Caissa Codex
E78

King's Indian Defense: Four Pawns Attack, Fluid Attack

Chess diagram: King's Indian Defense: Four Pawns Attack, Fluid Attack after 7. Be2

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

18,556 games: White 50.5% / Draw 6.1% / Black 43.5%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
14,03814K
1,4871,487
1,3711,371
358358
354354
262262
207207
149149

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 1, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.20 The position is about equal

Best play: 7... cxd4 8. Nxd4 Nc6 9. Be3 Bg4 10. Nxc6 Bxe2 11. Nxd8 Bxd1 12. Rxd1

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

Overview

King's Indian Defense: Four Pawns Attack, Fluid Attack (ECO E78, Indian Defenses) is a variation of the King's Indian Defense: Four Pawns Attack, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f4 O-O 6. Nf3 c5 7. Be2 (7 moves).

In 18,556 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 50.5%, Black 43.5% and 6.1% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 7…cxd4, in 76% of those games.

It continues into one named variation, King's Indian Defense: Four Pawns Attack, Exchange Variation.

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How to play against the King's Indian Defense: Four Pawns Attack, Fluid Attack

7…Bg4 scores best for Black: 48.8%, with Black winning 45.9% and White 48.3% of 1,371 games. The most played, 7…cxd4, scores 46.4% in 14K games, and 7…Nc6 scores lowest: 45.6%. Stockfish's first choice is 7…cxd4.

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

Variations (1)

Other lines from the same position

Instead of 5…O-O 6. Nf3 c5 7. Be2, the position after King's Indian Defense: Four Pawns Attack also goes on to:

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “King's Indian Defense: Four Pawns Attack, Fluid Attack (E78)”. Lichess data as of 1 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/kings-indian-defense-four-pawns-attack-fluid-attack

https://chesscodex.org/openings/kings-indian-defense-four-pawns-attack-fluid-attack