King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation (3… Bg7 4. e4)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4
The King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E70, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4. 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 25,685 times by this move order. White won 50%, 5% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 4… d6 (81% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.40 (Stockfish, depth 46; best line 4… O-O 5. h3 d6 6. Be3 c5 7. Nf3)
- ECO
- E70
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqk2r/ppppppbp/5np1/8/2PPP3/2N5/PP3PPP/R1BQKBNR b KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2,765 | |
| 1500-1999 | 12,862 | |
| 2000+ | 10,058 | |
| All | 25,685 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… d6 Normal Variation (4. e4 d6) | 20,793 (81%) | |
| 4… O-O | 4,401 (17%) | |
| 4… c6 | 128 (0%) | |
| 4… d5 | 97 (0%) | |
| 4… e6 | 97 (0%) | |
| 4… c5 | 70 (0%) | |
| 4… b6 | 38 (0%) | |
| 4… Nc6 | 23 (0%) |
Master games
6,640 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 43%, draw 17%, Black 40%). The strongest:
- Komodo 2551.00 (3743) – LCZero v0.25.1-sv-t60-3010 (3809) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 18 Premier 2020 · 2020-05-30
- LCZero v0.25.1-sv-t60-3010 (3809) – Komodo 2551.00 (3743) 1-0 · TCEC 18 Premier 2020 · 2020-05-27
- LCZero 0.31-dag-4167c1e-BT4-6147500-it332 (3648) – Stockfish dev-20241122-b7f17346 (3677) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-12-04
- Stockfish dev-20241122-b7f17346 (3677) – LCZero 0.31-dag-4167c1e-BT4-6147500-it332 (3648) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-12-01
- KomodoDragon 2894.00 (3600) – Stockfish dev15_20220401 (3617) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 22 Superfinal 2022 · 2022-04-15
Search all games of the King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- NM Andrey11976 (2800) – Nana_jede_cevape (2883) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- NM Andrey11976 (2807) – GM sillyMASTER (2857) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- NM Andrey11976 (2801) – GM Niksss2023 (2828) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
King's Indian Defense 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3
Continuations
- King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation (4. e4 d6) E70 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6
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: 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.