King's Indian Defense: Petrosian Variation, Normal Defense
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. d5 Nbd7
The King's Indian Defense: Petrosian Variation, Normal Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO E93, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. d5 Nbd7. 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 59 times by this move order. White won 59%, 2% were drawn and Black won 39%. The most popular continuation is 8. O-O (53% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.58 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 8. Be3 Ng4 9. Bg5 f6 10. Bh4 Nh6)
- ECO
- E93
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/pppn1pbp/3p1np1/3Pp3/2P1P3/2N2N2/PP2BPPP/R1BQK2R w KQ - 1 8- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. d5 Nbd7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 4 | |
| 1500-1999 | 24 | |
| 2000+ | 31 | |
| All | 59 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8. O-O | 31 (53%) | |
| 8. Bg5 | 10 (17%) | |
| 8. Be3 | 7 (12%) | |
| 8. b4 | 5 (8%) | |
| 8. h3 | 5 (8%) | |
| 8. Bd2 | 1 (2%) |
Master games
161 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 57%, draw 13%, Black 30%). The strongest:
- GM Anish Giri (2780) – GM Richard Rapport (2725) 1/2-1/2 · chess.com IoM Masters · 2018-10-27
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2796) – GM Ivan Saric (2690) 1-0 · SuperUnited CRO Blitz 2024 · 2024-07-13
- GM Danyyil Dvirnyy (2530) – GM Hans Moke Niemann (2698) 1/2-1/2 · 3rd elllobregat Open 2022 · 2022-12-07
- IM Adlane Arab (2439) – GM Bassem Amin (2633) 1/2-1/2 · ch-Africa 2015 · 2015-05-06
- IM Daniel Dardha (2445) – GM Manuel Perez Candelario (2612) 1-0 · TCh-POR Div1 Final 2020 · 2020-08-23
Highest-rated Lichess games
- VIPA21 (2594) – Toril_DC (2414) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- se5eimaiekei (2394) – FM Lector118 (2570) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- cfif5 (2433) – Chepika8 (2460) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
King's Indian Defense: Petrosian Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. d5
Continuations
- King's Indian Defense: Petrosian Variation, Keres Defense E93 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. d5 Nbd7 8. Bg5 h6 9. Bh4 g5 10. Bg3 Nh5 11. h4
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.