E60

King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Immediate Fianchetto

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Statistics from Lichess

744,437 games: White 49.3% / Draw 6.5% / Black 44.2%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	608,109608K
	76,51677K
	28,00228K
	20,30420K
	9,3839,383
	764764
	453453
	394394

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 31, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.08 The position is about equal

Best play: 3... c6 4. Nc3 d5 5. cxd5 cxd5 6. Nf3 Bg7 7. Bg2 O-O 8. O-O

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 51% under 1400, 53% at 2200 and up and 58% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	40K
1400–1799	173K
1800–2199	400K
2200 and up	232K
Masters, over the board	13K

Master games

Ding Liren – Carlsen, M. ½–½, 2022
Ding Liren – Carlsen, M. ½–½, 2019
Ding, L. – Carlsen, M. 1–0, 2020
Ding, L. – Carlsen, M. ½–½, 2020
Carlsen, M. – Nepomniachtchi, I. ½–½, 2020

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: Fianchetto Variation, Immediate Fianchetto (ECO E60, Indian Defenses) is a variation of the Indian Defense: West Indian Defense, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 (3 moves).

In 744,437 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 49.3%, Black 44.2% and 6.5% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 3…Bg7, in 82% of those games.

It branches into 4 named variations; the most played are King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Debrecen Defense and King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Carlsbad Variation. In all, 5 named lines continue from it.

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Description

How to play against the King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Immediate Fianchetto

The most played answer, 3…Bg7, also scores best for Black: 47.5%, with Black winning 44.3% and White 49.3% of 608K games. Of the main answers, 3…d5 scores lowest: 46.8%. Stockfish's first choice is 3…c6.

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, Immediate Fianchetto peaked in 2018 at 0.036% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.027% in 2025.

0.023%0.027%0.036%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.023%	8,184
2017	0.028%	15,263
2018	0.036%	28,268
2019	0.034%	42,935
2020	0.031%	91,952
2021	0.028%	107,893
2022	0.03%	112,476
2023	0.028%	103,508
2024	0.026%	94,954
2025	0.027%	94,684
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.03%	32,573

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 (4)

All 5 named lines that continue from here

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Immediate Fianchetto (E60)”. Lichess data as of 31 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/kings-indian-defense-fianchetto-variation-immediate-fianchetto