King's Indian Attack: Wahls Defense
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. O-O O-O 5. d3 d5
The King's Indian Attack: Wahls Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO A05, reached after 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. O-O O-O 5. d3 d5. It is a line of the King's Indian Attack. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 408 times by this move order. White won 48%, 5% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 6. Nbd2 (66% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.06 (Stockfish, depth 46; best line 6. Nbd2 c5 7. e4 Nc6 8. Re1 dxe4)
- ECO
- A05
- Moves
- 10 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/ppp1ppbp/5np1/3p4/8/3P1NP1/PPP1PPBP/RNBQ1RK1 w - - 0 6- PGN
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. O-O O-O 5. d3 d5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 32 | |
| 1500-1999 | 119 | |
| 2000+ | 257 | |
| All | 408 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6. Nbd2 | 270 (66%) | |
| 6. Nc3 | 34 (8%) | |
| 6. c3 | 26 (6%) | |
| 6. c4 | 18 (4%) | |
| 6. Re1 | 13 (3%) | |
| 6. e4 | 13 (3%) | |
| 6. Bg5 | 8 (2%) | |
| 6. Bd2 | 6 (1%) |
Master games
1,323 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 42%, draw 19%, Black 39%). The strongest:
- GM Alexander Grischuk (2759) – GM Vladislav Artemiev (2746) 0-1 · chess.com Speed 2019 · 2019-10-03
- GM Bassem Amin (2680) – GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2760) 1/2-1/2 · World Blitz 2021 · 2021-12-29
- GM Kirill Shevchenko (2684) – GM Richard Rapport (2745) 0-1 · Superbet Blitz 2023 · 2023-05-25
- GM Rauf Mamedov (2646) – GM Richard Rapport (2740) 1-0 · 8th Gashimov Mem Blitz · 2022-12-23
- GM Bassem Amin (2680) – GM Vladislav Artemiev (2700) 0-1 · World Blitz 2021 · 2021-12-30
Search all games of the King's Indian Attack: Wahls Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- SavitarTheGodOfSpeed (2752) – BoneCrusher2020 (2755) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Koblizek (2693) – atsaynm (2661) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- FM Brastrodamus (2683) – Cuentatorneos (2670) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-01 · 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: Smyslov Variation A05
- King's Indian Attack: Spassky Variation 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.