King's Indian Defense: Averbakh Variation, Benoni Defense, Exchange Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Bg5 c5 7. dxc5
The King's Indian Defense: Averbakh Variation, Benoni Defense, Exchange Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E74, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Bg5 c5 7. dxc5. It is a line of the King's Indian Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 11 times by this move order. White won 45%, 19% were drawn and Black won 36%. The most popular continuation is 7… dxc5 (55% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.15 (Stockfish, depth 41; best line 7… dxc5 8. e5 Nfd7 9. f4 f6 10. exf6)
- ECO
- E74
- Moves
- 13 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/pp2ppbp/3p1np1/2P3B1/2P1P3/2N5/PP2BPPP/R2QK1NR b KQ - 0 7- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Bg5 c5 7. dxc5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 2 | |
| 2000+ | 9 | |
| All | 11 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7… dxc5 | 6 (55%) | |
| 7… Qa5 | 4 (36%) | |
| 7… e6 | 1 (9%) |
Master games
35 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 29%, draw 31%, Black 40%). The strongest:
- GM Zbynek Hracek (2625) – GM M.R. Venkatesh (2506) 1-0 · 2nd Grand Europe Open 2013 · 2013-06-13
- IM Andrew Kayonde (2321) – GM Bassem Amin (2670) 0-1 · ch-Africa 2024 · 2024-03-20
- GM Csaba Horvath (2497) – IM Alberto Suarez Real (2436) 1-0 · 19th Trieste Open 2017 · 2017-09-09
- GM Carlos Horacio Garcia Palermo (2390) – IM Leandro Perdomo (2478) 0-1 · Copel Telecom SESC Open · 2018-08-04
- GM Leandro Krysa (2537) – FM Vinay Kumar Matta (2293) 1-0 · 43rd Badalona Open 2017 · 2017-08-03
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Runasimi (2457) – steel_balls (2554) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
- Muddl3dMuss3l (2414) – ADDRESP (2369) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- FVFM (2351) – Miodragjazadzievski (2401) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
King's Indian Defense: Averbakh Variation, Benoni Defense 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Bg5 c5
More King's Indian Defense lines (all)
- King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation E60
- King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Immediate Fianchetto E60
- King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation, King's Knight Variation E60
- King's Indian Defense: Santasiere Variation E60
- King's Indian Defense: Semi-Classical Variation, Benoni Variation E60
- King's Indian Defense: Semi-Classical Variation, Hollywood Variation E60
- King's Indian Defense E61
- King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Benjamin Defense E61
- King's Indian Defense: Semi-Classical Variation E61
- King's Indian Defense: Semi-Classical Variation, Exchange Variation E61
- King's Indian Defense: Semi-Classical Variation, Queenside Storm Line E61
- King's Indian Defense: Smyslov Variation E61
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.