King's Indian Defense - Repertoire for Black - Part 7 - Facing the English 

Repertoire for Black – Part 7 – Facing the English

A King’s Indian player can know the Classical, the Sämisch and the Four Pawns Attack in depth, and none of it helps once White opens 1.Nf3 or 1.c4 and never allows those positions to arise. Many of the points are lost there: not in the sharp lines that were prepared, but in quiet systems with no forcing play and no obvious plan, where Black slowly drifts into a worse position.

King’s Indian Defense: Repertoire for Black – Part 7 – Facing the English by GM Andrea Stella and GM Baadur Jobava is built to close that gap. It is the seventh and final volume of the series, yet it works as a self-contained repertoire against the English and Réti move orders, including the systems where White plays d4 only later.

Taking the Centre Back

Some of White’s flank systems are King’s Indian structures reversed, with White playing Black’s own setup with an extra tempo. The authors’ answer is to claim the centre at once with ...e5, ...d6 and sometimes ...c5.

In the King’s Indian Attack, each supporting move has a purpose. ...h6 takes g5 away from White’s knight, ...Be6 prepares the central break, and a queen on d7 covers f5, so White’s f-pawn cannot advance.

Where one structure does not fit, the plan changes with the system:

• The Botvinnik System is met with a reversed Dragon, ...c5 and the pawn sacrifice ...b5!
• The double fianchetto with 6.d4 is met with the fresh 6...b5!?
• The space-grabbing lines with b4 are met with an immediate ...c5.
• 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.Nc3!?, the one system that rules out the King’s Indian setup entirely, is met with a direct 2...d5!

The quiet systems also turn out to be less safe than they look. In the Classical Réti, the natural 13.b4? runs into 13...e4! 14.Ncxe4 f5!, and the knight is trapped in the middle of the board.

After 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.e3 g6 3.b4, the moment comes even sooner: after 7.a3 cxd4 8.exd4? e5!, White’s king is caught in the centre with the d-file about to open. This was the position in which Magnus Carlsen lost quickly to Daniil Dubov.

Fresh Work

The authors’ reasoning is practical. White does not need a refutation of the King’s Indian, only a way around Black’s preparation, and many strong players choose these systems for exactly that reason.

So the course is new analysis rather than a revision of older material. It contains more than twenty novelties, such as 11...Ng4! against the Staunton System, and it builds on elite games from 2025 and 2026, including Ivic–Warmerdam from Wijk aan Zee.

The Keymer System, a blitz favourite of Nakamura, gets its own chapter. So does the Old Indian Attack, where ...Ne8 prepares a quick ...f5-f4 and Black takes over the initiative.

Map of Variations

1.Nf3 Nf6

• 2.g3 (King’s Indian Attack) → Chapter 1
• 2.b3 g6 3.Bb2 Bg7 4.e3 (Queen’s Indian Attack) → Chapter 2
• 2.b3 g6 3.Bb2 Bg7 4.g3 O-O 5.Bg2 d6 (Double Fianchetto)
  • 6.d4 b5!? → Chapter 3
  • 6.c4 → Chapter 4
• 2.e3 g6 3.b4!? → Chapter 10
• 2.e3 g6 3.d4 (Colle and Zukertort) → Chapter 13
• 2.d3 (Old Indian Attack) → Chapter 14
• 2.Nc3!? d5! → Chapter 15

1.c4 Nf6

• 2.Nc3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 O-O
  • 5.Rb1!? → Chapter 5
  • 5.e4 (Botvinnik System) → Chapter 8
  • 5.e3 (Staunton System) → Chapter 9
• 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0-0 5.0-0 d6 6.Nc3 e5 (Classical Réti)
  • 7.d3 → Chapter 6
  • Other 7th moves → Chapter 7
• 2.Nf3 g6 3.b4!? → Chapter 11
• 2.Nf3 g6 3.e3 (Keymer System) → Chapter 12

Premium Course Features

• 15 chapters
• 50 test positions
• 5 training positions to practice against the engine
• 5 Things to Know
• Memory Booster
• To Go Version of every chapter
• Video instruction
• Multilingual PGN availability (English, German, French, Spanish)

Completing the Series

Part 7 is the final volume of the King’s Indian Defense According to Jobava series. The earlier parts cover the King’s Indian main lines, and Part 6 handles the 1.d4 sidelines. This volume extends the repertoire to 1.c4 and 1.Nf3.

Add Part 7 to your repertoire, and the quiet systems will stop costing you points.

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