I hope I will not see you anytime soon on the board, hehe

@cuoclarkie as fromper suggested it will be better if you try that "Idiot's guide to chess", that is the actual tittle of the book. But for the sake of showing you how KID are being played out, here is a line

1.d4...nf6
2.c4...g7
3.nc3...bg7
4.e4...d6
5.nf3..0-0
6.be2...e5
7.d5

white has the space on the queen side, so the common plan for white is to build up there, while black has space on the kingside so he will operate there, black can slow down white's queen side action by playing 7..a5, 8...na6, black's usual pawn break here is along the f file, but there are line where black can push his h pawn to increase the pressure.

But hmmm don't focus on opening lines focus more on tactics, end games and positional play, if players with 2000 rating have won games even without studying much theory, so you are,

Fromper, relax mate just making a joke (must be the Aussie sense of humour, sigh, nobody understands me) I read a review of it on the internet by a guy who described himself as being in the same position as me, he said he skipped the first four chapters and then loved it, so I'll go searching in book stores tomorrow!

ryan_c, I presume 2. ... g7 actually means g6? I saw a lecture on the "Modern Defence" that did the exact same combination to control the a1-h8 diagonal. I see where black is going, 7.... bg4 or ng4 to really cramp white on the king side. Whites position is less clear, white seems behind on useful development and hasnt appeared to gain compensation for not openning 1. e4 and hence developing his pieces quicker though 8. g5 seems to fit the bill for cramming blacks advance (and bringing him one step closer to his presumable goal of castling queenside)
You're right this is a great response to 1. d4, and i see where you are coming from with regard top positioning pieces (together for greater strength o the Kings side -> look out 1.d4 players I'm coming to get you now!

edit
Also, regarding the lecture I saw on the Modern Defence, white, achieved the same pawns on c4d4d4 in order to counter it, perhaps the Modern Defence is a variation of KID, come to think of it, the modern defence (with its bg7 move) achievied a similar position (followed by a lot of shadow boxing - is that common with KID?)

there is a similarity in some pawn structure of modern and kid, but modern defense tends to operate more on the queenside, one thing is KID and modern players wants a closed center so they can operate on the wings much smother, this is one variation of modern

1. e4.. g6
2.d4...bg7
3.nc3.. d6
4.f4.... c6

the idea here is for black to expand on queen side and gain initiative there, with b4, but if your opponent have played a4 before you played b4, it's better to put the knight at nf6 rather than nd7, cause your queen side expansion will be slower, witha knight at nf6, you have a possibility of striking the center

I've never looked at the Pirc, but its funny you brought up the similarity. I just got my Barry Attack DVD yesterday and a comment was made about the fact that if the KID plays d6 instead of d5, the proper response is e4 forcing the KID into the Pirc. I'm not sure exactly how this is and the reprocussions, but I found it interesting especially inregard to this discussion. Here is the line:

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.Bf4 d6 5.e4

I'm hoping I got that right. Perhaps someone can explain why this becomes the Pirc and what's the major difference between that and if black had played 4.d5 with the white respons 5.e3.

did you mean 4..d5?, if black play that move then it's grunfeld defense, the difference with pirc and modern is in pirc, black bring his knight on nf6, while in modern black put his knight on d7

No, according to Summerscale, the difference is d5 vs d6. d6 is the norm for the KID, but he suggests an e4 response to d6 which would throw the KID into the Pirc. I guess it has something to do with the white set up of having both e4 and d4.

Here is the split he says exist:

4.Bf4 d6 5.e4->Forcing black into the Pirc

vs

4.Bf4 d5 5.e3->KID

Hey guys, thanks for your continuing assistance!

My play has already improved out of sight! Interestingly, I havent started studying chess properly (ie I havent read deeply into the books yet) but I think its probably the result of the fact im THINKING more about my chess as a result of this discussion and the thought provoking nature of it. For this I thankyou.

At present as white I am operating the Giuoco Piano openning
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4

or employing 3.Bb5 (reminiscent of the Ruy Lopez, but the inevitable pawn move to cover seems to just put me back a move development wise)

As black I am employing the KID against 1.d4

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5

Now we move to one of my weaker areas

Responding as black to 1.e4

Im torn between The Modern, Sicilian, and 1.e5 (and waiting for my opponent to commit himself -> ie sacraficing the strategic initiative which im not too keen about)

Any advice is always welcome

You mean 3. ... a6? In the Ruy Lopez, the standard responses are either 4. Bxc6 (the Exchange Variation) or the more common 4. Ba4. This is pretty standard stuff in the Lopez.

The usual recommendation for beginners and even intermediate level players is to stick with playing double center pawn openings, because you'll learn more from them. So always play 1. e4 with white, and always start with 1. ... e5 or 1. ... d5 as black, whichever won't get captured on the second move. That's what I still do most of the time, despite having tried some other things along the way.

--Fromper

i think if your opponent does not have a pawn at c4, it's either pirc or modern
the difference with pirc and modern as i have said is, in pirc black bring his knight at f6

I think you could try the french defence, at first this system might look difficult to understand, contrary to that french defense is easy to employ.

1.e4... e6
2.d4...d5
3.dxd5

there is nothing to fear here, with this symmetrical pawn structure, the only advantage that white has is the first move


1.e4..e6
2.d4...d5
3.e5...

if your opponent advances e5, the usual idea for black is to pressure d4, by moves like, c5, nf6, qb6

1.e4..e6
2.d4..d5
3.nd2..

again the usual plan here is to pressure d4 so

4...nf6
5.e5...nd7
6.Bd3..c5


1.e4..e6
2. d4..d5
3.nc3..Bb4
4.a3..Bxc3

the idea here for black at the cost of bishop, is to double white's pawns , which are potential weakness
4.bxc3..dxe4
5.Qg4..nf6
6.qxg7..Rg8

for the shattered kingside, black has a lead in development, this position could be tactical, so solving tactical problems and studying end games will help you in this position,