King's Indian Defense: Steiner Attack (8… exd5 9. Nxd5)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Bg5 c5 7. d5 e6 8. Qd2 exd5 9. Nxd5
The King's Indian Defense: Steiner Attack 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. Bg5 c5 7. d5 e6 8. Qd2 exd5 9. Nxd5. 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 4 times by this move order. White won 0%, 0% were drawn and Black won 100%. The most popular continuation is 9… Be6 (50% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.16 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 9… Be6 10. Ne2 Bxd5 11. cxd5 Nbd7 12. Nc3)
- ECO
- E81
- Moves
- 17 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/pp3pbp/3p1np1/2pN2B1/2P1P3/5P2/PP1Q2PP/R3KBNR b KQ - 0 9- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Bg5 c5 7. d5 e6 8. Qd2 exd5 9. Nxd5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 2 | |
| 2000+ | 2 | |
| All | 4 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 9… Be6 | 2 (50%) | |
| 9… Nbd7 | 1 (25%) | |
| 9… Nc6 | 1 (25%) |
Master games
16 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 38%, draw 18%, Black 44%). The strongest:
- GM Gilberto Milos (2575) – GM Deivy Vera Siguenas (2503) 1-0 · Iberoamericano Chess24 · 2020-06-01
- WGM Olga Girya (2463) – WGM Wenjun Ju (2544) 0-1 · Geneva WGP 2013 · 2013-05-08
- IM Michael Wiedenkeller (2445) – IM Helgi Dam Ziska (2539) 1/2-1/2 · European Small Nations · 2016-04-08
- FM Lorenzo Lodici (2379) – IM Helgi Dam Ziska (2549) 0-1 · 7th Dolomiti Open 2016 · 2016-06-13
- WGM Aleksandra Goryachkina (2438) – FM Sergey Savitskiy (2363) 1-0 · 9th Ugra Governor's Cup · 2013-12-02
Search all games of the King's Indian Defense: Steiner Attack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Aleksey71 (2165) – MaRcRiS (2244) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 300 + 0s
- Massilia1970 (2019) – DambiBambi (2182) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- Rudzikun (1862) – selimsener (1907) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 300 + 0s
Comes from
Benoni Defense: King's Pawn Line, with Bg5 (6… c5 7. d5) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Bg5 c5 7. d5
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.