5, 2005

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sleepless "sleepless" - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Play the King's Indian: A Complete Repertoire for Black in this most Dynamic of Openings (Paperback)

I like the level of detail and the easy on the eye setting out of the games. I found most of the games in my personal chess database and used the pgn files to easily cycle through the listed sidelines within the games. The openings of some of the games have been standardised.

In short, an excellent text.