Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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

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.

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.

This book is good, like other reviewers said. They didn't write very long reviews though. Maybe they were encouraged to give five stars...

I must add that the problem with the book is that you basically have to play Gallagher's variations, which is what he explains. If you are fine with playing for example the side variations called "Gallagher's variation" against the fianchetto variation (..nbd7, ..a6), then fine. But I think most players would actually like to learn the main variations too. In particular if you buy this book to use for white (which was my purpose). The book by Golubev is much better in this regard ("Understanding the King's Indian").

Gallagher is very much speaking for black's side. Sometimes you get the impression white is the one who has to equalize... For example, on the exchange variation (dxe dxe, Qxd8 Rxd8) he writes "most of the players who play this variation are playing 'scared chess' and are just looking to draw the game. Make them work for this draw". Golubev on the other hand writes: "The exchage variation allows white to get positions with almost no risk of losing, which is not always pleasant for King's Indian players [..] Therefore, the Exchange variation is, first of all, a psychological weapon, and a rather strong one at that."

One can give several more examples from every chapter...
On the Petrosian system (d5), Gallagher writes that black "renders the Petrosian system harmless with 7...Na6 since he has a relatively easy way to equalize against 8.Bg5" and calls the alternative 8.Nd2 an "ugly move" and goes on saying that 8..h5!? is the response he likes the most to that, quoting two lines where black got an edge..
On this line, Golubev is again more balanced. He gives 8.Nd2! and exclamation mark. He then thinks 8...Bh6 is best, because "Black has tried various other options, including the interesting ..h5, but in most games played at a serious level White obtained some advantage".

Golubev has a lot stronger opponents among his games, including Dreev, Ivanchuk, Gufeld, Onishchuk, Suba, Van Wely, and many other well-known GMs. He won 25, drew 15 and lost 16, as stated in the foreword. Then I counted games from Gallagher's book, and out of 10 random Gallagher games black won 8 and drew 2...

Another problem is that the type face and printing is more difficult to read compared to most other chess books. Even compared to other Everyman Chess books.

These things together lower the score to a 4. To balance out the other reviewers, I will give it a 3... Since my review is longer than all of theirs together.

I really enjoyed this book. I have over a dozen books on the KID but this one tops them all. Joe is informative to such an extent. All chess books should be written like this. Massive amounts of data!!!!!!

I simply loved this book. I think the author's enthusiasm and love for the opening comes through loud and clear. A must for the true KING'S INDIAN fanatic.

Play The King's Indian: A Complete Repertoire For Black In This Most Dynamic Of Openings by Joe Gallagher (English Grandmaster and winner of the 2001 British Championship) is the latest in a long list of first-rate Everyman Chess titles devoted to meticulous instruction, strategy, and tactics concerning specific chess techniques. Written by a King's Indian expert, Play The King's Indian carefully dissects the advantages, disadvantages, and theory concerning this popular opening move for Black and how White can defend against it. Diagrams and a wealth of sample games pepper this guide as vivid illustrations to its key points. A superb manual for intermediate to advanced chess players, sure to offer insight and improvements to one's gameplay.

Gallagher has written a really good book. The lines he offers are quite good and he explains a lot of what is going on, the book is not all about lists of moves.

i just dont get it: why is this book made by everyman instead of gambit?

not much to say except this book is excellent written by someone with tons of experience and knowledge about the opening.

I would highly reccomend this book for its theoretical content and explanations.