E90

King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Rare Defenses

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Statistics from Lichess

7,284,538 games: White 48.8% / Draw 5.5% / Black 45.8%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	5,905,0745.9M
	410,738411K
	392,469392K
	160,284160K
	139,342139K
	84,60985K
	49,14349K
	40,16840K

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 24, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.50 White is slightly better

Best play: 5... O-O 6. h3 Na6 7. Bg5 c6 8. Rc1 Qa5 9. Qc2 e5 10. d5

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 50% under 1400, 54% at 2200 and up and 58% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	627K
1400–1799	2.9M
1800–2199	4.2M
2200 and up	1.2M
Masters, over the board	43K

Master games

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, Rare Defenses (ECO E90, 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 5. Nf3 (5 moves).

In 7,284,538 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 48.8%, Black 45.8% and 5.5% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 5…O-O, in 81% of those games.

It branches into 3 named variations; the most played are King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation and King's Indian Defense: Zinnowitz Variation. In all, 29 named lines continue from it.

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Description

How to play against the King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Rare Defenses

The most played answer, 5…O-O, also scores best for Black: 48.9%, with Black winning 46.1% and White 48.3% of 5.9M games. Of the main answers, 5…Bg4 scores lowest: 46.2%. Stockfish's first choice is also 5…O-O.

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, Rare Defenses has lost ground since 2016: 0.25% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.3% (its peak: 0.38% in 2018).

0.3%0.25%0.38%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.3%	106,672
2017	0.34%	189,665
2018	0.38%	297,028
2019	0.35%	439,249
2020	0.33%	964,156
2021	0.29%	1,124,135
2022	0.27%	1,011,096
2023	0.26%	984,961
2024	0.25%	904,474
2025	0.25%	862,764
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.26%	280,469

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 (3)

All 29 named lines that continue from here

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Rare Defenses (E90)”. Lichess data as of 24 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/kings-indian-defense-normal-variation-rare-defenses