King's Indian Defense: Semi-Classical Variation, Benoni Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Nf3 O-O 5. e3 d6 6. Be2 c6
The King's Indian Defense: Semi-Classical Variation, Benoni Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E60, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Nf3 O-O 5. e3 d6 6. Be2 c6. 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 67%, 0% were drawn and Black won 33%. The most popular continuation is 7. O-O (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.46 (Stockfish, depth 29; best line 7. e4 e5 8. d5 a5 9. h3 Na6)
- ECO
- E60
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/pp2ppbp/2pp1np1/8/2PP4/2N1PN2/PP2BPPP/R1BQK2R w KQ - 0 7- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Nf3 O-O 5. e3 d6 6. Be2 c6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 3 | |
| 2000+ | 2 | |
| All | 6 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. O-O | 6 (100%) |
Master games
2 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 50%, draw 0%, Black 50%). The strongest:
- Jens Gade (1487) – GM Gudmundur Kjartansson (2470) 0-1 · 21st ch-EUR Indiv 2021 · 2021-08-26
- CM Oscar Humberto Ardila (1971) – CM Jan Enrique Zepeda Berlanga (1939) 1-0 · Titled Tue 30th Jul Late · 2024-07-30
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Vagan222 (2034) – Naman_Ranjan1 (2089) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- lanti (2028) – mosaad0 (2035) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 600 + 0s
- reza2014 (1928) – byooracle (2011) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
King's Indian Defense: Semi-Classical Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Nf3 O-O 5. e3 d6 6. Be2
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, Hollywood Variation E60
- King's Indian Defense E61
- King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Benjamin Defense 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
- King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Carlsbad Variation E62
- King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Delayed Fianchetto E62
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.