King's Indian Defense: Averbakh Variation

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Bg5

The King's Indian Defense: Averbakh Variation 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. It is a line of the King's Indian Defense. Black is to move. 6 named lines continue from this position.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 503 times by this move order. White won 51%, 6% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 6… c5 (26% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.18 (Stockfish, depth 51; best line 6… c5 7. d5 h6 8. Be3 e6 9. Qd2)

ECO: E73
Moves: 11 plies
FEN: rnbq1rk1/ppp1ppbp/3p1np1/6B1/2PPP3/2N5/PP2BPPP/R2QK1NR b KQ - 3 6
PGN: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Bg5

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

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
0-1499	14	50%43%
1500-1999	178	47%49%
2000+	311	54%40%
All	503	51%43%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
6… c5 Averbakh Variation, Benoni Defense	133 (26%)	54%41%
6… h6 Averbakh Variation, Flexible Defense	132 (26%)	49%42%
6… Nbd7 Averbakh Variation, Geller Defense	97 (19%)	56%38%
6… Nc6 Averbakh Variation, Nc6 Defense	36 (7%)	44%56%
6… Na6 Averbakh Variation, Modern Defense	34 (7%)	41%56%
6… e5	28 (6%)	71%25%
6… c6	23 (5%)	35%65%
6… Qe8	5 (1%)	40%60%

Master games

196 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 54%, draw 22%, Black 24%). The strongest:

GM Erigaisi Arjun (2775) – GM Teimour Radjabov (2692) 1-0 · World Blitz 2025 · 2025-12-30
GM Erigaisi Arjun (2727) – GM Daniil Dubov (2710) 1/2-1/2 · World Blitz 2023 · 2023-12-30
GM Alexey Sarana (2686) – GM Francesco Sonis (2557) 1-0 · 2nd 3-0 Thu 29th Jan 2026 · 2026-01-29
GM Vladimir Potkin (2665) – IM Vladimir Belous (2554) 1/2-1/2 · Rector Cup MGSU · 2012-11-10
GM Xiangyu Xu (2567) – GM Naroditsky, D. (2616) 0-1 · PRO League Group Stage · 2019-02-07

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

Highest-rated Lichess games

GM AtalikS (2661) – Alisherkaaaa (2645) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
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

Comes from

King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Standard Development 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2

Continuations

King's Indian Defense: Averbakh Variation, Benoni Defense E74 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Bg5 c5
King's Indian Defense: Averbakh Variation, Flexible Defense E73 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Bg5 h6
King's Indian Defense: Averbakh Variation, Geller Defense E73 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Bg5 Nbd7
King's Indian Defense: Averbakh Variation, Modern Defense E73 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Bg5 Na6
King's Indian Defense: Averbakh Variation, Nc6 Defense E73 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Bg5 Nc6
King's Indian Defense: Averbakh Variation, Spanish Defense E73 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Bg5 a6

More King's Indian Defense 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.