King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Bayonet Attack
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Statistics from Lichess
279,395 games: White 51.8% / Draw 5.3% / Black 42.8%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 83,59384K | ||
| 65,31665K | ||
| 63,24963K | ||
| 39,86640K | ||
| 7,0607,060 | ||
| 6,3356,335 | ||
| 5,3085,308 | ||
| 3,7643,764 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 31, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.62 White is slightly better
Best play: 9... a5 10. bxa5 Rxa5 11. a4 Ra8 12. Nd2 Ne8 13. Nb3 f5 14. f3
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 755 | |
| 1400–1799 | 14K | |
| 1800–2199 | 142K | |
| 2200 and up | 126K | |
| Masters, over the board | 7,842 |
Master games
- Kramnik, V. – Carlsen, M.
- Kramnik, V. – Kasparov, G.
- Anand, V. – Nakamura, H.
- Nepomniachtchi, I. – Caruana, F.
- Topalov, V. – Nakamura, H.
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, Bayonet Attack (ECO E97, Indian Defenses) is a variation of the King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Aronin-Taimanov Defense, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d5 Ne7 9. b4 (9 moves).
In 279,395 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 51.8%, Black 42.8% and 5.3% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 9…a5, in 30% of those games.
It branches into 2 named variations; the most played are King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Bayonet Attack, Sokolov's Line and King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Bayonet Attack, Yepishin's Line.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
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How to play against the King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Bayonet Attack
9…Nh5 scores best for Black: 46.8%, with Black winning 43.9% and White 50.3% of 63K games. The most played, 9…a5, scores 44.6% in 84K games, and 9…Nd7 scores lowest: 43.5%. Stockfish's first choice is 9…a5.
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: Orthodox Variation, Bayonet Attack has lost ground since 2016: 0.0086% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.014% (its peak: 0.02% in 2018).
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.014% | 4,901 |
| 2017 | 0.018% | 9,922 |
| 2018 | 0.02% | 15,338 |
| 2019 | 0.016% | 19,843 |
| 2020 | 0.015% | 43,495 |
| 2021 | 0.011% | 41,129 |
| 2022 | 0.0095% | 35,648 |
| 2023 | 0.0091% | 34,150 |
| 2024 | 0.0087% | 31,205 |
| 2025 | 0.0086% | 29,721 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.0087% | 9,560 |
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 (2)
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Bayonet Attack (E97)”. Lichess data as of 31 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/kings-indian-defense-orthodox-variation-bayonet-attack