King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Classical Main Line
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Nc3 e5 8. e4 c6 9. h3
The King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Classical Main Line is a chess opening classified as ECO E69, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Nc3 e5 8. e4 c6 9. h3. 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 6 times by this move order. White won 17%, 0% were drawn and Black won 83%. The most popular continuation is 9… exd4 (33% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.54 (Stockfish, depth 46; best line 9… a5 10. Be3 exd4 11. Nxd4 Re8 12. Qc2)
- ECO
- E69
- Moves
- 17 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/pp1n1pbp/2pp1np1/4p3/2PPP3/2N2NPP/PP3PB1/R1BQ1RK1 b - - 0 9- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Nc3 e5 8. e4 c6 9. h3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2 | |
| 2000+ | 4 | |
| All | 6 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 9… exd4 | 2 (33%) | |
| 9… Qb6 | 2 (33%) | |
| 9… a5 | 1 (17%) | |
| 9… Re8 | 1 (17%) |
Master games
105 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 52%, draw 20%, Black 28%). The strongest:
- Ethereal 13.89_NNUE (3515) – Stoofvlees II b1 (3511) 1-0 · TCEC 23 Premier 2022 · 2022-09-30
- Stoofvlees II b1 (3511) – Ethereal 13.89_NNUE (3515) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 23 Premier 2022 · 2022-09-30
- GM Ivan Cheparinov (2686) – GM Bassem Amin (2690) 0-1 · Capechecs Online Trophy · 2020-10-25
- GM Ivan Cheparinov (2686) – GM Bassem Amin (2690) 1-0 · Capechecs Online Trophy · 2020-10-25
- GM Denis Lazavik (2553) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2777) 0-1 · Bullet Chess Winners 2023 · 2023-07-17
Highest-rated Lichess games
- aboltusnja (2214) – Leonid-Igorevich (2297) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 300 + 3s
- aboltusnja (2220) – Leonid-Igorevich (2279) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 300 + 3s
- NM theblindman1980 (2197) – Farhad_S_44 (2243) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Classical Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Nc3 e5 8. e4
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.