King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Aronin-Taimanov Defense
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nc6
The King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Aronin-Taimanov Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO E97, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nc6. It is a line of the King's Indian Defense. White is to move. 4 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 318 times by this move order. White won 52%, 7% were drawn and Black won 41%. The most popular continuation is 8. d5 (90% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.54 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 8. d5 Ne7 9. b4 a5 10. bxa5 Rxa5)
- ECO
- E97
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/ppp2pbp/2np1np1/4p3/2PPP3/2N2N2/PP2BPPP/R1BQ1RK1 w - - 2 8- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nc6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 7 | |
| 1500-1999 | 72 | |
| 2000+ | 239 | |
| All | 318 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8. d5 | 285 (90%) | |
| 8. Be3 | 17 (5%) | |
| 8. dxe5 | 10 (3%) | |
| 8. h3 | 4 (1%) | |
| 8. Re1 | 2 (1%) |
Master games
670 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 43%, draw 29%, Black 28%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2872) – GM Alexander Grischuk (2777) 1/2-1/2 · World Blitz 2019 · 2019-12-30
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2760) – GM Teimour Radjabov (2793) 1-0 · SportAccord Blindfold Men 2012 · 2012-12-19
- GM Li Chao2 (2691) – GM Richard Rapport (2735) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-CHN 2019 · 2019-07-27
- GM Alexander Riazantsev (2651) – GM Alexander Grischuk (2752) 1/2-1/2 · 69th ch-RUS 2016 · 2016-10-26
- GM Manuel Petrosyan (2637) – GM Alexander Grischuk (2764) 0-1 · Titled Tue 22nd Feb Early · 2022-02-22
Highest-rated Lichess games
- 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
- GM petrovich_gm (2608) – IM MassterofMayhem (2619) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
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, Bayonet Attack E97 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d5 Ne7 9. b4
- King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Classical System E98 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d5 Ne7 9. Ne1
- King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Korchnoi Attack E97 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d5 Ne7 9. Bd2
- King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Modern System E97 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d5 Ne7 9. Nd2
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.