King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Classical System, Traditional 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. f3 f5
The King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Classical System, Traditional Line is a chess opening classified as ECO E99, 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. f3 f5. It is a line of the King's Indian Defense. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 16 times by this move order. White won 44%, 0% were drawn and Black won 56%. The most popular continuation is 11. g4 (56% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.64 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 11. Be3 b6 12. b4 Kh8 13. a3 a6)
- ECO
- E99
- Moves
- 20 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/pppnn1bp/3p2p1/3Ppp2/2P1P3/2N2P2/PP2B1PP/R1BQNRK1 w - - 0 11- 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. f3 f5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 7 | |
| 2000+ | 9 | |
| All | 16 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 11. g4 Orthodox Variation, Classical System, Benko Attack | 9 (56%) | |
| 11. Be3 | 6 (38%) | |
| 11. b4 | 1 (6%) |
Master games
43 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 42%, draw 18%, Black 40%). The strongest:
- Stockfish 20210113 (3601) – LCZero 0.27.0d-Tilps-dje-magic_JH.94-100 (3586) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 20 Superfinal 2020 · 2021-01-22
- GM So, W. (2779) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2814) 0-1 · 3rd Sinquefield Cup 2015 · 2015-08-29
- GM So, W. (2719) – GM Loek Van Wely (2672) 1-0 · 76th Tata Steel Masters · 2014-01-23
- GM So, W. (2744) – GM Daniele Vocaturo (2584) 1-0 · ACP Golden Classic 2014 · 2014-07-14
- GM Francesco Sonis (2539) – GM Gawain C B Maroroa Jones (2633) 0-1 · 46th Olympiad 2026 · 2026-09-27
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Bogdanovi (2489) – juanraguilera (2431) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
- Deninho (2384) – EdVaRd08 (2471) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- Charlie_Manjerico (2420) – michaelL1987 (2412) 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, Benko Attack E99 · 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. f3 f5 11. g4
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.