King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation (4… d6 5. f3)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3
The King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E80, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3. It is a line of the King's Indian Defense. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 2,758 times by this move order. White won 52%, 5% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 5… O-O (85% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.26 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 5… O-O 6. Nge2 c5 7. Be3 Qa5 8. Nc1)
- ECO
- E80
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
rnbqk2r/ppp1ppbp/3p1np1/8/2PPP3/2N2P2/PP4PP/R1BQKBNR b KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 91 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,235 | |
| 2000+ | 1,432 | |
| All | 2,758 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… O-O Sämisch Variation, Normal Defense | 2,348 (85%) | |
| 5… Nbd7 | 132 (5%) | |
| 5… c6 | 69 (3%) | |
| 5… Nc6 | 53 (2%) | |
| 5… e5 | 42 (2%) | |
| 5… c5 | 33 (1%) | |
| 5… b6 | 18 (1%) | |
| 5… Nfd7 | 17 (1%) |
Master games
720 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 52%, draw 20%, Black 28%). The strongest:
- LCZero v0.24-sv-t60-3010 (3840) – AllieStein v0.6-n14.3beta (3815) 1/2-1/2 · 5th TCEC Cup 2020 · 2020-04-27
- AllieStein v0.6-n14.3beta (3815) – LCZero v0.24-sv-t60-3010 (3840) 1/2-1/2 · 5th TCEC Cup 2020 · 2020-04-27
- Reckless 0.10.0-dev-b5462f11 (3763) – Stockfish dev-20260318-d173a06 (3807) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Superfinal 2026 · 2026-04-07
- Stockfish dev-20260318-d173a06 (3807) – Reckless 0.10.0-dev-b5462f11 (3763) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Superfinal 2026 · 2026-04-07
- LCZero0.31-dag-4d98c58-BT5-3700000 (3692) – Berserk20250622 (3650) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 28 Premier 2025 · 2025-08-03
Search all games of the King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Nut5105 (2685) – NeuroChess-Academie (2692) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- FM Superfm1 (2621) – TimeBombMan (2751) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- JAGMM (2650) – feetquestionwhither (2649) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation (4. e4 d6) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6
Continuations
- King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Normal Defense E81 · 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.