King's Indian Defense: Averbakh Variation, Modern Defense
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Bg5 Na6
The King's Indian Defense: Averbakh Variation, Modern Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO E73, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Bg5 Na6. It is a line of the King's Indian Defense. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 34 times by this move order. White won 41%, 3% were drawn and Black won 56%. The most popular continuation is 7. Qd2 (62% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.55 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 7. Nf3 h6 8. Be3 e5 9. O-O Ng4)
- ECO
- E73
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/ppp1ppbp/n2p1np1/6B1/2PPP3/2N5/PP2BPPP/R2QK1NR w KQ - 4 7- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Bg5 Na6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 2 | |
| 2000+ | 32 | |
| All | 34 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. Qd2 | 21 (62%) | |
| 7. h4 | 6 (18%) | |
| 7. a3 | 2 (6%) | |
| 7. f4 | 2 (6%) | |
| 7. g4 | 1 (3%) | |
| 7. Nf3 | 1 (3%) | |
| 7. Qc2 | 1 (3%) |
Master games
672 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 26%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- LCZero 0.30-dag-a9b25c2b-BT2-3 (3598) – Stockfish dev-20230409-b36d39d (3639) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 24 Superfinal 2023 · 2023-04-12
- Stockfish dev-20230409-b36d39d (3639) – LCZero 0.30-dag-a9b25c2b-BT2-3 (3598) 1-0 · TCEC 24 Superfinal 2023 · 2023-04-12
- GM Boris Gelfand (2773) – GM Alexander Grischuk (2780) 1-0 · FIDE GP Beijing · 2013-07-15
- GM Levon Aronian (2801) – GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (2731) 1/2-1/2 · World Teams 2013 · 2013-12-05
- GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (2763) – GM Veselin Topalov (2769) 1/2-1/2 · 6th Kings Playoff · 2012-11-13
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FM sparking-genio (2568) – AlwaysLookingForMore (2652) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- tractorchampion001 (2758) – Mr_Warrior (2453) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
- firehorse2026 (2497) – Shahin_Za_Shiraz (2545) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
King's Indian Defense: Averbakh Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Bg5
Continuations
- King's Indian Defense: Averbakh Variation, Modern Defense, Burgess Line E73 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Bg5 Na6 7. Qd2 c6
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.