Svitlana's Smart Moves - The King's Indian Attack course is out!

by Arne Kaehler
3/18/2025 – Svitlana Demchenko introduces her new ChessBase training course, focusing on one of her favourite openings, the King's Indian Attack (KIA). She explains its universal nature, emphasizing that players only need to learn a basic setup (1.Nf3, 2.g3, 3.Bg2, 4.O-O, 5.d3), making it ideal for both creative and lazy players. She showcases how the KIA can be reached via e4 against various defences, including the French, Sicilian and Caro-Kann, offering flexibility in transpositions. A model game by Tigran Petrosian is analysed, demonstrating the strategic manoeuvring and attacking potential of the opening, particularly the h4-h5 push to weaken Black's kingside.
The King‘s Indian Attack is a universal opening: easy to learn, flexible, and rich in both tactical and positional opportunities.

Svitlana's Smart Moves - Episode 112

With Svitlana Demchenko and Arne Kaehler

Svitlana Demchenko is a 20-year-old, Canadian WIM and chess coach. Here and now, she will teach us plenty of smart moves on the board, ranging from tactics, strategies, openings, and everything else chess-related. In the process, I'm happy to be available as a student at club player level, and pester the Women's International Master with questions. Anyone who wants to strengthen their chess skills is welcome to watch, and actively replay the positions from the video on our chessboard.

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MoveNResultEloPlayers
1.e41,181,69354%2421---
1.d4957,43255%2434---
1.Nf3285,72056%2441---
1.c4184,37556%2442---
1.g319,85956%2427---
1.b314,57754%2428---
1.f45,94748%2377---
1.Nc33,89950%2383---
1.b41,79048%2378---
1.a31,24854%2406---
1.e31,08049%2409---
1.d396650%2379---
1.g467046%2361---
1.h446654%2382---
1.c343951%2425---
1.h328956%2420---
1.a411860%2461---
1.f310047%2427---
1.Nh39267%2511---
1.Na34762%2476---
The King's Indian Attack is a very universal opening and one of my personal favourites. It is a setup - you only need to know the first few moves to reach it, and the rest is based on ideas. Here is the setup: 1.Nf3 The King's Indian Attack can also be reached from 1.e4 and can be played against the French, the Sicilian, and the Caro-Kann defenses! Once you get familiar, you can become very flexible with these switches and catch your opponent into a setup you like! 1.e4 French Defense: e6 1...c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.g3 whether Black plays the Sicilian with Nc6, d6, e6, or g6, the setup can still work. For example, e6 4.Bg2 Nf6 5.d3 d5 6.Nbd2 can even transpose into the previous line. Against the Caro-Kann: 1...c6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 You can notice that even if Black pursues drastically different pawn structures, for instance - e5. e5 4.Ngf3 Bd6 5.g3 Nf6 6.Bg2 we can still get our solid structure and get a fighting middlegame position. 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.Ngf3 c5 5.g3 We can get to the familiar setup in this way, where similar ideas will still apply. Nc6 6.Bg2 1...Nf6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 c5 4.0-0 Nc6 5.d3 The base setup. Of course, Black could have chosen many different ways - pawn e6, e5, bishop fianchetto, not push c5 and d5 at all - but we can be ready for that by learning the common plans and middlegame ideas!
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
King's Indian Attack-Move Orders- A05
Petrosian,T-Barcza,G-1–01952C00Budapest16

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If you like Svitlana's Smart moves, you will certainly enjoy her video lectures about "Surprising your opponents with the Lazy Sicilian", her first Fritztrainer "Understanding Material Imbalances", and her courses "The Scotch Game", and the "Leningrad Dutch Defence". Her newest Entry is the "King's Indian Attack"!

In just 60 minutes, you will be well-equipped with a surprise weapon, which will take most of your opponents out of book right from the start.

This DVD focuses on several types of material imbalances, such as Rook vs 2 Pieces, Queen vs 2 Rooks, and Queen vs Pieces.

Besides in-depth theory and exciting tactical exercises in the Scotch Game, this video course also includes a bonus section on the Scotch Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Bc4), a lively variation often leading to very dynamic positions.

The Leningrad Dutch Defence is a dynamic and aggressive opening choice for Black, perfect for players who want to add some adventure and spice to their repertoire.

The King‘s Indian Attack is a universal opening: easy to learn, flexible, and rich in both tactical and positional opportunities.

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Arne Kaehler, a creative mind who is passionate about board games in general, was born in Hamburg and learned to play chess at a young age. By teaching chess to youth teams and creating chess-related videos on YouTube, Arne was able to expand this passion and has even created an online course for anyone who wants to learn how to play chess. Arne writes for the English and German news sites, but focuses mainly on content for the ChessBase media channels.

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