King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Aronin-Taimanov Defense
The Aronin-Taimanov Defense is 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Be2 e5 7.O-O Nc6, the main line of the Classical (Orthodox) Variation of the King's Indian Defense. Read the guide
Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.
Statistics from Lichess
1,014,191 games: White 51.4% / Draw 5.5% / Black 43.2%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 882,927883K | ||
| 59,29659K | ||
| 49,09349K | ||
| 10,48510K | ||
| 8,5578,557 | ||
| 1,9891,989 | ||
| 887887 | ||
| 271271 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 7, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.64 White is slightly better
Best play: 8. d5 Ne7 9. b4 a5 10. bxa5 Rxa5 11. a4 Ra8 12. Nd2 h6
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 48% under 1400, 45% at 2200 and up and 43% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 5,959 | |
| 1400–1799 | 77K | |
| 1800–2199 | 559K | |
| 2200 and up | 395K | |
| Masters, over the board | 20K |
Master games
- Carlsen, M. – Grischuk, A.
- Kramnik, V. – Carlsen, M.
- Nakamura, H. – Kasparov, G.
- Aronian, L. – Carlsen, M.
- Kramnik, V. – Kasparov, G.
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
Description
The Aronin-Taimanov Defense is 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Be2 e5 7.O-O Nc6, the main line of the Classical (Orthodox) Variation of the King's Indian Defense. With 8.d5 Ne7 it becomes the line known as the Mar del Plata Variation.
The idea
After 8.d5 the centre is closed and both sides attack on opposite wings. White prepares the queenside break c4-c5. Black brings the f6-knight to d7, where it also helps slow down c4-c5, and starts a kingside pawn storm with ...f5-f4 and ...g5.
Main lines
After 8.d5 Ne7 White has a wide choice of ninth moves:
- 9.b4, the Bayonet Attack, introduced by Viktor Korchnoi in the 1970s. For a while it put top players off the whole line, and Teimour Radjabov has recently revived it.
- 9.Ne1.
- 9.Nd2.
Black's other seventh moves are 7...Nbd7, the old main line, which is less common nowadays; 7...exd4 8.Nxd4, popularised by Igor Glek in the mid-1990s, though White still keeps an advantage in most lines; and 7...Na6, which has gained some popularity recently. White can avoid the whole system with 7.d5, the Petrosian Variation, or 7.Be3, the Gligorić System.
The numbers
On Lichess White wins 51.4% of the 1 million games and Black 43.2%. White's lead grows with rating: 49.7% against 46.5% under 1400 and 52.1% against 41.5% from 2200 up. In 20,115 master games over the board White won 36.1%, Black 21.4%, and 42.5% were drawn.
Suggest an improvement or report a mistake
How to play against the King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Aronin-Taimanov Defense
8. dxe5 scores best for White: 56.6%, with White winning 51.6% and Black 38.3% of 59K games. The most played answer, 8. d5, scores lowest: 54.1% in 883K games. Stockfish's first choice is 8. d5.
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
The King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Aronin-Taimanov Defense has lost ground since 2016: 0.029% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.049% (its peak: 0.071% in 2018).
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.049% | 17,371 |
| 2017 | 0.061% | 33,719 |
| 2018 | 0.071% | 55,619 |
| 2019 | 0.06% | 74,858 |
| 2020 | 0.055% | 160,277 |
| 2021 | 0.04% | 156,293 |
| 2022 | 0.035% | 132,353 |
| 2023 | 0.033% | 124,681 |
| 2024 | 0.031% | 109,565 |
| 2025 | 0.029% | 101,788 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.029% | 32,119 |
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)
All 10 named lines that continue from here
- E97 King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Bayonet Attack 9 moves
- E98 King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Classical System 9 moves
- E97 King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Korchnoi Attack 9 moves
- E97 King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Modern System 9 moves
- E97 Sokolov's Line 10 moves
- E97 Yepishin's Line 10 moves
- E98 Neo-Classical Line 10 moves
- E99 Traditional Line 10 moves
- E99 King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Classical System, Benko Attack 11 moves
- E98 King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Classical System, Kozul Gambit 14 moves
Sources
- History and theory: adapted from the Wikipedia article King's Indian Defence, version of 23 September 2026, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Results: Lichess opening explorer, figures collected from September to November 2026.
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Aronin-Taimanov Defense (E97)”. Lichess data as of 7 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/kings-indian-defense-orthodox-variation-aronin-taimanov-defense