Starting Out: King's Indian (Starting Out - Everyman Chess)

This was the first Opening book on a specific opening that I have ever read, and I am very happy both with the information in the book and the writing style of the author.If you are just "Starting Out" with the King's Indian I do believe that this book is a great way to begin. The explanatory prose is well written and holds your attention. There are enough variations for the reader to understand various positions, but not so many variations that the newer player would get lost in a sea of algebraic craziness!Much of the instruction comes from the annotated games peppered throughout each section. Gallagher does a great job of not just using games where black wins with the King's Indian. There are many losses and draws for the person playing the black pieces in this book.I know that some people complain about the Starting Out series and granted at this point I have only read this and the Colle installment of the series, but I think these are great books for a person wanting to explore a new opening. For what it is worth, it seems to me that people expect these books to automatically make them a master at whatever opening is being discussed. That is not the point of the books. They are meant to start a person out down the path of understanding that opening. The player then has to practice that opening, analyze games featuring that opening and eventually explore books that delve deeper into the opening in question. That is what I have done. After finishing this book I have spent the next 3 months practicing the King's Indian against Shredder and analyzing master games where black wins AND loses with the King's Indian. I have used Gallagher's book as a reference for my analysis.I highly recommend this book if you want to begin to understand and play the King's Indian!

This book was exactly what I was looking for to understand the KID and enjoy at the same time reading. The book is layed out where he explains the ideas of the variations to about move 12 and then stops to give you statistics and amount of theory and then gives about 2 or 3 games, and later in the chapter goes over some subvariations that can arise. Gallagher explains the ideas of the opening that I never understood in a simple manner. But this book isn't as simple and beginner-ish as it may sound. For instance, I have been playing chess fairly regularly for the past 4 years (but never really played the KID) and I have learned a great deal from this book! It is for players who look through MCO or NCO and don't get why Black (or White) makes this or that move and/or just don't understand the plan Black or White has in mind. The KID is complicated and easy to get lost in, and if you don't have some primer to understand each variation to a descent degree as this book gives you then moving on to more advanced KID books will be a waste of money and a headache. Anyone can get something out of this book, especially if they have a good working knowledge of chess like what you would find in Reaccess your Chess for example (great book too!!). So if don't like playing passive defence as black and like aggresive/counterattack play, then buy this book and learn the KID.

When taking up a new opening, always begin with the "Starting Out....) volume. In regard to the king' indian, once "Starting Out .." is mastered, move on to the Bologan tome, and finally the Smirin book. These latter two are for aspiring masters level players.

I found this introduction to the King's Indian to be excellent. I do not ordinarily play the King's Indian, so I can't compare really say if the variations were complete or not, but I feel much more comfortable with the general ideas of the KI now than I was before I read the book.I'm very rapidly becoming a fan of the starting out: series from everyman, and can't recommend them highly enough for someone who wants a very broad overview of an opening. Once you find what you like, you can get more specialized opening books. Drawbacks? The main one is the lack of a variation index. I'd place level of book to be in the 1200-1600 range, but really suitable for anyone who wants an overview of the main ideas behind the principle variations.

This book isn't for everyone. Even if it's just basics, you need to have grasped a lot of chess fundamentals, esp. with tactics and some strategy. Once you have some experience, then you can start studying this book.You may want to have a good focus on strategy fundamentals because most of its moves are with strategic purposes rather than tactical purposes, such as those in Sicilian Defense.I would say this is for ratings 1000 - 1800 or 1900. It's not bad at all. This is just who'll fit better in terms of learning.

The author gives exactly what you need to know to start playing the King's Indian.Starting with a brief introduction of if the King's Indian is for you then he goes line by line covering every mayor line (some sublines) of this defense.Of course if you want to get serious about this defense you will have to compliment this book with other sources.But and excellent book to get your fet weet and start playing the King's Indian.

I haven’t been able to read yet but appears to be a good chess book. Question whether it is ideally set up for beginners.

This is e-book on King's Indian Defense. It is useful to have if you like the said defense.

Very good intro to the KID , just the right amount of info [not pages of possible sidelines after every move], well written ,clear diagrams ,quick and easy to learn , highly recommnded to beginners and experienced players looking to start out in the KID.

It arrived as the expected time. The book was good. Every thing was fine. I was grateful to the seller and the amazon shop.