King's Indian Defense: Four Pawns Attack
The Four Pawns Attack is 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f4: against the King's Indian Defense White puts four pawns side by side on c4, d4, e4 and f4. Read the guide
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Statistics from Lichess
2,362,496 games: White 50.1% / Draw 4.7% / Black 45.2%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 1,741,8331.7M | ||
| 163,575164K | ||
| 122,716123K | ||
| 108,258108K | ||
| 58,92559K | ||
| 45,16545K | ||
| 39,98540K | ||
| 25,33425K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 8, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.15 The position is about equal
Best play: 5... c5 6. d5 O-O 7. Nf3 e6 8. Be2 exd5 9. cxd5 Re8 10. e5
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 53% both under 1400 and at 2200 and up, and 56% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 66K | |
| 1400–1799 | 681K | |
| 1800–2199 | 1.6M | |
| 2200 and up | 241K | |
| Masters, over the board | 3,929 |
Master games
- Lautier, J. – Kasparov, G.
- Jobava, B. – Radjabov, T.
- Topalov, V. – Kasparov, G.
- Piket, J. – Shirov, A.
- Moranda, W. – Grischuk, 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 26, 2026
Description
The Four Pawns Attack is 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f4: against the King's Indian Defense White puts four pawns side by side on c4, d4, e4 and f4. It is White's most aggressive method against the King's Indian and was often seen in the 1920s.
The idea
With the fifth move White builds a massive centre, but at the cost of falling behind in development. If Black manages to open the position, White may find the centre overextended. Black's main answer is ...c5.
Main lines
After 5...O-O 6.Nf3 Black has two main choices.
- 6...c5, the main line. After 7.d5 e6 8.Be2 exd5 9.cxd5 Black has three established moves: 9...Bg4 has been a solid line, 9...Re8 can be justified with solid play, and 9...b5 leads to sharp, dangerous play.
- 6...Na6, the Modern Variation, prepares ...Nc5 with counterplay. It has done well when White answers with neutral moves such as 7.Bd3, while 7.e5 is the most aggressive plan against it.
The numbers
On Lichess White wins 50.1% of the 2.4 million games and Black 45.2%. The split hardly changes with rating: 51.0% against 45.8% under 1400, and 49.8% against 43.7% from 2200 up. In 3,929 master games over the board White won 38.8%, Black 26.8%, and 34.4% were drawn.
Suggest an improvement or report a mistake
How to play against the King's Indian Defense: Four Pawns Attack
The most played answer, 5…O-O, also scores best for Black: 48.5%, with Black winning 46.1% and White 49.0% of 1.7M games. Of the main answers, 5…Nbd7 scores lowest: 42.7%. Stockfish's first choice is 5…c5.
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: Four Pawns Attack peaked in 2018 at 0.12% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.085% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.093% | 33,369 |
| 2017 | 0.11% | 60,899 |
| 2018 | 0.12% | 94,237 |
| 2019 | 0.11% | 138,919 |
| 2020 | 0.1% | 306,917 |
| 2021 | 0.089% | 348,140 |
| 2022 | 0.088% | 331,008 |
| 2023 | 0.085% | 319,329 |
| 2024 | 0.085% | 304,623 |
| 2025 | 0.085% | 293,643 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.083% | 91,300 |
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 7 named lines that continue from here
- E76 Dynamic Attack 7 moves
- E78 Fluid Attack 7 moves
- E76 Modern Defense 5 moves
- E77 King's Indian Defense: Six Pawns Attack 10 moves
- E79 King's Indian Defense: Four Pawns Attack, Exchange Variation 9 moves
- E77 King's Indian Defense: Four Pawns Attack, Normal Attack 8 moves
- E77 King's Indian Defense: Four Pawns Attack, Florentine Gambit 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: Four Pawns Attack (E76)”. Lichess data as of 8 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/kings-indian-defense-four-pawns-attack