King's Indian Defense: Larsen Variation
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Statistics from Lichess
451,833 games: White 45.3% / Draw 5.2% / Black 49.4%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 96,90097K | ||
| 78,34378K | ||
| 65,39365K | ||
| 64,20364K | ||
| 35,80536K | ||
| 24,68925K | ||
| 19,56120K | ||
| 18,39318K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 31, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.38 White is slightly better
Best play: 6... Ng4 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4 g5 9. Bg3 e5 10. Be2 Nc6 11. dxe5
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
The stronger the players, the better this line does for White: White scores 51% under 1400, 54% at 2200 and up and 56% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 60K | |
| 1400–1799 | 287K | |
| 1800–2199 | 246K | |
| 2200 and up | 32K | |
| Masters, over the board | 766 |
Master games
- Gukesh, D. – Caruana, F.
- Predke, A. – Rapport, R.
- Rapport, R. – Mamedov, R.
- Van Wely, L. – Ye, J.
- Azmaiparashvili, Z. – Smirin, I.
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 27, 2026
Overview
King's Indian Defense: Larsen Variation (ECO E90, Indian Defenses) is a variation of the King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Rare Defenses, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be3 (6 moves).
In 451,833 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 45.3%, Black 49.4% and 5.2% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 6…Nbd7, in 21% of those games.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
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How to play against the King's Indian Defense: Larsen Variation
6…Ng4 scores best for Black: 55.5%, with Black winning 52.8% and White 41.8% of 36K games. The most played, 6…Nbd7, scores 52.4% in 97K games, and 6…Bg4 scores lowest: 49.9%. Stockfish's first choice is also 6…Ng4.
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: Larsen Variation peaked in 2020 at 0.021% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.015% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.017% | 6,234 |
| 2017 | 0.018% | 9,806 |
| 2018 | 0.021% | 16,289 |
| 2019 | 0.021% | 25,636 |
| 2020 | 0.021% | 61,223 |
| 2021 | 0.019% | 75,795 |
| 2022 | 0.017% | 65,391 |
| 2023 | 0.017% | 62,634 |
| 2024 | 0.015% | 54,842 |
| 2025 | 0.015% | 51,010 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.015% | 16,058 |
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
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “King's Indian Defense: Larsen Variation (E90)”. Lichess data as of 31 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/kings-indian-defense-larsen-variation