Caissa Codex
E94

King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation 6…e5 7. O-O

Chess diagram: King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation after 7. O-O

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

943,621 games: White 50.4% / Draw 6.1% / Black 43.5%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Aronin-Taimanov Defense 672,932673K
142,165142K
King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Positional Defense 44,75345K
Glek Defense 27,88628K
20,56421K
Ukrainian Defense 7,9947,994
Donner Defense 5,6815,681
5,3665,366

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 31, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.55 White is slightly better

Best play: 7... h6 8. Re1 Nbd7 9. Qc2 Re8 10. dxe5 dxe5 11. Be3 c6 12. h3

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 54% under 1400, 53% at 2200 and up and 58% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

PlayersGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400 3,716
1400–1799 42K
1800–2199 444K
2200 and up 465K
Masters, over the board 29K

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 E94, 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 7. O-O (7 moves).

In 943,621 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 50.4%, Black 43.5% and 6.1% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 7…Nc6, in 71% of those games.

It branches into 5 named variations; the most played are King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Aronin-Taimanov Defense and King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Glek Defense. In all, 16 named lines continue from it.

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How to answer 7. O-O

7…exd4 scores best for Black: 49.2%, with Black winning 45.5% and White 47.1% of 142K games. The most played answer, 7…Nc6, scores lowest: 45.6% in 673K games. Stockfish's first choice is 7…h6.

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

This line has lost ground since 2016: 0.028% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.046% (its peak: 0.064% in 2018).

Numbers by year
YearShare of gamesGames
20160.046%16,280
20170.056%30,678
20180.064%50,166
20190.054%67,196
20200.05%147,733
20210.037%143,895
20220.033%122,181
20230.031%115,908
20240.029%103,993
20250.028%97,984
2026 (Jan–Apr)0.029%32,094

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 (5)

Other lines from the same position

Instead of 7. O-O, the position after King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation also goes on to:

Transpositions

From here, a move transposes into another named line:

All 16 named lines that continue from here

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation (E94)”. Lichess data as of 31 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/kings-indian-defense-orthodox-variation-3

https://chesscodex.org/openings/kings-indian-defense-orthodox-variation-3