King's Indian Defense: Semi-Classical Variation, Queenside Storm Line
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Nf3 O-O 5. e3 d6 6. Be2 Nbd7 7. O-O e5 8. b4
The King's Indian Defense: Semi-Classical Variation, Queenside Storm Line is a chess opening classified as ECO E61, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Nf3 O-O 5. e3 d6 6. Be2 Nbd7 7. O-O e5 8. b4. It is a line of the King's Indian Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1 times by this move order. White won 0%, 0% were drawn and Black won 100%. The most popular continuation is 8… c6 (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.32 (Stockfish, depth 34; best line 8… a5 9. b5 Re8 10. dxe5 Ng4 11. Ba3)
- ECO
- E61
- Moves
- 15 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/pppn1pbp/3p1np1/4p3/1PPP4/2N1PN2/P3BPPP/R1BQ1RK1 b - - 0 8- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Nf3 O-O 5. e3 d6 6. Be2 Nbd7 7. O-O e5 8. b4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 1 | |
| All | 1 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8… c6 | 1 (100%) |
Master games
7 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 0%, draw 29%, Black 71%). The strongest:
- FM Emirhan Tarlabasi (2365) – CM Kushagra Mohan (2309) 0-1 · World Youth Open U16 2019 · 2019-10-06
- Reza Mashatan (2192) – IM Arash Tahbaz (2455) 0-1 · 16th Khazar Cup 2018 · 2018-02-27
- Reza Mashatan (2199) – Arya Omidi (2383) 1/2-1/2 · 2nd Aftab Cup Open 2018 · 2018-08-30
- Everson De Moura Araujo (2041) – FM Charvi A (2329) 0-1 · Titled Tue 25th Aug 2026 · 2026-08-25
- FM Arpad, Dr. Geller (2253) – Roland Mayer (2078) 1/2-1/2 · World Senior 65+ 2019 · 2019-11-15
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Lif3man (1831) – manu4ever88 (1802) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 600 + 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, 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, Exchange Variation 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.