King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Bobotsov-Korchnoi-Petrosian Variation
Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.
Statistics from Lichess
182,363 games: White 51.5% / Draw 5.4% / Black 43.1%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 49,39949K | ||
| 42,41342K | ||
| 31,47931K | ||
| 26,45026K | ||
| 11,72212K | ||
| 7,7697,769 | ||
| 3,9253,925 | ||
| 2,5792,579 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 29, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.37 White is slightly better
Best play: 6... c5 7. Be3 Nc6 8. d5 Ne5 9. Ng3 b5 10. cxb5 a6 11. Be2
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 better this line does for White: White scores 51% under 1400, 54% at 2200 and up and 59% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 4,528 | |
| 1400–1799 | 31K | |
| 1800–2199 | 93K | |
| 2200 and up | 67K | |
| Masters, over the board | 2,371 |
Master games
- Ding Liren – Grischuk, A.
- Anand, V. – Nakamura, H.
- Ponomariov, R. – Carlsen, M.
- Vachier Lagrave, M. – Nakamura, H.
- Aronian, L. – Ding Liren
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: Sämisch Variation, Bobotsov-Korchnoi-Petrosian Variation (ECO E81, Indian Defenses) is a variation of the King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Normal Defense, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Nge2 (6 moves).
In 182,363 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 51.5%, Black 43.1% and 5.4% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 6…c5, in 27% of those games.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
Write a description or report a mistake
How to play against the King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Bobotsov-Korchnoi-Petrosian Variation
The most played answer, 6…c5, also scores best for Black: 47.3%, with Black winning 44.2% and White 49.7% of 49K games. Of the main answers, 6…e5 scores lowest: 43.3%. Stockfish's first choice is also 6…c5.
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: Sämisch Variation, Bobotsov-Korchnoi-Petrosian Variation has lost ground since 2016: 0.0053% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.0072% (its peak: 0.01% in 2017).
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.0072% | 2,588 |
| 2017 | 0.01% | 5,764 |
| 2018 | 0.01% | 8,173 |
| 2019 | 0.01% | 12,548 |
| 2020 | 0.0093% | 27,353 |
| 2021 | 0.0076% | 29,743 |
| 2022 | 0.0067% | 25,050 |
| 2023 | 0.0061% | 22,772 |
| 2024 | 0.0057% | 20,311 |
| 2025 | 0.0053% | 18,420 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.0058% | 6,370 |
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: Sämisch Variation, Bobotsov-Korchnoi-Petrosian Variation (E81)”. Lichess data as of 29 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/kings-indian-defense-samisch-variation-bobotsov-korchnoi-petrosian-variation