E92

King's Indian Defense: Petrosian Variation, Stein Defense

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Statistics from Lichess

245,799 games: White 45.0% / Draw 5.7% / Black 49.3%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	89,77890K
	87,17387K
	23,76224K
	18,56619K
	11,14211K
	6,1886,188
	2,6172,617
	2,2082,208

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 27, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.56 White is slightly better

Best play: 8. Be3 Na6 9. Nd2 Ne8 10. g4 Bf6 11. h4 Bxh4 12. Bh6 Nc5

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	1,174
1400–1799	25K
1800–2199	128K
2200 and up	98K
Masters, over the board	3,656

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: Petrosian Variation, Stein Defense (ECO E92, Indian Defenses) is a variation of the King's Indian Defense: Petrosian Variation, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. d5 a5 (7 moves).

In 245,799 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 45.0%, Black 49.3% and 5.7% were drawn. White's most played move here is 8. Bg5, in 37% of those games.

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Description

How to play against the King's Indian Defense: Petrosian Variation, Stein Defense

The most played answer, 8. Bg5, also scores best for White: 54.0%, with White winning 50.9% and Black 42.8% of 90K games. Of the main answers, 8. O-O scores lowest: 43.9%. Stockfish's first choice is 8. Be3.

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: Petrosian Variation, Stein Defense has lost ground since 2016: 0.008% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.0098% (its peak: 0.016% in 2018).

0.0098%0.008%0.016%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.0098%	3,501
2017	0.014%	7,551
2018	0.016%	12,922
2019	0.013%	16,840
2020	0.012%	35,812
2021	0.0094%	36,868
2022	0.0084%	31,446
2023	0.0081%	30,635
2024	0.0081%	28,993
2025	0.008%	27,724
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.0088%	9,668

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

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “King's Indian Defense: Petrosian Variation, Stein Defense (E92)”. Lichess data as of 27 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/kings-indian-defense-petrosian-variation-stein-defense