King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation (7. Nge2 c6)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Be3 e5 7. Nge2 c6
The King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E86, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Be3 e5 7. Nge2 c6. 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 14 times by this move order. White won 43%, 0% were drawn and Black won 57%. The most popular continuation is 8. Qd2 (93% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.69 (Stockfish, depth 36; best line 8. d5 Na6 9. Qd2 cxd5 10. cxd5 Nc5)
- ECO
- E86
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/pp3pbp/2pp1np1/4p3/2PPP3/2N1BP2/PP2N1PP/R2QKB1R w KQ - 0 8- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Be3 e5 7. Nge2 c6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 2 | |
| 2000+ | 12 | |
| All | 14 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8. Qd2 | 13 (93%) | |
| 8. d5 | 1 (7%) |
Master games
143 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 52%, draw 24%, Black 24%). The strongest:
- Stockfish 202008260719_nn-82215d0fd0df (3551) – Komodo 2576.00 (3505) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 19 Premier 2020 · 2020-09-11
- Komodo 2576.00 (3505) – Stockfish 202008260719_nn-82215d0fd0df (3551) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 19 Premier 2020 · 2020-09-08
- GM Constantin Lupulescu (2634) – GM Alexei Fedorov (2567) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-ROU 2013 · 2013-08-31
- GM Sasa Martinovic (2552) – GM Zdenko Kozul (2621) 0-1 · Croatian Cup 2022 · 2022-05-22
- GM Dmitry Bocharov (2602) – GM Alexei Fedorov (2565) 1-0 · 20th Voronezh Master Open · 2016-06-17
Search all games of the King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FM petrik05 (2699) – QVC64 (2473) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- Abdallah1990 (2483) – NeuroChess-Academie (2689) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- GM volodja49 (2436) – IM kc6 (2472) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Orthodox Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Be3 e5
Continuations
- King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Closed Variation, Main Line E89 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Be3 e5 7. Nge2 c6 8. d5 cxd5
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.