King's Indian Attack: Smyslov Variation
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. b4
The King's Indian Attack: Smyslov Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A05, reached after 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. b4. It is a line of the King's Indian Attack. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 66 times by this move order. White won 52%, 3% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 3… Bg7 (91% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.12 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 3… d5 4. Bb2 Qd6 5. a3 Bg7 6. d3)
- ECO
- A05
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pppppp1p/5np1/8/1P6/5NP1/P1PPPP1P/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. b4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 19 | |
| 2000+ | 46 | |
| All | 66 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… Bg7 | 60 (91%) | |
| 3… d6 | 2 (3%) | |
| 3… c6 | 2 (3%) | |
| 3… b6 | 1 (2%) | |
| 3… d5 | 1 (2%) |
Master games
272 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 48%, draw 22%, Black 30%). The strongest:
- GM Veselin Topalov (2798) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2805) 0-1 · 3rd Norway Blitz 2015 · 2015-06-15
- GM Vladimir Kramnik (2753) – GM Yangyi Yu (2738) 1-0 · World Blitz 2019 · 2019-12-30
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2832) – GM Maksim Chigaev (2624) 1-0 · Titled Tue 10th Sep Late · 2024-09-10
- GM Francisco Vallejo Pons (2716) – GM Markus Ragger (2632) 1/2-1/2 · Bundesliga 2022-23 · 2023-03-18
- GM Daniil Dubov (2702) – GM Maksim Chigaev (2632) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 26th Jul Early · 2022-07-26
Search all games of the King's Indian Attack: Smyslov Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- pw88 (2463) – QVC64 (2525) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 2s
- joker-23 (2463) – kintoho (2517) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- KalashnikovBenko (2352) – Koopaelevant (2464) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
King's Indian Attack: Symmetrical Defense 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6
More King's Indian Attack lines (all)
- King's Indian Attack (2. g3 d5) A05
- King's Indian Attack: Spassky Variation A05
- King's Indian Attack: Wahls Defense A05
- King's Indian Attack (1… d5 2. g3) A07
- King's Indian Attack: Double Fianchetto A07
- King's Indian Attack: Keres Variation (2. g3 Bg4) A07
- King's Indian Attack: Keres Variation (3. Bg2 Nd7) A07
- King's Indian Attack: Keres Variation (4. O-O Nd7) A07
- King's Indian Attack: Keres Variation (8. Nc3 Bd6) A07
- King's Indian Attack: Omega-Delta Gambit A07
- King's Indian Attack: Pachman System A07
- King's Indian Attack: Sicilian Variation (2. g3 c5) A07
Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.