King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation
Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.
Statistics from Lichess
11,823,692 games: White 49.7% / Draw 5.1% / Black 45.2%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 9,197,4259.2M | ||
| 2,331,8672.3M | ||
| 77,21177K | ||
| 67,56968K | ||
| 54,71155K | ||
| 41,45541K | ||
| 25,97826K | ||
| 9,8949,894 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 10, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.50 White is slightly better
Best play: 4... d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Be3 a5 7. Nf3 Ng4 8. Bg5 h6 9. Bh4
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 52% under 1400, 53% at 2200 and up and 57% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 713K | |
| 1400–1799 | 3.8M | |
| 1800–2199 | 7.2M | |
| 2200 and up | 2.1M | |
| Masters, over the board | 74K |
Master games
- Carlsen, M. – Grischuk, A.
- Aronian, L. – Carlsen, M.
- Carlsen, M. – Ding, L.
- Ding, L. – Carlsen, M.
- Carlsen, M. – 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
Overview
King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation (ECO E70, Indian Defenses) is a variation of the King's Indian Defense, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 (4 moves).
In 11,823,692 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 49.7%, Black 45.2% and 5.1% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 4…d6, in 78% of those games.
It continues into one named variation. In all, 81 named lines continue from it.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
Write a description or report a mistake
How to play against the King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation
4…O-O scores best for Black: 48.1%, with Black winning 45.6% and White 49.4% of 2.3M games. The most played answer, 4…d6, scores lowest: 47.9% in 9.2M games. Stockfish's first choice is 4…d6.
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: Normal Variation peaked in 2018 at 0.63% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.41% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.48% | 172,627 |
| 2017 | 0.56% | 310,617 |
| 2018 | 0.63% | 492,330 |
| 2019 | 0.57% | 716,533 |
| 2020 | 0.54% | 1,583,858 |
| 2021 | 0.45% | 1,776,494 |
| 2022 | 0.44% | 1,634,655 |
| 2023 | 0.42% | 1,583,988 |
| 2024 | 0.41% | 1,470,005 |
| 2025 | 0.41% | 1,420,299 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.42% | 461,541 |
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 (1)
All 81 named lines that continue from here
No line matches.
Loading sub-variations…
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation (E70)”. Lichess data as of 10 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/kings-indian-defense-normal-variation