Chess Codex
Tree path 10 levels Indian Defense: West Indian Defense › King's Indian Defense › Normal Variation › King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation › Rare Defenses › King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation › King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation › King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation › Aronin-Taimanov Defense › King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Korchnoi Attack
  1. Chess Codex
  2. Indian Defense: West Indian Defense E60
  3. King's Indian Defense E61
  4. Normal Variation E70
  5. King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation E70
  6. Rare Defenses E90
  7. King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation E91
  8. King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation E92
  9. King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation E94
  10. Aronin-Taimanov Defense E97
  11. King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Korchnoi Attack E97 you are here
E97

King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Korchnoi Attack

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Overview

King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Korchnoi Attack is a variation within the Indian Defenses family, indexed as ECO E97.

The Indian Defenses group covers Indian defences — hypermodern lines where Black challenges the centre with pieces rather than pawns.

It is reached after 17 plies of play, with the move sequence 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. Bd2.

It is a variation of King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Aronin-Taimanov Defense, which itself descends from the root opening Indian Defense: West Indian Defense.

Step through the moves on the interactive board below, review the live Lichess statistics, or play this position against Stockfish at one of six difficulty levels.

ECO code
E97
Group
Indian Defenses (E)
Plies
17
Parent
King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Aronin-Taimanov Defense

This overview is generated automatically from the opening's metadata. Know this line well? Write a description — submissions are reviewed before publishing.

Statistics from Lichess

5,418 games · White 50.8% / Draw 4.7% / Black 44.6%

MovesGamesW / D / B
Nd71,737
Ne81,732
Nh5834
h6336
a5238
c6137
c5122
a686

Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 03:18:29

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Related variations at the same level

Sister lines that share the same parent King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Aronin-Taimanov Defense:

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