King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Kavalek Defense
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O c6 7. Nc3 Qa5
The King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Kavalek Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO E62, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O c6 7. Nc3 Qa5. It is a line of the King's Indian Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 8 times by this move order. White won 63%, -1% were drawn and Black won 38%. The most popular continuation is 8. e4 (38% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.72 (Stockfish, depth 32; best line 8. e4 e5 9. h3 Nbd7 10. Qe2 Nb6)
- ECO
- E62
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
rnb2rk1/pp2ppbp/2pp1np1/q7/2PP4/2N2NP1/PP2PPBP/R1BQ1RK1 w - - 2 8- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O c6 7. Nc3 Qa5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 1 | |
| 2000+ | 7 | |
| All | 8 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8. e4 | 3 (38%) | |
| 8. Bd2 | 2 (25%) | |
| 8. Qc2 | 2 (25%) | |
| 8. a3 | 1 (13%) |
Master games
122 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 25%, Black 34%). The strongest:
- GM Hannes Stefansson (2573) – GM Nikita Vitiugov (2735) 1/2-1/2 · 16th ch-EUR Indiv 2015 · 2015-03-03
- GM Teimour Radjabov (2758) – GM Helgi Dam Ziska (2533) 1-0 · FIDE World Cup 2019 · 2019-09-10
- GM Alexander Rustemov (2525) – GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2676) 0-1 · Titled Tue 15th Aug Late · 2023-08-15
- GM Bartosz Socko (2642) – GM Emanuel Berg (2532) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-SWE Elitserien · 2022-03-18
- GM Peter Heine Nielsen (2654) – GM Daniel Hausrath (2515) 1/2-1/2 · Bundesliga 2014-15 · 2015-03-14
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FM The_Fawkes (2660) – IM MassterofMayhem (2652) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- liucyyyds (2485) – unglaublichesache (2501) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
- LCesarini27 (2395) – Paul07K (2295) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3
More King's Indian Defense lines (all)
- 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
- King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Carlsbad Variation E62
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.