King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation (7… Nbd7 8. Re1)
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
The King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E95, reached after 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. 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 3 times by this move order. White won 67%, 0% were drawn and Black won 33%. The most popular continuation is 8… c6 (33% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.36 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 8… Re8 9. Bf1 exd4 10. Nxd4 Ne5 11. Rb1)
- ECO
- E95
- Moves
- 15 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/pppn1pbp/3p1np1/4p3/2PPP3/2N2N2/PP2BPPP/R1BQR1K1 b - - 3 8- PGN
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
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2000+ | 3 | |
| All | 3 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8… c6 | 1 (33%) | |
| 8… exd4 | 1 (33%) | |
| 8… Qe7 | 1 (33%) |
Master games
73 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 38%, draw 32%, Black 30%). The strongest:
- GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek (2736) – GM Gawain C B Maroroa Jones (2664) 1/2-1/2 · 30th ECC Open 2014 · 2014-09-19
- GM Jon Ludvig Hammer (2618) – GM Murali Karthikeyan (2658) 0-1 · FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 · 2025-09-11
- GM Gukesh D (2578) – GM Ilia Smirin (2610) 1/2-1/2 · Riga Tech Open A 2021 · 2021-08-12
- GM Isan Reynaldo Ortiz Suarez (2576) – GM Omar Almeida Quintana (2520) 1/2-1/2 · 1st Simon Bolivar Open 2012 · 2012-09-27
- GM Vasif Durarbayli (2584) – FM Igor Malakhov (2429) 1/2-1/2 · Chigorin Memorial · 2012-10-30
Search all games of the King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Lvictor (2415) – financieru (2461) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- trotsky2 (2387) – jabolani19 (2241) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- HerBoris (2174) – ck3ckyy (2085) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
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
Continuations
- King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Positional Defense, Main Line E96 · 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 c6 9. Bf1 a5
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.