Learn one Mar del Plata line
Build a 10-move repertoire against 5.Nf3/6.Be2, since the Normal lines are at 27.3% over 11 games. Play through five model games before your next session.
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Worse by move 12, much worse by move 20, blunders when the clock runs short.
1. d4 d6 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6
Against 1.d4 and 2.c4 you set up ...d6, ...Nf6 and ...g6, the same fianchetto shell you use against 1.e4. That shows consistency, and a taste for dynamic, unbalanced positions where Black plays for a kingside attack. The King's Indian rewards precise timing and punishes half-measures, and your results say you are not yet doing it justice.
You score 45.9% (26-31-4), and only 38.5% over the last 13 games. You leave the opening worse, with a win chance of 43.7 at move 12 against your 47.3 baseline, and it collapses to 38.1 by move 20, the steepest drop of any opening you play. 22 of the 26 losses with a decisive phase were decided in the middlegame, and you blunder 1.08 times per game against your 0.91 baseline. The Normal Variation (the classical 5.Nf3 setup) is the problem child at 27.3% over 11 games. 7 losses were abandoned, which suggests some of these games go badly enough that you simply walk away.
Last 90 days: 13 games, 38% score.
Your middlegame plan in the classical structures. The Normal lines score 27.3% (11 games) and 40% (10 games). 21...b5 (33% down to 10%, when 21...h6 was best) is a queenside move in a position that needed kingside patience.
Time for the critical moments. Three of your four recent mistakes came with under a minute left: 34...Rd3 at 51s, 38...Nd3 at 39s (93% down to 56%), and 44...Ne5+ at 18.5s, which turned a 100% win into a 4% loss when 44...Qf2+ was there.
Finishing attacks. 25 of 36 winning positions converted. In the KID your attack usually produces forcing checks like Qf2+ and Nxg4, so missing them is especially costly.
Loose pieces. Hanging a piece is the top loss cause here (6), which is typical of the tangled pieces you get after ...Nh5, ...f5 and ...Nf6 in closed KIDs if you do not check what is defended.
Against the classical 5.Nf3 with Be2, pick one main line and learn it properly. 6...e5 7.O-O Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 (the Mar del Plata) gives you a clear plan: ...Nd7 or ...Ne8, ...f5, ...f4 and ...g5, racing White's queenside play with c5.
If White closes with d5 early, remember the rule of closed KIDs: you attack on the kingside, White attacks on the queenside. Queenside moves like ...b5 or ...a6 should only come when they slow White down, not as general activity.
The Four Pawns Dynamic Line scores 75% over 4 games, which shows you do well when the position is open and sharp. When White plays solidly, make the position sharp early with ...c5 or ...e5 breaks, rather than waiting.
Study Radjabov's and Nakamura's KID games for how the attack is timed: when to push ...g5 and ...g4, and when to add ...Rf6 and ...Rg6 with the queen. Most of your games are won or lost on that timing.
Your losses in this opening, by where and how the decisive mistake happened.
Phase of the decisive mistake
What the mistake was
Variations you reach
| Normal | 11 | 27% |
| Normal Variation O O | 10 | 40% |
| Four Pawns Dynamic Line | 4 | 75% |
| Fianchetto Yugoslav Panno System | 4 | 38% |
| Normal O O | 3 | 67% |
| Normal O | 3 | 33% |
Winning positions converted here: 69% (25 of 36).
Your move in red, Stockfish's in black.
Build a 10-move repertoire against 5.Nf3/6.Be2, since the Normal lines are at 27.3% over 11 games. Play through five model games before your next session.
Aim to have at least 3 minutes left by move 30. Three of your four recent KID mistakes came with under a minute on the clock.
7 of your KID losses were abandoned. Play them out or resign cleanly, and take a break after two losses in a row, where you score 38%.
Puzzles built from your own mistakes in the King's Indian Defense, and every game you've played in it.