King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Byrne Defense
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Be3 c6 7. Bd3 a6
The King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Byrne Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO E81, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Be3 c6 7. Bd3 a6. It is a line of the King's Indian Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 6 times by this move order. White won 83%, 0% were drawn and Black won 17%. The most popular continuation is 8. Nge2 (50% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.33 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 8. a4 c5 9. d5 e6 10. Nge2 exd5)
- ECO
- E81
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/1p2ppbp/p1pp1np1/8/2PPP3/2NBBP2/PP4PP/R2QK1NR w KQ - 0 8- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Be3 c6 7. Bd3 a6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 1 | |
| 2000+ | 5 | |
| All | 6 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8. Nge2 | 3 (50%) | |
| 8. a4 | 2 (33%) | |
| 8. Qd2 | 1 (17%) |
Master games
21 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 43%, draw 9%, Black 48%). The strongest:
- GM Daniele Vocaturo (2604) – GM Vitaly Teterev (2487) 1/2-1/2 · 18th ch-EUR Indiv 2017 · 2017-06-08
- GM Kamil Miton (2614) – IM Pawel Weichhold (2395) 1-0 · TCh-POL Ekstraliga 2016 · 2016-09-24
- GM Kevel Oliva Castaneda (2511) – IM Alexey Fernandez Cardoso (2436) 0-1 · Guillermo Garcia Prem 1 · 2018-05-24
- FM Clemens, Dr. Rietze (2293) – GM Manuel Petrosyan (2574) 0-1 · 22nd OIBM 2018 · 2018-10-31
- IM Jan Sodoma (2330) – IM Tamas Petenyi (2445) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-CZE 1 Liga Zapad · 2015-02-15
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FM bangalibabu (2473) – GospodinPJ (2400) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- Zaur99 (2268) – TempesTz7 (2306) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Zorikov_EV (2128) – Sakura_Hoshi_Hideo (2094) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Normal Defense 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O
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.