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ReviewsStarting Out: The King's IndianReviewed by S. Evan Kreider 7/21/02 Starting Out: The King's Indian, by GM Joe Gallagher (Everyman Chess, 2002).
This book has the same production values as Starting Out: The Sicilian
(which I reviewed a few weeks ago):
it's slightly larger than most recent Everyman books, it lays open more
easily than most books and with minimal stress on the binding, the pages are
made from a heavier-than-usual-stock paper, the print quality of the text
and diagrams is perfect, there is very little unnecessary blank space, the
book has a slick, sturdy cover with an attractive computer graphic design
(although unlike the pleasing blue of the Sicilian book, this one is
bright orange -- not exactly to my taste . . . ), and it lists for $16.95 US. It runs 176 pages and contains a bibliography, but no index
of variations (which once again is my main gripe with Everyman's otherwise
excellent chess books). The chapters cover the following variations: I'm certainly not an expert on the KID, but after comparing the above lines to MCO and NCO, the theoretical coverage looks more than sufficient for a book with "Starting Out" in the title. The format and content of the book are similar to Starting Out: The Sicilian. Each variation begins with a list of the moves leading up to the key position of the variation, followed by a few paragraphs briefly characterizing the variations. Especially important strategic concepts are clearly identified by a bolded heading such as "Isn't the knight badly placed on the edge?" or "Pros and cons of 10 Be3" or "What are the methods of combating such a centre?" Other important ideas are clearly indicated by bold text and an icon in the margin: a clipboard icon to indicate important "Notes"; a skull and crossbones for "Warnings" of typical errors to avoid; a light bulb marking important "Tips". This is followed by a “Theoretical?” paragraph which indicates if the line can be played according to general principles or if it requires detailed theoretical knowledge (or somewhere in between); then a “Statistics” paragraph stating the average results in the line; then a couple of annotated games illustrating the important strategies, tactics, traps, transpositions, plans, and ideas in the line; finally, a brief “Summary” section characterizing all the lines in terms of their soundness, the type of games in which they result, the style of player best suited to them, etc. A few exercises are scattered throughout the book, with solutions at the end of the book. The level of discussion is exactly where it should be for
a book of this sort. Gallagher assumes that the reader has a good grasp of
the fundamentals of chess, so this isn't a book for total novices. For
example, if you're not sure what "fianchetto" means or have no idea what the
strategic significance of a backward pawn is, then you probably aren't ready
for this book. However, any minimally competent intermediate should be able to follow Gallagher's
clear and detailed instruction. For example, if you've read books like
Jeremy Silman's How to Reassess Your Chess or The Amateur's Mind
or even Irving Chernev's Logical Chess Move by Move, then you
probably have the essentials necessary to profit from this book. Copyright 2002 S. Evan Kreider. Used with permission.
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The King's Indian Defense is one of Black's most
popular responses to 1. d4 both for amateurs and professionals. Unfortunately, it can be a difficult opening to learn.
There are a large number of variations to cover, many of which have
accumulated a huge amount of theory. Worse, there are very few books
devoted to providing the hopeful KID player with an initial overview.
Batsford's Mastering the King's Indian Defense used to serve this purpose,
but it's out of print and difficult to find. Fortunately, a new
book has surfaced: GM Joe Gallagher’s Starting Out: The King's Indian.