King's Indian Defense: Exchange Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. dxe5
The King's Indian Defense: Exchange Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E92, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. dxe5. 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 136 times by this move order. White won 42%, 9% were drawn and Black won 49%. The most popular continuation is 7… dxe5 (99% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.12 (Stockfish, depth 45; best line 7… dxe5 8. O-O Nc6 9. Bg5 Bg4 10. Qxd8)
- ECO
- E92
- Moves
- 13 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/ppp2pbp/3p1np1/4P3/2P1P3/2N2N2/PP2BPPP/R1BQK2R b KQ - 0 7- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. dxe5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 4 | |
| 1500-1999 | 63 | |
| 2000+ | 69 | |
| All | 136 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7… dxe5 | 135 (99%) | |
| 7… Ng4 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
688 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 27%, draw 43%, Black 30%). The strongest:
- GM So, W. (2770) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2862) 1/2-1/2 · Airthings Masters Prelim · 2020-12-26
- GM So, W. (2776) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2804) 1/2-1/2 · Superbet Classic 2022 · 2022-05-13
- GM So, W. (2770) – GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2778) 1/2-1/2 · Clutch Chess Showdown Int · 2020-06-08
- GM Sergey Karjakin (2743) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2804) 1-0 · World Rapid 2021 · 2021-12-28
- GM So, W. (2767) – GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2774) 0-1 · chess.com Speed 2019 · 2019-11-19
Search all games of the King's Indian Defense: Exchange Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GM gmluke (2674) – mitsutszkisszucs (2724) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- toxic_slon (2496) – TheoneandOnly23 (2564) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-05 · 600 + 0s
- fikumiku89 (2518) – sebica98 (2473) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation (6. Be2 e5) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5
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.