Caissa Codex
E62

King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Larsen Defense

Chess diagram: King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Larsen Defense after 7…Bf5

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

88,809 games: White 46.3% / Draw 7.7% / Black 46.0%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
27,39027K
20,15920K
6,3876,387
6,3266,326
6,1116,111
5,9785,978
4,2154,215
3,4923,492

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 27, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.37 White is slightly better

Best play: 8. Re1 Ne4 9. Qb3 Nxc3 10. bxc3 Qb6 11. e4 Bg4 12. h3 Bxf3

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, Larsen Defense (ECO E62, Indian Defenses) is a variation of the King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Delayed Fianchetto, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Nf3 d6 5. g3 O-O 6. Bg2 c6 7. O-O Bf5 (7 moves).

In 88,809 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 46.3%, Black 46.0% and 7.7% were drawn. White's most played move here is 8. Re1, in 31% of those games.

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

8. Ne1 scores best for White: 55.2%, with White winning 50.5% and Black 40.2% of 6,326 games. The most played, 8. Re1, scores 49.5% in 27K games, and 8. Qb3 scores lowest: 49.3%. Stockfish's first choice is 8. Re1.

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 5…O-O 6. Bg2 c6 7. O-O Bf5, the position after King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Delayed Fianchetto also goes on to:

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Larsen Defense (E62)”. Lichess data as of 27 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/kings-indian-defense-fianchetto-variation-larsen-defense

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