King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation 4. e4 d6
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Statistics from Lichess
13,819,448 games: White 49.6% / Draw 5.1% / Black 45.3%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Rare Defenses | 3,969,2364M | |
| King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation | 2,260,3092.3M | |
| King's Indian Defense: Four Pawns Attack | 2,258,4122.3M | |
| Standard Development | 1,575,2631.6M | |
| 1,161,2091.2M | ||
| King's Indian Defense: Makogonov Variation | 1,049,4611M | |
| 485,654486K | ||
| King's Indian Defense: Accelerated Averbakh Variation | 473,067473K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 22, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.53 White is slightly better
Best play: 5. Nf3 O-O 6. h3 e5 7. d5 Nh5 8. g3 f5 9. exf5 gxf5
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 worse this line does for Black: Black scores 50% under 1400, 47% at 2200 and up and 43% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 765K | |
| 1400–1799 | 4.4M | |
| 1800–2199 | 8.7M | |
| 2200 and up | 2.2M | |
| Masters, over the board | 76K |
Master games
- Carlsen, M. – Grischuk, A.
- Aronian, L. – Carlsen, M.
- Ding, L. – Carlsen, M.
- Carlsen, M. – Grischuk, A.
- So, W. – Carlsen, M.
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: Normal Variation, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 (4 moves).
In 13,819,448 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 49.6%, Black 45.3% and 5.1% were drawn. White's most played move here is 5. Nf3, in 29% of those games.
It branches into 8 named variations; the most played are King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Rare Defenses and King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation. In all, 80 named lines continue from it.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
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How to answer 4…d6
5. Be2 (Standard Development) scores best for White: 54.5%, with White winning 51.8% and Black 42.8% of 1.6M games. The most played, 5. Nf3, scores 51.4% in 4M games, and 5. Bd3 scores lowest: 50.2%. Stockfish's first choice is 5. Nf3.
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
Popularity by year
This line peaked in 2018 at 0.7% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.5% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.55% | 197,117 |
| 2017 | 0.64% | 354,948 |
| 2018 | 0.7% | 553,661 |
| 2019 | 0.65% | 805,072 |
| 2020 | 0.6% | 1,768,700 |
| 2021 | 0.52% | 2,037,219 |
| 2022 | 0.51% | 1,922,528 |
| 2023 | 0.5% | 1,881,845 |
| 2024 | 0.49% | 1,772,278 |
| 2025 | 0.5% | 1,721,675 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.51% | 563,407 |
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 (8)
Transpositions
All 80 named lines that continue from here
No line matches.
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Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation (E70)”. Lichess data as of 22 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/kings-indian-defense-normal-variation-2