Fianchetto Variation of the King's Indian Defense

♘ Follow me on lichess (write, ask, challenge): https://lichess.org/@/hpy 😎 Become a Patron (extra daily content): https://www.patreon.com/hangingpawns 💲 Support the channel: https://www.paypal.me/HangingPawns The Fianchetto Variation is a very peaceful way for white to meet the King’s Indian, but it’s also very solid and hard for black to meet! For an introduction to the KID, watch this video on the basics: https://youtu.be/mND6TK5dSKQ This is the last variation in the series on the King’s Indian. I left it for last because it’s very different to the other variations we’ve been looking at. It doesn’t follow the normal plans for either side. Instead of white going for a queenside attack, and black trying to break open a path towards the white king, white chooses a symmetrical system and copies black. By fianchettoing his own bishop on g2, he solidifies his king position and makes any kingside attacks much less efficient and harder to play. Normal plans of moving the f6 knight and playing for f5 simply don’t work. What does black do then? Well, white can’t play his normal anti KID queenside attack either. That relieves a lot of pressure from black’s position. The truth is that the Fianchetto variation (or systems) often lead to much more peaceful positions. One big feature is the pawn structure. In most variations white is going to have a Maroczy bind setup with pawns on c4 and e4. That is, in my opinion, very favorable for white, and much easier to play too. No kingside attack and a solid position. This makes the fianchetto lines very interesting for white. If you are looking to avoid learning tons of opening theory, that’s another upside of the fianchetto. These lines often revolve around plans and pattern recognition instead of on memorizing opening moves. So you should be getting better with experience. I would recommend a book by Vassilios Kotronias for some first hand experience. It’s called King’s Indian Fianchetto Systems, and it covers almost everything there is to know in great detail. #chess