E92

King's Indian Defense: Exchange Variation

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Statistics from Lichess

256,030 games: White 48.7% / Draw 9.8% / Black 41.6%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	254,800255K
	671671
	189189
	111111
	7272
	5151
	3838
	2626

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 24, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.23 The position is about equal

Best play: 7... dxe5 8. O-O Nc6 9. Bg5 Bg4 10. Qxd8 Nxd8 11. Bxf6 Bxf6 12. Nd5

Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.

By rating

The stronger the players, the better this line does for White: White scores 49% under 1400, 56% at 2200 and up and 50% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	4,061
1400–1799	36K
1800–2199	150K
2200 and up	79K
Masters, over the board	2,383

Master games

Rated blitz, rapid and classical Lichess games by rating band, and over-the-board games of players rated 2200+ from the Lichess masters database, updated Sep 27, 2026

Overview

King's Indian Defense: Exchange Variation (ECO E92, Indian Defenses) is a variation of the King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. dxe5 (7 moves).

In 256,030 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 48.7%, Black 41.6% and 9.8% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 7…dxe5, in 100% of those games.

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Description

Popularity by year

The King's Indian Defense: Exchange Variation has lost ground since 2016: 0.0078% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.013% (its peak: 0.016% in 2018).

0.013%0.0078%0.016%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.013%	4,784
2017	0.014%	7,907
2018	0.016%	12,739
2019	0.014%	17,600
2020	0.014%	39,692
2021	0.01%	40,009
2022	0.0088%	33,190
2023	0.0083%	31,081
2024	0.0081%	28,998
2025	0.0078%	27,192
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.0078%	8,542

Share of rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500 (blitz, rapid and classical) that reach this position, by year; 2026: January to April. Which openings are rising and falling

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “King's Indian Defense: Exchange Variation (E92)”. Lichess data as of 24 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/kings-indian-defense-exchange-variation