Caissa Codex
E62

King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Kavalek Defense

Chess diagram: King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Kavalek Defense after 7…Qa5

Type a move and press Enter: e4, Nf3, O-O, or from and to squares like g1f3 (e7e8q to promote). The board is also played with the mouse.

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Statistics from Lichess

106,554 games: White 44.5% / Draw 7.0% / Black 48.5%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
42,15342K
17,89318K
13,58314K
6,0646,064
5,1455,145
4,8114,811
4,6044,604
3,0353,035

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 14, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.68 White is slightly better

Best play: 8. e4 Qh5 9. Qb3 e5 10. dxe5 dxe5 11. Be3 Re8 12. Rad1 Bh6

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

Overview

King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Kavalek Defense (ECO E62, Indian Defenses) is a variation of the King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O c6 7. Nc3 Qa5 (7 moves).

In 106,554 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 44.5%, Black 48.5% and 7.0% were drawn. White's most played move here is 8. e4, in 40% of those games.

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

8. h3 scores best for White: 51.3%, with White winning 47.6% and Black 45.0% of 18K games. The most played, 8. e4, scores 49.7% in 42K games, and 8. Bd2 scores lowest: 42.1%. Stockfish's first choice is 8. e4.

Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: White's wins plus half the draws, in rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500. How to play against other popular openings

Other lines from the same position

Instead of 4…O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O c6 7. Nc3 Qa5, the position after King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation also goes on to:

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Kavalek Defense (E62)”. Lichess data as of 14 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/kings-indian-defense-fianchetto-variation-kavalek-defense

https://chesscodex.org/openings/kings-indian-defense-fianchetto-variation-kavalek-defense