When a player who can rightly claim to have put an opening on the map writes a book about that opening, one should take notice, and there is plenty in this book to make it useful reading for a player wanting a deeper understanding of the King’s Indian. While there are some parts of this book that seem closer to filler, there is much that is original and insightful. This book snuck up on me, and after some uneven early moments, I found that I liked it a lot.

David Bronstein is a chess giant, and he, along with Boleslavsky, Najdorf and Gligoric did much to initially develop the dynamism that still breathes life into this defense. It is not surprising that his book stresses the fighting nature of the KID. Indeed, it is this explanation that really shines throughout this effort.

The book starts with a chapter where Bronstein annotates three important early games with the King's Indian Defense. Even here, in the first chapter, the reader is treated to probing analysis and illuminating discussion. I like the fact that Bronstein summarizes the key lessons from each game and has picked games that help shed light on the key features of this opening.

Unfortunately, after this strong start, I think the book lapses into either a waste of space or a bit of gimmickry. The next chapter presents the basic functions of the two armies by examining the functions of each of the pieces. We are told, for example, that the function of the Ra8 is to either (a) wait at its post and support the advance of the a-pawn; (b) move to b8 to support the advance of the b-pawn; or (c) move to d8 or e8 to be ready for action in the center. Each piece is similarly described. The problem, from my perspective, is that the player is given no insight into why one choice or the other may be preferred in any given position. Without this sort of guidance, the various possible moves have little relevance for the student.

This lack of guidance continues in the next chapter, where we are given 36 standard moves of the black and white pieces and 24 standard moves of the black pawns and white pawns respectively. While here there is also a diagram to demonstrate a typical position where this move occurs, there is precious little discussion of when or why a move may (or, just as importantly, may not) be appropriate. From my perspective, this is 38-pages of largely wasted space - nearly one-fifth of the entire book.

The value of the book comes through, however, in the following pages, where Bronstein provides probing analysis and discussion of 50 important King's Indian games. These games are logically grouped by thematic central play, which is a useful method for discussing the branches of this defense. Since Bronstein played many of the games himself, he can provide an insight that few can or will. It is this insider view of the opening that I think sets this book apart from others.

The book also includes an additional 64 games without notes (which aren't all that useful to the average player), and a quiz (which I think is poorly placed too early in the book for a player who may not already be very familiar with the defense).  

Bronstein's wonderful annotations and insider comments make this a worthwhile book.  It's unfortunate that some of the material wasn't fleshed out further. If that had been the case, this quite good book could have been exceptional.

Click to see Silman's review of this book.

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