King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Classical System, Neo-Classical Line
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 Nd7 10. Be3
The King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Classical System, Neo-Classical Line is a chess opening classified as ECO E98, 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 8. d5 Ne7 9. Ne1 Nd7 10. Be3. 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 27 times by this move order. White won 52%, 15% were drawn and Black won 33%. The most popular continuation is 10… f5 (93% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.59 (Stockfish, depth 36; best line 10… Kh8 11. f3 f5 12. b4 a5 13. a3)
- ECO
- E98
- Moves
- 19 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/pppnnpbp/3p2p1/3Pp3/2P1P3/2N1B3/PP2BPPP/R2QNRK1 b - - 4 10- PGN
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 Nd7 10. Be3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 7 | |
| 2000+ | 20 | |
| All | 27 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 10… f5 | 25 (93%) | |
| 10… a5 | 2 (7%) |
Master games
514 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 46%, draw 18%, Black 36%). The strongest:
- LCZero 0.31-dag-c93c6a8-BT4-61 (3652) – Stockfish dev-20250118-8e3e22b (3683) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Theory Bonus · 2025-01-24
- Integral7.0.0-dev-0d55bc02 (3576) – Stockfishdev-20250802-a37b38bd (3731) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 28 Premier 2025 · 2025-08-03
- Stockfishdev-20250802-a37b38bd (3731) – Integral7.0.0-dev-0d55bc02 (3576) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 28 Premier 2025 · 2025-08-03
- Igel 3.5.5 (3502) – LCZero 0.31-dag-5107404-T2-5230000 (3633) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 25 Premier 2023 · 2023-09-06
- LCZero 0.31-dag-5107404-T2-5230000 (3633) – Igel 3.5.5 (3502) 1-0 · TCEC 25 Premier 2023 · 2023-09-06
Highest-rated Lichess games
- 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
- mi2497 (2531) – Sawa-169 (2498) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Classical System 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
Continuations
- King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Classical System, Kozul Gambit 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 Nd7 10. Be3 f5 11. f3 f4 12. Bf2 g5 13. Rc1 Ng6 14. c5
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.