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
The King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Classical System 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. It is a line of the King's Indian Defense. Black is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 114 times by this move order. White won 54%, 7% were drawn and Black won 39%. The most popular continuation is 9… Nd7 (58% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.52 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 9… Ne8 10. f3 f5 11. Be3 b6 12. a3)
- ECO
- E98
- Moves
- 17 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/ppp1npbp/3p1np1/3Pp3/2P1P3/2N5/PP2BPPP/R1BQNRK1 b - - 2 9- 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
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 26 | |
| 2000+ | 87 | |
| All | 114 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 9… Nd7 | 66 (58%) | |
| 9… Ne8 | 38 (33%) | |
| 9… a5 | 6 (5%) | |
| 9… a6 | 2 (2%) | |
| 9… h6 | 1 (1%) | |
| 9… c5 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
638 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 45%, draw 22%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- Reckless 0.10.0-dev-b5462f11 (3763) – Stockfish dev-20260318-d173a06 (3807) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Superfinal 2026 · 2026-03-30
- Stockfish dev-20260318-d173a06 (3807) – Reckless 0.10.0-dev-b5462f11 (3763) 1-0 · TCEC 29 Superfinal 2026 · 2026-03-30
- LCZero 0.28-dev+_69626 (3623) – Stockfish 14_202107131735 (3639) 1-0 · TCEC 21 Superfinal 2021 · 2021-08-05
- Stockfish 14_202107131735 (3639) – LCZero 0.28-dev+_69626 (3623) 1-0 · TCEC 21 Superfinal 2021 · 2021-08-05
- KomodoDragon 3.2 (3587) – Stockfish dev-20230903-b25d68f6 (3666) 1/2-1/2 · 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, 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
Continuations
- King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Classical System, Neo-Classical Line 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
- King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Classical System, Traditional Line 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
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.