King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation (6… e5 7. O-O)

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O

The King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E94, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O. It is a line of the King's Indian Defense. Black is to move. 5 named lines continue from this position.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 494 times by this move order. White won 51%, 6% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 7… Nc6 (64% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.40 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 7… a5 8. Be3 Bg4 9. d5 Na6 10. a3)

ECO: E94
Moves: 13 plies
FEN: rnbq1rk1/ppp2pbp/3p1np1/4p3/2PPP3/2N2N2/PP2BPPP/R1BQ1RK1 b - - 1 7
PGN: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
0-1499	13	77%23%
1500-1999	117	52%43%
2000+	364	49%44%
All	494	51%43%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
7… Nc6 Orthodox Variation, Aronin-Taimanov Defense	318 (64%)	52%41%
7… exd4	84 (17%)	49%44%
7… Bg4	27 (5%)	52%44%
7… Nbd7	20 (4%)	55%45%
7… Na6 Orthodox Variation, Glek Defense	16 (3%)	31%63%
7… a5 Orthodox Variation, Ukrainian Defense	8 (2%)	50%12%38%
7… h6	7 (1%)	43%57%
7… Re8	6 (1%)	50%50%

Master games

1,556 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 27%, Black 32%). The strongest:

KomodoDragon 2894.00 (3600) – Stockfish dev15_20220401 (3617) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 22 Superfinal 2022 · 2022-04-16
Stockfish dev15_20220401 (3617) – KomodoDragon 2894.00 (3600) 1-0 · TCEC 22 Superfinal 2022 · 2022-04-16
Stoofvlees II b5 (3492) – KomodoDragon 3.2 (3587) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 25 Premier 2023 · 2023-09-06
KomodoDragon 3.2 (3587) – Stoofvlees II b5 (3492) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 25 Premier 2023 · 2023-09-06
GM Teimour Radjabov (2763) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2855) 1/2-1/2 · Meltwater Tour Final 2021 · 2021-10-02

Search all games of the King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation and its sub-variations

Highest-rated Lichess games

Minarque (2719) – SnoopyDoggy (2661) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
FM Crew12 (2698) – contrapunctus_XI (2659) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
AeroTraining (2655) – Italiangangster (2668) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s

Comes from

King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation (6. Be2 e5) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5

Continuations

King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Aronin-Taimanov Defense E97 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nc6
King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Donner Defense E94 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O c6
King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Glek Defense E94 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Na6
King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Ukrainian Defense E94 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O a5
King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation (7… Nbd7 8. Re1) E95 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nbd7 8. Re1

More King's Indian Defense lines (all)

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.