Caissa Codex
E63

King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Panno Variation, Donner Line

Chess diagram: King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Panno Variation, Donner Line after 13…Bh6

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.

Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.

Statistics from Lichess

1,301 games: White 48.3% / Draw 7.4% / Black 44.4%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
692692
346346
188188
5050
88
55
44
11

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 13, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.58 White is slightly better

Best play: 14. Ncb1 e5 15. Bc3 Nb7 16. e4 Nh5 17. Nf3 f5 18. exf5 Bxf5

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, Panno Variation, Donner Line (ECO E63, Indian Defenses) is a variation of the King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Panno Variation, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O Nc6 7. Nc3 a6 8. d5 Na5 9. Nd2 c5 10. Qc2 Rb8 11. b3 b5 12. Bb2 bxc4 13. bxc4 Bh6 (13 moves).

In 1,301 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 48.3%, Black 44.4% and 7.4% were drawn. White's most played move here is 14. f4, in 53% of those games.

Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.

Write a description or report a mistake
What would you like to send?

Markdown supported (headings ###, bold, lists, links). Submissions are reviewed before publishing.

How to play against the King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Panno Variation, Donner Line

14. Ncb1 scores best for White: 65.2%, with White winning 62.8% and Black 32.4% of 188 games. The most played, 14. f4, scores 54.8% in 692 games, and 14. e3 scores lowest: 43.1%. Stockfish's first choice is also 14. Ncb1.

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 8. d5 Na5 9. Nd2 c5 10. Qc2 Rb8 11. b3 b5 12. Bb2 bxc4 13. bxc4 Bh6, the position after King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Panno Variation also goes on to:

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Panno Variation, Donner Line (E63)”. Lichess data as of 13 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/kings-indian-defense-fianchetto-variation-panno-variation-donner-line

https://chesscodex.org/openings/kings-indian-defense-fianchetto-variation-panno-variation-donner-line