King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Rare Defenses
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3
The King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Rare Defenses is a chess opening classified as ECO E90, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3. It is a line of the King's Indian Defense. Black is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 5,956 times by this move order. White won 49%, 5% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 5… O-O (83% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.45 (Stockfish, depth 48; best line 5… O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O a5 8. Be3)
- ECO
- E90
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
rnbqk2r/ppp1ppbp/3p1np1/8/2PPP3/2N2N2/PP3PPP/R1BQKB1R b KQkq - 1 5- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 914 | |
| 1500-1999 | 3,120 | |
| 2000+ | 1,922 | |
| All | 5,956 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… O-O | 4,929 (83%) | |
| 5… Bg4 | 409 (7%) | |
| 5… Nbd7 | 313 (5%) | |
| 5… Nc6 | 86 (1%) | |
| 5… c5 | 58 (1%) | |
| 5… c6 | 54 (1%) | |
| 5… b6 | 38 (1%) | |
| 5… e5 | 27 (0%) |
Master games
3,437 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 47%, draw 22%, Black 31%). The strongest:
- Komodo 2503.05 (3912) – LCZero v0.24-sv-t60-3010 (3958) 1-0 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2020-04-08
- LCZero v0.24-sv-t60-3010 (3958) – Komodo 2503.05 (3912) 1-0 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2020-04-04
- ScorpioNN 3.0.7.1 (3812) – KomodoMCTS 2503.05 (3809) 1-0 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2020-03-31
- KomodoMCTS 2503.05 (3809) – ScorpioNN 3.0.7.1 (3812) 1-0 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2020-03-28
- LCZero 0.31-dag-c93c6a8-BT4-61 (3652) – Stockfish dev-20250118-8e3e22b (3683) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Theory Bonus · 2025-01-24
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Dmiktor (2770) – hyo_lee (2678) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- Juan_Delasala (2758) – GM AtalikS (2649) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- AnibalBarca7 (2697) – AlwaysLookingForMore (2703) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 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: Larsen Variation E90 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be3
- King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation (5… O-O 6. Be2) E91 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2
- King's Indian Defense: Zinnowitz Variation E90 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Bg5
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.