King's Indian Defense
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3
The King's Indian Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO E61, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3. Black is to move. 6 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 53,484 times by this move order. White won 48%, 5% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 3… Bg7 (73% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.18 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 3… d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4)
- ECO
- E61
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pppppp1p/5np1/8/2PP4/2N5/PP2PPPP/R1BQKBNR b KQkq - 1 3- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 6,480 | |
| 1500-1999 | 28,320 | |
| 2000+ | 18,684 | |
| All | 53,484 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… Bg7 | 39,117 (73%) | |
| 3… d5 Grünfeld Defense | 11,809 (22%) | |
| 3… d6 | 2,008 (4%) | |
| 3… c5 | 236 (0%) | |
| 3… c6 | 162 (0%) | |
| 3… e6 | 80 (0%) | |
| 3… b6 | 30 (0%) | |
| 3… a6 | 9 (0%) |
Master games
7,544 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 19%, Black 40%). The strongest:
- Reckless 0.10.0-dev-b5462f11 (3763) – Stockfish dev-20260318-d173a06 (3807) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Superfinal 2026 · 2026-04-12
- Stockfish dev-20260318-d173a06 (3807) – Reckless 0.10.0-dev-b5462f11 (3763) 1-0 · TCEC 29 Superfinal 2026 · 2026-04-12
- Stockfish dev-20260318-d173a06 (3807) – Reckless 0.10.0-dev-b5462f11 (3763) 1-0 · TCEC 29 Superfinal 2026 · 2026-04-01
- Reckless 0.10.0-dev-b5462f11 (3763) – Stockfish dev-20260318-d173a06 (3807) 1-0 · TCEC 29 Superfinal 2026 · 2026-03-31
- Stoofvlees II a14 (3730) – Komodo 2551.00 (3743) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 18 Premier 2020 · 2020-05-29
Search all games of the King's Indian Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- vistagusta (2832) – winx_m (2921) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- GM cutemouse83 (2975) – GM Elda64 (2738) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- NM Andrey11976 (2787) – Nana_jede_cevape (2896) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Indian Defense: West Indian Defense 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6
Continuations
- Grünfeld Defense D80 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5
- King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation (3… Bg7 4. e4) E70 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4
- King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Delayed Fianchetto E62 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Nf3 d6 5. g3
- King's Indian Defense: Smyslov Variation E61 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Nf3 d6 5. Bg5
- King's Indian Defense: Semi-Classical Variation E61 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Nf3 O-O 5. e3 d6 6. Be2
- Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Delayed Exchange Variation (7… c5 8. O-O) D75 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Nf3 O-O 5. g3 d5 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. Bg2 c5 8. 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: 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: Fianchetto Variation, Carlsbad Variation E62
- King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Kavalek Defense E62
- King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Larsen Defense 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.