King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation (5… O-O 6. Be2)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2
The King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E91, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2. It is a line of the King's Indian Defense. Black is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 2,827 times by this move order. White won 50%, 6% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 6… e5 (39% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.45 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 6… Na6 7. O-O e5 8. Be3 Qe7 9. d5)
- ECO
- E91
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/ppp1ppbp/3p1np1/8/2PPP3/2N2N2/PP2BPPP/R1BQK2R b KQ - 3 6- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 222 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,234 | |
| 2000+ | 1,371 | |
| All | 2,827 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… e5 Orthodox Variation (6. Be2 e5) | 1,115 (39%) | |
| 6… Nbd7 | 521 (18%) | |
| 6… Nc6 | 299 (11%) | |
| 6… c5 | 224 (8%) | |
| 6… Bg4 | 215 (8%) | |
| 6… Na6 Kazakh Variation | 155 (5%) | |
| 6… c6 | 93 (3%) | |
| 6… Re8 | 82 (3%) |
Master games
3,225 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 42%, draw 24%, Black 34%). The strongest:
- Stockfish dev15_20220302 (3612) – ScorpioNN 3.0.15.5 (3514) 1-0 · TCEC 22 Premier 2022 · 2022-03-18
- ScorpioNN 3.0.15.5 (3514) – Stockfish dev15_20220302 (3612) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 22 Premier 2022 · 2022-03-15
- Stockfish dev15_20220302 (3612) – Stoofvlees II a19 (3509) 1-0 · TCEC 22 Premier 2022 · 2022-03-11
- Stoofvlees II a19 (3509) – Stockfish dev15_20220302 (3612) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 22 Premier 2022 · 2022-03-09
- Ethereal13.07_NNUE-15EE (3497) – LCZero0.28.0-rc1_69146 (3614) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 21 Premier 2021 · 2021-07-03
Search all games of the King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Dmiktor (2770) – hyo_lee (2678) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- Juan_Delasala (2758) – GM AtalikS (2649) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- AnibalBarca7 (2697) – AlwaysLookingForMore (2703) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Rare Defenses 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3
Continuations
- King's Indian Defense: Kazakh Variation E91 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 Na6
- King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation (6. Be2 e5) E92 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5
- King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Positional Defense, Closed Line E94 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 Nbd7 7. O-O e5 8. d5
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.