Rating: 
Summary: Quite good, but not the definitive book on KIA
Review: I bought this book three years ago. The key concepts of KIA are well explained so I started to use this opening in my games. After been playing this opening for three years I've arrived to some conclusions. First, it's a very good book to understand the key concepts, which help you to start playing the KIA very soon. Second, as another reviewer has already pointed, it's too much White-Biased. Too much optimistic, the practice has showed me that there are a lot of black schemes that were not included in the book. For example, don't expect to find games with the flexible black structure c5-d6-e6 with knight on e7... a very usual position that I have to face quite often on the board. Another example: with the black structure c5-d6-e5 don't expect to find a well-played game by black, that is, h6 first (preventing Ng5) in order to play Be6 and then expand with f5 and sometimes with d5. It's a very common development plan, and I think it deserved attention on it in the book.
Well, to cut a long story short... if you want to play KIA this is a very good book, I recommend it to you. A fantastic starting point... but there is more behind the scenes, other work and research needs to be done to complement the material of the book and for to cover all the possibilities that you'll have to face playing this very interesting opening.
Good luck!!
Rating: 
Summary: Too White-Biased
Review: I have always had a problem with White-Biased or Black-Biased books. They show you a bunch of games where it may be played correctly for 20 moves, and then Black screws up. How is White to learn why other moves by white would be a mistake, or what to do if Black actually played the correct move. Instead, it skews the soundness of the line. If the KIA should score 55% for White, there shouldn't be 90+% wins for White. Otherwise, a good book.
Rating: 
Summary: Great book.
Review: I keep coming back to this excellent repertoire book by Dunnington. My real reason for writing this review is to help cancel out the one-star review by that other reviewer. THis book deserves much more.
Rating: 
Summary: Didn't help much.
Review: I own 4 opening books including this one. One of the books (Pirc Alert) was written in a way that's extremely conducive to learning. The other three, this one included, was not. It only covers a few Black responses and does not give any guidance whatsoever for most common Black responses. I've been playing the KIA for about 8 months and probably haven't faced one of the "book" Black responses more than once or twice. Most of the time, my opponents just develop pieces without wasting a tempo on a c-pawn move. I'm sure that there's a way to refute these non-book openings, but it's easier said than done. Some guidance in the book would be helpful. I'd say the most common line that I face is 1...d5 2...Nc6 3...e5 4...Nf6 5...Bc5 6...Bg4. I don't think there's any guidance in the book for smashing this simple development scheme. This seems to be a general trend in all opening books that I've seen. They only cover typical, "good" plans by the other side, and don't give clear guidance for how to punish amateurish opening ideas by the opponent. Some of these amateurish lines can be more difficult, to me anyway, than the "book" lines. A good example of this would be in the Pirc if White does not play d4, but plays d3 instead, then follows up with something like a Yugoslav Attack. Pirc Alert's only big idea for how to deal with a Yugoslav-type attack is to attack the d4 pawn and generate queenside counterplay. What does one do if they played d3 instead? This book, along with the other three are full of crap like this. This book is also loaded up with game miniatures -- what a pain to go through compared to the text-rich Pirc Alert. I think it's easier to learn an opening if they spend more text describing the general idea that's trying to be accomplished than by vicariously looking at what happened in hundreds of snippets of games.
Rating:
Summary: Build your opening repertoire
Review: I wrote the below reviews over a year ago and while I've had some fun with some sharp openings, I still feel the KIA is an excellent opening. While I was trying to sharpen up my rep - I noticed that the amount of time I spent on memorization went way up - The amount of time spent on more important aspects of the game went way down. Yasser Seirawan mentioned in his Winning Chess Openings book that [studying sharp openings]he felt he was playing less original chess. I agree - though I'm no Seirawan, I like feeling like I'm playing my own game, and I honestly feel that I learn far more testing out my own ideas(thinking for myself), rather than memorizing the latest in the Yugoslav Attack. Its a good base for applying Silmans ideas as well. And I have so much more time to study the fun stuff. Now, there are a number of systems that will cut down on the opening theory, the Torre, the Colle, the London etc, however you will not be able to transpose into any of them if your sharper opening invites an unwanted defence. And as I mention below this is a selling point for the KIA beyond the other systems mentioned. For instance, I really like sharp 1.e4 e5 repertoire Max Lange, Evans Gambit etc. But after 1.e4 c6 (d6,e6) I can transpose into the KIA, However if your a 1.d4 player , after 1.d4 and 2.c4, you cannot transpose back into a London/Torre/ Tromp or whatever. Again if your sharper openings are in for maintenence, no worries. The KIA is not a Ferrari - Its a Chevy, maybe not so flashy but reliable and cheap.
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The KIA can be used on its own or as a starting point for building a sharp 1.e4 repertoire. The advantage is you can add slowly, within your own time constraints. The first thing is to find a reply to 1...d5 (1.e4 d5) as that's the one defense which rules out transposing to the KIA. The point is you can go at your own pace. OR NOT! The KIA is plenty fine by its self. Throw in some Reti (same Author)or some English (Kosten) for Varity. Check out the French section on chesspublishing.com to see the KIA in action. Now about the book. Dunning ton cares about what he writes and it shows. Lots of explanatory prose, helps get the message across. The KIA is not the sharpest opening (but it can be, remember its a KID with an extra move!)
but you don't have to file for divorce to keep up with the latest developments either. By the book!
Rating:
Summary: Why play the King's Indian Attack
Review: If you play the King's Indian Defense against 1.d4, and if you are not a chess professional who has time to study the latest novelties on move 20 of the main-line Najdorf or the Smyslov variation of the Slav, the King's Indian Attack is, in my opinon, an excellent choice for an opening repertoire for White. Let us be clear on what the King's Indian Attack is not. It is no miracle opening, which will promise you a clear advantage against best play for Black. However, even if you are a professional chess player, and you have time to learn the latest theory concerning (for example) all replies to 1.e4, your search for a clear opening advantage against players of equal strength and knowledge is likely to lead to disappointment. I am a FIDE 2360 player ("Geof" on ICC) who personally dreads studying openings (like many chess players, I have a job and a life in which chess plays a small but not insignificant part) and who would rather spend what limited time I have to study chess on studying endgames and tactics. What the King's Indian Attack does offer you is an opening in which understanding of key King's Indian themes and positions, as opposed to rote memorization, and the existence of a variety of viable options for White, will provide you with opportunities for creating positions, often asymmetrical and double-edged, which you understand better than your opponent. It is an opening which has been employed by players of the highest level, which is unquestionably sound, and which abounds in strategic and tactical subtleties. You could do worse. I have been playing the King's Indian for many years (15+) and, although my knowledge of the latest developments in main-line theory may be lacking, I believe I have a fairly good understanding of many of the standard King's Indian structures. When I started playing the King's Indian Attack as White several years ago, I was pleasantly surprised at the way in which my understanding of the King's Indian as Black translated into an understanding of many of the themes of the King's Indian Attack as White. The above is in the way of an introduction to my review of Angus Dunnington's book "The Ultimate King's Indian Attack." I personally found that this book to be an excellent combination of theoretical lines, strategic insights, and (last but not least) some very nice games. While it appears to me to be targeted, in terms of analysis, to players of the 2000+ level who have some familiarity with King's Indian positions, I also believe that weaker players (or those less familiar with the King's Indian) will find it rewarding if they spend the time to closely examine the complete games that are included and Dunnington's excellent notes. If you want an opening repertoire which will lead to many victories straight out of the opening, I suggest you choose 1.e4 and spend the 4 or 5 years of full-time study (if you are a reasonably strong player) which are necessary to give you a solid understanding of all the possible defenses thereto. If you want a flexible opening for which you can achieve the same level of understanding in a small fraction of that time, but which is nevertheless replete with tense and tricky positions, you cannot do better than choose the King's Indian Attack. And, in my personal opinion, Dunnington's book is the best one to have been written on this opening. I highly recommend it. - Geof Strayer
Rating:
Summary: e5 and f5 for black, the end of an era for me and the KIA
Review: is a good book, but like a previous reviewer points out, what if black don't make any mistakes and avoids passive defence? there are good games in here (one by dolmatov that just blew me away) but this is an optomistic book at best, statistics for white with this opening are not good. Me, i leave it to 1 min games on the internet, play d4 and c4 as white these days, but praps to players 1600 KIA is a good tool until they advance
Rating:
Summary: Superb opening book
Review: This is a very good opening book and worth the price just for the complete games. If you already have "How To Play The King's Indian Attack" by the same author, then I would only give it 3 stars for the additional information (the author repeats many of the annotations from his earlier book). Super book.
Rating:
Summary: Superb opening book
Review: This is a very good opening book and worth the price just for the complete games. If you already have "How To Play The King's Indian Attack" by the same author, then I would only give it 3 stars for the additional information (the author repeats many of the annotations from his earlier book). Super book.
Rating:
Summary: Great overview of an entire system
Review: This is one of my favorite opening books. The author does an excellent job of explaining key concepts in words - much preferable to the forest of cryptic variations found in so many books. (I am a USCF 2000 player.)
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