King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation
The Fianchetto Variation of the King's Indian Defense is 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3, usually followed by 4...O-O 5.Bg2 d6 6.O-O. Read the guide
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Statistics from Lichess
1,223,173 games: White 49.1% / Draw 6.6% / Black 44.3%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 742,700743K | ||
| 313,412313K | ||
| 75,51776K | ||
| 47,23347K | ||
| 21,82522K | ||
| 12,15512K | ||
| 5,6015,601 | ||
| 1,3391,339 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 29, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.16 The position is about equal
Best play: 4... O-O 5. Bg2 c6 6. O-O d5 7. cxd5 cxd5 8. Nc3 Nc6 9. Ne5
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
Rating changes little here: White scores 52% both under 1400 and at 2200 and up, and 57% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 68K | |
| 1400–1799 | 286K | |
| 1800–2199 | 690K | |
| 2200 and up | 347K | |
| Masters, over the board | 18K |
Master games
- Carlsen, M. – Gelfand, B.
- Mamedyarov, S. – Carlsen, M.
- Aronian, L. – Carlsen, M.
- Carlsen, M. – Nakamura, H.
- Carlsen, M. – Giri, A.
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
Description
The Fianchetto Variation of the King's Indian Defense is 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3, usually followed by 4...O-O 5.Bg2 d6 6.O-O. White develops the light-squared bishop on g2. It is one of the most popular lines at grandmaster level, and Viktor Korchnoi was once its best-known practitioner.
The idea
The variation is played on completely different lines from other King's Indian systems. With the bishop on g2 White's kingside is better defended than usual, so Black's normal kingside attack can hardly succeed. Black's main plans aim at the centre with ...e5, or at the weakness on c4, the Achilles heel of the fianchetto lines.
Main lines
- 6...Nbd7 prepares ...e5. In the Gallagher Variation play goes 7.Nc3 e5 8.e4 exd4 9.Nxd4 Re8 10.h3 a6, preparing ...Rb8, ...c5 and ...b5. On move eight Black can also play 8...c6 or 8...a6.
- 6...Nc6 7.Nc3 a6 8.d5 Na5 puts the knight on the rim, against the old rule, to press against c4. Hundreds of master games have continued 9.Nd2 c5 10.Qc2 Rb8 11.b3 b5 12.Bb2 bxc4 13.bxc4 Bh6 14.f4 e5!
A trap in the Panno line
In the line above, 14.e3 instead of 14.f4 runs into 14...Bf5, a trap that counts Mark Taimanov among its victims: White must now lose material, as there is no good interposition.
The numbers
On Lichess White wins 49.1% of the 1.2 million games and Black 44.3%. The gap is similar at both ends of the rating range: 50.5% against 45.6% under 1400 and 47.9% against 43.5% from 2200 up. In 18,221 master games over the board White won 35.7%, Black 20.9%, and 43.5% were drawn.
Suggest an improvement or report a mistake
How to play against the King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation
The most played answer, 4…O-O, also scores best for Black: 48.0%, with Black winning 44.7% and White 48.6% of 743K games. Of the main answers, 4…d5 scores lowest: 46.7%. Stockfish's first choice is also 4…O-O.
Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: Black's wins plus half the draws, in rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500. How to play against other popular openings
Popularity by year
The King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation has gained ground since 2016: 0.049% of Lichess games in 2025, up from 0.036%.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.036% | 12,827 |
| 2017 | 0.044% | 24,407 |
| 2018 | 0.054% | 42,615 |
| 2019 | 0.052% | 65,381 |
| 2020 | 0.052% | 153,691 |
| 2021 | 0.043% | 168,902 |
| 2022 | 0.045% | 170,654 |
| 2023 | 0.046% | 171,375 |
| 2024 | 0.045% | 162,642 |
| 2025 | 0.049% | 171,620 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.053% | 58,129 |
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
Variations (9)
- E67 Classical Fianchetto 4…O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Nc3 e5
- E64 Double Fianchetto Attack 4…d6 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Nc3 e5 8. b3
- E64 Hungarian Variation 4…d6 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Nc3 a6
- E62 Kavalek Defense 4…O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O c6 7. Nc3 Qa5
- E63 Panno Variation 4…O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O Nc6 7. Nc3 a6
- E64 Pterodactyl Variation 4…c5 5. Bg2 Qa5+
- E62 Uhlmann-Szabo System 4…O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O Nc6 7. Nc3 e5
- E64 Yugoslav System 4…d6 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O c5
- E65 Yugoslav Variation 4…O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O c5 7. Nc3
All 16 named lines that continue from here
- E67 Classical Fianchetto 7 moves
- E64 Double Fianchetto Attack 8 moves
- E64 Hungarian Variation 7 moves
- E62 Kavalek Defense 7 moves
- E63 Panno Variation 7 moves
- E64 Pterodactyl Variation 5 moves
- E62 Uhlmann-Szabo System 7 moves
- E64 Yugoslav System 6 moves
- E65 Yugoslav Variation 7 moves
- E68 King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Classical Variation 8 moves
- E63 Blockade Line 10 moves
- E63 Donner Line 13 moves
- E63 Korchnoi Line 10 moves
- E66 Advance Line 8 moves
- E65 Exchange Line 8 moves
- E69 King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Classical Main Line 9 moves
Sources
- History and theory: adapted from the Wikipedia article King's Indian Defence, version of 23 September 2026, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Results: Lichess opening explorer, figures collected from September to November 2026.
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation (E60)”. Lichess data as of 29 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/kings-indian-defense-fianchetto-variation