5 Best chess courses to learn King’s Indian Defense

Learning King’s Indian Defense is a long-term process. There are a lot of main openings and variations in king’s Indian from both sides which you should learn. Also, King’s Indian is a very sharp tactical opening. There is a lot of material available on King’s Indian defense from which you can learn. 

If you are a beginner player then video courses are the best way to learn King’s Indian Defense. There are multiple courses are available in the market but in this article, I will recommend you 5 best chess courses to learn king’s Indian defense. You can also hire a chess coach to learn KID but that option is not cost-efficient. 

From this list, purchase any one course and finish that course first then you can think to purchase another course. 

6 best chess courses to learn king’s Indian defense

Lifetime Repertoires: King’s Indian Defense by Gawain Jones

 

British Grandmaster Gawain Jones played King’s Indian Defense for almost his life. In this course, as the name suggests he is helping you to build a very strong, structured repertoire which will help your lifetime. 

This course is divided into 2 parts. The price of each part is $299 which is very high. I will recommend you this course if you are already a master-level player or want to learn and implement King’s Indian Defense in the actual chess tournament. But this course provides high value. If you are a beginner or intermediate player then you can check the below courses which are not that in-depth but pocket friendly and insightful.

Content in Part 1 

• The Classical Variation (5. Nf3) and its many subvariations:
• The critical Mar del Plata Variation (6…e5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d5 Ne7)
• Petrosian System (6…e5 7.d5)
• Gligoric System (6…e5 Be3)
• Samisch Variation (5. f3)
• Makogonov Variation (and other h3 systems)
• Sidelines and less common variations such as the Exchange Variation (7. dxe5)
• Model games
• 1000 Trainable Variations
• 33 hours of videos 

Content in Part 2

• Four Pawns Attack (4.e4 d6 5.f4)
• Smyslov Variation (4.Nf3 d6 5.Bg5)
• Averbakh Variation (4.e4 d6 5.Be2 O-O 6.Bg5)
• Seirawan Variation (4.e4 d6 5.Bd3)
• Fianchetto and Double Fianchetto setups
• 1700 Trainable Variations
• 37 hours of Videos

Cutting Edge KID: Introduction by Robin Van Kampen

Dutch Grandmaster Robin Van Kampen recorded this series for chess24. In this course, Robin gives you a comprehensive approach to King’s Indian Defense. This course will cost you $29 if you purchase individually but I recommend you to purchase chess24 membership which will give you a lot of benefits. Chess24 provides you with a high-quality video series and lessons to learn from chess legends. Here are a few of the best chess24 courses which you can watch and learn. They also provide 30-50% discounts on their membership. 

King’s Indian: A modern approach by Victor Bologan

Victor Bologan is a very strong Grandmaster from Moldova. He also crossed the 2700 FIDE rating in his peak time. I saw 4-5 courses of Victor and liked it so much. I also learned a lot of insights from this course offered by chessbase. In this course, he explained the modern approach to playing KID. 

This course is suitable for everyone but recommended from 0-2000 rated players. The cost of this product is $29 and if you purchase this from the Chessbase India shop then you will get it at 1200 INR. 

Tricky Repertoire against King’s Indian Defence

This is the first and only repertoire in this article recommended for white. Boris Avrukh who is a very strong Grandmaster and opening guru recorded this video in collaboration with Ask Avrukh and Modern Chess. This repertoire will cost you just $20 and sometimes less than 10 if they run any promotional offers.

You can use the NIKHIL40 coupon code to get a flat 40% off on any products in their store. 

Chess.com videos on King’s Indian Defense

There are a lot of high-quality chess videos available on chess.com. Here is the list of King’s Indian Defense videos from which you can learn different aspects. Although these videos will not help you build a complete repertoire but provide some insights and useful practical information. To watch videos, you need to have a Diamond Membership on chess.com.

• Learn From The Best: Stockfish’s King’s Indian
• Hikaru Nakamura Teaches The KID
• The King’s Indian Defense: Smashing The Saemisch
• The King’s Indian Defense: vs. The Four Pawns Attack – Part 2
• The King’s Indian Defense: vs. The Four Pawns Attack – Part 1

Major openings to learn in King’s Indian Defense

To learn King’s Indian Defense, you need to have a systematic plan. King’s Indian is not easy to prepare and requires a lot of preparation. Here are a few variations in KID on which you should focus first. 

• Classical Variation
• Mar De Plata Variation
• Samisch Variation
• Four Pawn attack
• Avarbakh Variation
• Fianchetto and Double Fianchetto

How to counter King’s Indian Defense?

This question needs a separate answer but I will explain in short. To counter KID, you need to know your style first. For example, Samisch Variation is very aggressive and suitable for tactical players. If you love to play positional chess then you should play a double fianchetto setup. 

After knowing your setup and deciding your variation, you can start preparing it. You can choose any book or watch video courses, youtube videos, etc. The last step before playing in the actual OTB tournament is to play some blitz and bullet games online or with your friends. 

Free videos to learn King’s Indian Defense

Introduction to the King’s Indian Defense

Teimour Radjabov teaches the King’s Indian Defence

FAQ’s

How do I learn the King’s Indian defense?

There are a lot of resources available in the market. The best way to learn KID is to buy any book or video course from the above list. Even you can watch King’s Indian Games played by Hikaru Nakamura, Taimur Radjabov, etc.

How do you master the King’s Indian?

You can master KID or any opening by practicing regularly, Playing new variations in that opening, Finding some new novelties, learning middlegame positions arriving from opening, following top-level games, etc.

Is King’s Indian Good for White?

As per the computer, Kings’s Indian is always good for white. But if you see from a human perspective then King’s Indian is not that bad. In some cases, black gets a passive position but white also needs accurate play. Usually, any opening is slightly better for white. Black always needs to play solid and should prepare well.

Is the Kings Indian good for beginners?

I would highly recommend you to prepare for King’s Indian Defense as a beginner. King’s Indian is so amazing opening. There will be always ups and downs in your game when you play King’s Indian. Because of this, you will learn a lot from it.

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