King's Indian Attack Chess Opening with FIDE CM Kingscrusher
What you'll learn
- Ability to see why renowned chess coach Mark Dvoretsky regarded the King's Indian attack as a perfect weapon to which to base an opening repertoire
- Ability to see the power of a thematic "system" that can be used against a wide range of defences
- Ability to play an opening system which has very low memorising requirements and more emphasis on understanding ideas
- Ability to follow in the footsteps of Bobby Fischer who had many beautiful wins with the King's Indian Attack
- Ability with 1. e4 to have something against the whole of the French defence which can be a really annoying solid opening to play against :)
- Ability with 1. e4 to have something against early e6 in Sicilian defence avoiding theory of the Taimanov, Kan (Paulsen), 4 knights, and Pin variations
- Ability with 1. e4 to have a pet weapon vs the Caro-Kann defence
- Ability with 1. Nf3 having own pet territory and plans against anything black does
- Ability to impose a "Keep it simple" philosophy when playing against 3 major replies to 1.e4 - the Sicilian Defence, French defence and Caro-Kann
- Ability to be more assured and self-confident chess opening with stronger justification because of avoiding opponent's opening theory like Gruenfeld or French
- Ability to become a grandmaster without much opening theory and potentially retire to the Bahamas like David Norwood :)
- Ability to become a fully qualified doctor on the side of becoming a chess grandmaster like Bassem Amin :)
- Ability not to be checkmated with the idea of having to memorise tonnes of opening theory - the King's Indian attack requires minimal memorisation
- Ability to see why Leonid Stein who Fischer described as "When champions meet" in his 60 memorable games book chose actually 2.d3 as primary choice vs Caro-kann
- Ability to have an opening system where even games over 20 years ago are still relevant and can cherry pick inspirational and instructive examples
- Ability to translate quite a few King's Indian defence ideas (or leverage Kingscrusher's ideas ) into positions with extra tempo with White
- Ability to spend more time on tactics and endings as opposed to having to memorise tonnes of opening theory because this system is often about ideas and themes
- Ability to make use of themes which can be played against a variety of defences, and therefore providing less need to memorise specific moves
- Ability to have an opening system that fights for central control, active development, early castling and aggressive pawn structure often having e5 pawn wedge
- Ability to have a opening system which will not distract you too much from building up your "value chain" of dependencies - Strategy, Tactics, Endgame, etc
- Ability to use an opening that the current World chess champion Magnus Carlsen also uses sometimes with the White pieces against Super Grandmasters
- Ability to avoid getting into serious theoretical trouble and technical debates in the opening phase by playing a reliable solid system instead
- Ability to have something against 1...e5 which is King's Indian like and used by GM Glek with good success
- Ability in the view of GM Raymond Keene to have an opening which is safe, yet aggressive and does not require a superb memory and months of intensive learning
Requirements
- Basic knowledge of the rules of chess and how the pieces move
Description
Welcome to a deep dive into the King's Indian Attack Chess Opening with FIDE CM Kingscrusher. This course seeks to demystify this popular system, beloved by club players and World Champions for its ease of use, minimal requirement for theory memorisation, and potential to produce dynamic, attacking games.
In this course, we unpack the inherent 'independence' of the King's Indian Attack. You'll learn how to adjust your game and strategize against different move orders, with a specific focus on restricting the opponent's c8 bishop within their pawn chain.
A highlight of the course is an exploration of the games of illustrious World Champions like Bobby Fischer, who applied the King's Indian Attack with spectacular results. Modern Grandmasters such as Bassem Amin, Tomasz Markowski, and Sergei Movsesian, as well as popular streamer Hikaru Nakamura, also utilize this system to bypass intricate opening preparations, simplifying the early phase of the game.
Notably, the King's Indian Attack acts as a mirror image of the King's Indian Defense, but with an added tempo and a more flexible pawn centre. This course also emphasizes how the King's Indian Attack complements openings like the Reti, Catalan, English Opening, and Nimzo-Larsen Attack.
The Barcza System, a variation named after Gideon Barcza, will be introduced, showcasing the potential for greater 'independence' when applying the King's Indian Attack against black's pawn structure.
The King's Indian Attack can add depth to your chess repertoire, providing a pathway to aggressive and enjoyable games. Join this course to refine your chess strategies and boost your understanding of the King's Indian Attack.
Who this course is for:
- Beginner to intermediate chess players who don't want to have to memorise lots of opening theory but still have fun positions to play from in the opening with some attacking prospects
- Players who want to have a reliable opening system they can use largely independent of what the opponent does
- Players who enjoy attacking chess and attacking pawn formations such as an e5 wedge pawn chain
- Players who want the reassurance of an opening system with pedigree that former world chess champions such as Bobby Fischer, Tigran Petrosian and Mikhail Botvinnik have used as well as the current World chess champion Magnus Carlsen
- Players who want time to improve their other skills and areas within chess such as being strong at the middlegame and endgame and want to only give a certain percentage of time to studying opening theory at least until other aspects of their game improve
- Players who want to have a life outside of chess study but still be very competitive when they play either online or Over the board without too much worry of going into the opponent's detailed opening preparations and territories
Instructor
- 4.6 Instructor Rating
- 2,763 Reviews
- 13,787 Students
- 33 Courses
Tryfon Gavriel, also known as "Kingscrusher" on the Internet. I am a FIDE Candidate Master (CM), and British Regional Chess Master, and run a popular Youtube channel for many years with over 114k+ Subs as of 2021 and a Silver Button Award.
I have done many shows on commercial chess servers. I am also the Webmaster of the correspondence-style chess server Chessworld which emphasizes game quality and research.
Playing experience
Over 35 years of playing activity both online and offline. Peak ICC blitz rating of 2625 (18-Jun-1999). Peak ICC 5 min auto-pairing of 2383 (29-Jun 2012). ECF Grading peak classical: 212 (A) ECF. Peak Rapid rating: 217 (C).
Lichess marathon top 10 finishers in 4 marathons so far. Top 50 finisher in 8 marathons so far. Top 100 finisher in 4 marathons so far. And top 500 in 2 marathons so far. Won quite a few tournaments at lichess - in fact giving me 3rd rank overall behind Lance5500 and papasi in a recent detailed statistical blog analysis titled "Lichess Marathon Statistics".
One of my earliest Over-the-board achievements in Chess was winning the Lloyds Under 18 national UK tournament in 1989. My trophy was awarded to me by Grandmaster and Ph.D. Mathematician Dr John Nunn.
Teaching experience
I have done teaching in Schools and also have done teaching online with several Lichess students on a regular basis, and have a very good coaching rating at lichess.
Other experiences
Played twice in the main British Chess championship. Many of my Youtube viewers claim big rating increases after watching my videos.
Best skills
I particularly love attacking chess, chess tactics, and combinations, and it is probably no accident that my "Complete Guide to Chess Tactics" has been a best-seller shortly after its release here at Udemy.
In general, I will try and give you greater enthusiasm for the game and in particular the dynamic attacking, aggressive tactical aspects of playing chess. My favorite heroes are mainly Attacking style tactical players: Paul Morphy, Alexander Alekhine, Mikhail Tal, Bobby Fischer, and Garry Kasparov. if you want to be a dynamic aggressive attacking style player, I may be able to encourage you and find you relevant resources on that path. The dynamic aggressive attacking players were particularly strong tactically and would often trade off pawn structure neatness and material to try and checkmate the opponent's kings. Checkmate does win the game :) They were masters of finishing combinations naturally as they sought to reduce the king's safety of the opponent in various ways including bringing the King out for often beautiful mating combinations.
Chess Openings
In terms of concrete openings to make use of potentially teaching here at Udemy through courses. I like King-Attacking aggressive openings even with the black pieces like the King's Indian Defence to 1.d4 which my heroes Fischer, Kasparov, and Tal made use of extensively.
As White, I sometimes like Solid openings on such as the London System. I also like provocative openings like the Knight's Tango systems to encourage weaknesses from opponents.
I am also at faster time controls especially, particularly fond of aggressive openings and gambits. For example, the Smith-Morra Gambit vs the Sicilian Defence, and other gambits can be used aggressively even with the black pieces such as the Albin Counter Gambit. Gambits vary of course in soundness and it is important to teach what "ticks many boxes" for use in various time controls. Also, I like surprising opponents with openings such as the Nimzo-Larsen attack, the King's Indian Attack, The London System, and Queen's Knight attack system 1. Nc3, all of which I have courses for here at Udemy.
In the search for the ideal courses to provide you, I like to search within myself for my core strengths and passions within the passion of Chess.
I truly hope you enjoy my courses and they improve your chess and your enjoyment of chess generally - and life generally :)