King's Indian Attack: Symmetrical Defense

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6

The King's Indian Attack: Symmetrical Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO A05, reached after 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6. It is a line of the King's Indian Attack. White is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 7,204 times by this move order. White won 50%, 6% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 3. Bg2 (88% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.21 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 3. c4 Bg7 4. Bg2 c6 5. b3 Ne4)

ECO: A05
Moves: 4 plies
FEN: rnbqkb1r/pppppp1p/5np1/8/8/5NP1/PPPPPP1P/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 3
PGN: 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
0-1499	659	51%46%
1500-1999	2,294	50%45%
2000+	4,251	50%43%
All	7,204	50%44%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
3. Bg2	6,328 (88%)	50%44%
3. b3	541 (8%)	51%42%
3. d4	89 (1%)	53%40%
3. c4	76 (1%)	47%47%
3. d3	71 (1%)	45%46%
3. b4 Smyslov Variation	66 (1%)	52%45%
3. c3	8 (0%)	75%25%
3. Nc3	7 (0%)	71%29%

Master games

22,903 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 47%, draw 24%, Black 29%). The strongest:

Stoofvlees II a14 (3846) – LCZero v0.24-sv-t60-3010 (3958) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2020-03-31
LCZero v0.24-sv-t60-3010 (3958) – Stoofvlees II a14 (3846) 1-0 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2020-03-27
Stockfish 202005232210 (3796) – Ethereal 12.19 (3708) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 18 Premier 2020 · 2020-06-08
Ethereal 12.19 (3708) – Stockfish 202005232210 (3796) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 18 Premier 2020 · 2020-06-04
Komodo 2522.05 (3794) – Vajolet2 2.9.0-TCEC-S17 (3592) 1-0 · 5th TCEC Cup 2020 · 2020-04-25

Search all games of the King's Indian Attack: Symmetrical Defense and its sub-variations

Highest-rated Lichess games

GM BIZOO (2776) – IM Kostik_Mostik (2898) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
IM Roshka_Yevgeniy (2817) – Drogono (2818) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Yoisaki_o (2719) – IM Kostik_Mostik (2909) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s

Comes from

Zukertort Opening (1. Nf3 Nf6) 1. Nf3 Nf6

Continuations

King's Indian Attack: Smyslov Variation A05 · 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. b4
King's Indian Attack: Wahls Defense A05 · 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. O-O O-O 5. d3 d5
Zukertort Opening: Double Fianchetto Attack A05 · 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. b3 Bg7 4. Bb2 O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O

More King's Indian Attack lines (all)

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.