King of the Hill

The Ultimate King's Indian Attack, by IM Angus Dunnington,
1999 Batsford Books, Figurine Algebraic Notation, Softcover,
176pp., $16.95

Repertoire books seem to have become de rigueur in the chess
publishing world. It is no longer sufficient to examine a specific
variation; one must give the player of White or Black enough
information in one book so that you need not look anywhere else.
The shortcomings of such an approach are obvious. But when it is
done well, it is usually a most welcome addition to the seemingly
endless stream of opening books.

A while back we examined British IM Angus Dunningtson's Easy
Guide to the R‚ti released earlier this year by Cadogan. Overall it
was a worthwhile effort; it contained in its 128 pages, with one
exception, a thorough treatment of this subtle opening. Now
Batsford has released another work by Dunnington, The Ultimate
King's Indian Attack. It is a revised, second edition to his earlier
1993 work How to Play the King's Indian Attack.

The Ultimate King's Indian Attack is divided into eight chapters.
After an Introduction that illustrates some of the themes
encountered in the King's Indian Attack, there is: Chapter 2: KIA
vs. Sicilian Defence; Chapter 3: KIA vs. French Defence; Chapter
4: KIA vs. Caro-Kann Defence; Chapter 5: Black plays ...d5 and
...Bg4; Chapter 6: Black plays ...d5 and ...Bf5; Chapter 7: King's
Indian Defence Reversed; and Chapter 8: Other Black Defences.

Dunnington takes his time examining the both the obvious and
more complicated lines for the reader, discussing strategic and
tactical themes in depth. Each chapter begins with a general
discussion of the variation in question, followed by illustrative
games presented in full. One will find not only games that should
be very well known to practitioners of the KIA such as Fischer
Miagmasuren, Sousse 1967 and Stein-Hort, Los Angeles 1968, but
lesser known and more recent examples. The author also does not
simply present one line on a "take-it-or-leave-it" basis. In other
words, one is given a choice, as White, of reasonable alternatives
where appropriate.

For example, most books on the KIA will give the so-called "Long
Variation" (1 e4 e6 2 d3 d5 3 Nd2 c5 4 Ngf3 Nc6 5 g3 Nf6 6 Bg2
Ne7 7 0-0 0-0 8 Re1) top billing against the French. This may
indeed be considered the main line, but there are some very
playable alternatives, including an early Qe2 by White. Let us join
the author on page 54...

Psakhis-Smirin Haifa 1995
1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3 d3 Nc6 4 g3 Nf6 5 Bg2 Be7 6 0-0 d5 7 Qe2 0-0
8 e5 Nd7 9 c4 (See Diagram)
This push of the c-pawn is the idea behind replacing Nb1-d2 with
Qd1-e2 in the main line. By leaving the knight on b1 White intends
to develop it more actively on c3, where it will team up with the
c4-pawn to hit the d5-pawn. Moreover, with the queen supporting
the e5-pawn White might get the opportunity to develop his king's
rook more actively on the d-file if Black has tried to release the
tension with the central exchange ...d5xc4. Another point of
planting the pawn on c4 is to deny Black the use of the d5-square
for his pieces after ...d5-d4, whereas White will still have access to
the crucial e4-square. Finally the c4-pawn tends to hold back
Black's traditional queenside pawn-storm. The downside to White's
setup with the queen on e2 and pawn on c4 is the potential
weakness of the d4-square, which can no longer be defended by a
pawn and is therefore susceptible to attack at any moment.
However, modern practitioners of Qe2 have shown that this is not
a problem, hence the revival of this line. In fact an automatic
...Nc6-d4 can easily backfire. In the diagram position Black has
more than one way of dealing with the challenge in the centre.
9...d4
Closing the centre is a popular reply at all levels. However, despite
the fact that fixing the pawns has serious long-term positional im-

plications, I doubt that most players sufficiently appreciate this
when pushing the d-pawn. A surprising number of IMs and GMs
have suffered with Black here due to a lack of decent counterplay.
With an obvious space advantage on the kingside White's plan of
attacking the king is rather easy to execute, but Black will find it
problematic generating a queenside counter because of the barrier
on c4. Moreover, the true merits of occupying d4 are now
irrelevant because a pawn stands in the way - there is no need for
White to worry about such a possibility. As we know, the e5-pawn
effectively cuts the board in two, limiting Black's defensive
resources by covering f6 (and d6) and severely limiting breathing
space, but eliminating it with ...f7-f6 could prove more detrimental
than beneficial, and attempts to capture the pawn - which tends to
be immune anyway, for one reason or other - meet with textbook
over-protection. Of course these factors do not mean that Black is
losing, but the commital, restrictive nature of 9...d4 has prompted
today's practical players to search for more uncompromising
alternatives...

Dunnington then discusses opening theory and strategy from this
position for over six (!) pages.

All is, however, not peaches and cream. When we reviewed
Dunnington's book on the R‚ti, we noted that he had omitted what
we felt was one significant possible reply by Black. This has
happened again, to a lesser extent, in The Ultimate King's Indian
Attack. Understanding that the transpositional possibilities are very
high (and this is p, we were unable to find any discussion of the
absolutely symmetrical line, 1 Nf3 Nf6 2 g3 g6 3 Bg2 (perhaps the
jump to an unusual line of the R‚ti, 3 b4 - covered very nicely in
Dunnington's Easy Guide to the R‚ti - should be seriously
considered here) 3...Bg7 4 0-0 0-0 5 d3 d6 6 Nbd2 Nbd7 7 e4 e5,
etc. Even the 1991 book by Smith and Hall, "The King's Indian
Attack", covers this line, albeit briefly.

However, we consider this not as important as it may appear: the
author's discussion of the theory and concepts of the KIA is so
good that it goes a long way to prepare the student to deal with
KIA positions regardless of how they arise. The other shortcoming,
as we see it, is the presentation of the games in a heavily biased
fashion, overwhelmingly favoring White. Surely neither
Dunnington nor anyone else believes that the King's Indian Attack
is the answer to all of White's opening questions. Yet White wins
or obtains the advantage consistently in every line. White - or
someone seeking to craft a defense playing Black - is not given any
real insight into Black's best defenses or Black's most effective
counters.

With that in mind, this is still a fine treatise on the King's Indian
Attack. Books that attempt to deal with opening systems that are of
a less forcing nature, more strategic than tactical, face certain
problems - it is often much more difficult for the author to explain
the ideas and thematic concepts clearly. Not so here: The material
is patiently and thoroughly presented, and examples from recent
praxis abound. In the review of his book on the R‚ti, we
recommended that it be purchased in conjunction with
Donaldson's "A Strategic Opening Repertoire". Adding The
Ultimate King's Indian Attack will create a formidable opening
trilogy. Of the three, The Ultimate King's Indian Attack is perhaps
best suited to be used as a stand-alone reference. It is a solid effort
by Dunnington and should take its place as the best book on the
market today on the King's Indian Attack.

[The Ultimate King's Indian Attack, by IM Angus Dunnington may
be ordered from The Chess Caf‚ Online Bookstore. Please note
that it shall be shipping around May 20.]