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
The King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Classical Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E68, 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. It is a line of the King's Indian Defense. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 38 times by this move order. White won 45%, 18% were drawn and Black won 37%. The most popular continuation is 8… exd4 (42% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.53 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 8… exd4 9. Nxd4 Nc5 10. h3 Re8 11. Re1)
- ECO
- E68
- Moves
- 15 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/pppn1pbp/3p1np1/4p3/2PPP3/2N2NP1/PP3PBP/R1BQ1RK1 b - - 0 8- 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
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 4 | |
| 1500-1999 | 7 | |
| 2000+ | 27 | |
| All | 38 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8… exd4 | 16 (42%) | |
| 8… c6 | 9 (24%) | |
| 8… Re8 | 7 (18%) | |
| 8… h6 | 2 (5%) | |
| 8… Ne8 | 2 (5%) | |
| 8… a5 | 1 (3%) | |
| 8… b6 | 1 (3%) |
Master games
367 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 22%, Black 37%). The strongest:
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2784) – GM Alexander Grischuk (2777) 1/2-1/2 · Speed Chess Super Swiss · 2020-10-03
- GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2774) – GM Alexander Grischuk (2775) 1-0 · 7th Norway Blitz 2019 · 2019-06-03
- GM Liren Ding (2777) – GM Alexander Grischuk (2772) 0-1 · 2nd IMSA Blitz 2017 · 2017-12-13
- GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2729) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2783) 1-0 · 1st FIDE GP London 2012 · 2012-09-28
- GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek (2727) – GM Arkadij Naiditsch (2721) 1-0 · chess.com IoM Masters TB · 2018-10-28
Highest-rated Lichess games
- chaaa116 (2658) – SackOnTheKing930 (2741) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Zentheon (2533) – GM novik70 (2536) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Spiegelstufe (2546) – Chepika8 (2502) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Classical Fianchetto 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Nc3 e5
Continuations
- King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Classical Main Line E69 · 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
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.