King's Indian Defense: Makogonov Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. h3
The King's Indian Defense: Makogonov Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E71, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. h3. 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 2,173 times by this move order. White won 51%, 6% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 5… O-O (83% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.54 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 5… Nbd7 6. g4 e5 7. d5 Nc5 8. Qc2)
- ECO
- E71
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
rnbqk2r/ppp1ppbp/3p1np1/8/2PPP3/2N4P/PP3PP1/R1BQKBNR b KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. h3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 165 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,156 | |
| 2000+ | 852 | |
| All | 2,173 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… O-O | 1,800 (83%) | |
| 5… Nbd7 | 161 (7%) | |
| 5… Nc6 | 50 (2%) | |
| 5… c6 | 39 (2%) | |
| 5… e5 | 31 (1%) | |
| 5… c5 | 27 (1%) | |
| 5… b6 | 23 (1%) | |
| 5… h5 | 9 (0%) |
Master games
3,134 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 46%, draw 20%, Black 34%). The strongest:
- Stockfish dev-20241122-b7f17346 (3677) – KomodoDragon 3.3 (3583) 1-0 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-11-28
- KomodoDragon 3.3 (3583) – Stockfish dev-20241122-b7f17346 (3677) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-11-26
- LCZero 0.30-dag-9a9c42d_784968 (3599) – Stockfish dev16_20221027 (3625) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 23 Superfinal 2022 · 2022-11-06
- Stockfish dev16_20221027 (3625) – LCZero 0.30-dag-9a9c42d_784968 (3599) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 23 Superfinal 2022 · 2022-11-06
- Ethereal 14.06 (3532) – Koivisto 9.2 (3493) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 24 Premier 2023 · 2023-03-18
Search all games of the King's Indian Defense: Makogonov Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Juan_Delasala (2727) – IM shuriks91 (2849) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- GM abhijeet1610 (2771) – Alpha_777 (2767) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- Mysterious_Spy (2793) – LATRANCA (2743) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation (4. e4 d6) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6
Continuations
- King's Indian Defense: Karpov System E71 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. h3 O-O 6. Be3
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.