Caissa Codex
E92

King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation 6. Be2 e5

Chess diagram: King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation after 6…e5

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

1,921,021 games: White 49.1% / Draw 6.4% / Black 44.4%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
E94 940,446940K
King's Indian Defense: Petrosian Variation 491,715492K
King's Indian Defense: Exchange Variation 256,069256K
Gligoric-Taimanov System 201,542202K
16,44916K
12,96913K
730730
478478

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 19, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.48 White is slightly better

Best play: 7. O-O Na6 8. Bg5 h6 9. Be3 Ng4 10. Bc1 Nf6 11. Re1 Re8

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, 46% at 2200 and up and 43% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

PlayersGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400 18K
1400–1799 178K
1800–2199 972K
2200 and up 817K
Masters, over the board 42K

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 27, 2026

Overview

King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation (ECO E92, Indian Defenses) is a variation of the King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 (6 moves).

In 1,921,021 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 49.1%, Black 44.4% and 6.4% were drawn. White's most played move here is 7. O-O, in 49% of those games.

It branches into 4 named variations; the most played are King's Indian Defense: Petrosian Variation and King's Indian Defense: Exchange Variation. In all, 23 named lines continue from it.

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How to answer 6…e5

7. Be3 (Gligoric-Taimanov System) scores best for White: 55.1%, with White winning 52.0% and Black 41.8% of 202K games. The most played, 7. O-O, scores 53.4% in 940K games, and 7. d5 scores lowest: 48.8%. Stockfish's first choice is 7. O-O.

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 has lost ground since 2016: 0.059% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.089% (its peak: 0.13% in 2018).

Numbers by year
YearShare of gamesGames
20160.089%31,817
20170.11%60,219
20180.13%98,654
20190.11%132,065
20200.099%289,239
20210.076%297,153
20220.067%251,473
20230.064%239,897
20240.061%218,097
20250.059%204,621
2026 (Jan–Apr)0.061%66,768

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 (4)

Other lines from the same position

Instead of 6…e5, the position after King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation also goes on to:

All 23 named lines that continue from here

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation (E92)”. Lichess data as of 19 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/kings-indian-defense-orthodox-variation-2

https://chesscodex.org/openings/kings-indian-defense-orthodox-variation-2