King's Indian Defense: Four Pawns Attack, Exchange Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f4 O-O 6. Nf3 c5 7. Be2 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Nc6 9. Be3
The King's Indian Defense: Four Pawns Attack, Exchange Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E79, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f4 O-O 6. Nf3 c5 7. Be2 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Nc6 9. Be3. 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 1 times by this move order. White won 100%, 0% were drawn and Black won 0%. The most popular continuation is 9… Bd7 (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.13 (Stockfish, depth 33; best line 9… Bg4 10. Nxc6 Bxe2 11. Nxd8 Bxd1 12. Rxd1)
- ECO
- E79
- Moves
- 17 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/pp2ppbp/2np1np1/8/2PNPP2/2N1B3/PP2B1PP/R2QK2R b KQ - 2 9- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f4 O-O 6. Nf3 c5 7. Be2 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Nc6 9. Be3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2000+ | 1 | |
| All | 1 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 9… Bd7 | 1 (100%) |
Master games
10 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 50%, draw 30%, Black 20%). The strongest:
- WFM Oksana Gritsayeva (2383) – GM Dmitry Bocharov (2530) 0-1 · 1st Archibald Open 2019 · 2019-05-16
- FM Jonathan W Rogers (2307) – GM Mark L Hebden (2548) 1-0 · 4NCL Team Rapid 2013 · 2013-10-05
- IM Anastasios Pavlidis (2410) – GM Gevorg Harutjunyan (2436) 0-1 · European Blitz 2015 · 2015-12-18
- IM Anastasios Pavlidis (2343) – FM Ajay Karthikeyan (2436) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 21st Sept · 2021-09-21
- IM Thomas Reich (2364) – GM Zigurds Lanka (2386) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-AUT 2nd West 2021-22 · 2021-10-17
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Romanichin (2186) – Pampalino (2184) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 600 + 0s
Comes from
King's Indian Defense: Four Pawns Attack, Fluid Attack 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f4 O-O 6. Nf3 c5 7. Be2
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.