King's Indian Defense: Larsen Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be3
The King's Indian Defense: Larsen Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E90, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. 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 223 times by this move order. White won 45%, 6% were drawn and Black won 49%. The most popular continuation is 6… e5 (24% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.33 (Stockfish, depth 45; best line 6… e5 7. d5 Ng4 8. Bg5 f6 9. Bh4)
- ECO
- E90
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/ppp1ppbp/3p1np1/8/2PPP3/2N1BN2/PP3PPP/R2QKB1R b KQ - 3 6- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 51 | |
| 1500-1999 | 141 | |
| 2000+ | 31 | |
| All | 223 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… e5 | 53 (24%) | |
| 6… Nbd7 | 44 (20%) | |
| 6… Bg4 | 34 (15%) | |
| 6… Nc6 | 27 (12%) | |
| 6… Re8 | 16 (7%) | |
| 6… Ng4 | 13 (6%) | |
| 6… c5 | 9 (4%) | |
| 6… c6 | 7 (3%) |
Master games
145 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 39%, draw 26%, Black 35%). The strongest:
- GM Alexandr Predke (2689) – GM Richard Rapport (2731) 1/2-1/2 · World Rapid 2023 · 2023-12-28
- GM Richard Rapport (2752) – GM Rauf Mamedov (2648) 1/2-1/2 · 35th ECC Open 2019 · 2019-11-14
- GM David Paravyan (2653) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2728) 0-1 · Katara Bullet Final 2020 · 2020-08-26
- GM Alexandr Predke (2689) – GM Raunak Sadhwani (2654) 1/2-1/2 · World Blitz 2023 · 2023-12-30
- GM Sanan Sjugirov (2699) – GM Rafael Leitao (2592) 1-0 · Titled Tue 27th Jun Late · 2023-06-27
Search all games of the King's Indian Defense: Larsen Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Pepekan (2502) – Shahin_Za_Shiraz (2554) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
- Pepekan (2520) – InstructorSahMd (2500) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- Mexico-Cuba (2472) – chessasttter (2515) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Rare Defenses 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3
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.