King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Modern 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. Nd2
The King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Modern System 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 8. d5 Ne7 9. Nd2. It is a line of the King's Indian Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 14 times by this move order. White won 50%, 0% were drawn and Black won 50%. The most popular continuation is 9… Ne8 (43% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.40 (Stockfish, depth 36; best line 9… a5 10. Rb1 Nd7 11. a3 f5 12. b4)
- ECO
- E97
- Moves
- 17 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/ppp1npbp/3p1np1/3Pp3/2P1P3/2N5/PP1NBPPP/R1BQ1RK1 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. Nd2
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 5 | |
| 2000+ | 9 | |
| All | 14 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 9… Ne8 | 6 (43%) | |
| 9… a5 | 3 (21%) | |
| 9… Nd7 | 3 (21%) | |
| 9… h6 | 1 (7%) | |
| 9… Nh5 | 1 (7%) |
Master games
155 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 48%, draw 24%, Black 28%). The strongest:
- GM Boris Gelfand (2751) – GM Leinier Dominguez Perez (2726) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE GP Tashkent · 2012-11-30
- GM Alexander G Beliavsky (2623) – GM Etienne Bacrot (2711) 1/2-1/2 · 16th ch-EUR Indiv 2015 · 2015-03-01
- GM Alexander G Beliavsky (2540) – GM Ivan Saric (2689) 1/2-1/2 · 27th TCh-CRO Div 1a 2018 · 2018-09-08
- GM Jingyao Tin (2562) – GM Gawain C B Maroroa Jones (2630) 1-0 · 9th Sunway Sitges 2022 · 2022-12-21
- GM Mariya Muzychuk (2552) – GM Kateryna Lagno (2549) 1-0 · Monaco WGP 2019 · 2019-12-05
Highest-rated Lichess games
- econpower (2596) – tough-guy (2534) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- kvadrik (2498) – SDM08 (2547) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- AkazaNS8 (2492) – alextihoretsk (2348) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 300 + 0s
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
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.