King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Bronstein Defense
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Statistics from Lichess
225 games: White 54.7% / Draw 7.1% / Black 38.2%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Orthodox Variation, Bronstein Variation | 179179 | |
| 3838 | ||
| 88 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 30, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.44 White is slightly better
Best play: 12... Nc2 13. Nb5 Nxa1 14. Nxc7 Nc2 15. Nxa8 Na6 16. Kd1 Ne3+ 17. Kc1
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
Overview
King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Bronstein Defense (ECO E87, Indian Defenses) is a variation of the King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Closed Variation, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Be3 e5 7. d5 Nh5 8. Qd2 Qh4+ 9. g3 Nxg3 10. Qf2 Nxf1 11. Qxh4 Nxe3 12. Ke2 (12 moves).
In 225 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 54.7%, Black 38.2% and 7.1% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 12…Nxc4, in 80% of those games.
It continues into one named variation, King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Orthodox Variation, Bronstein Variation.
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Variations (1)
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Bronstein Defense (E87)”. Lichess data as of 30 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/kings-indian-defense-samisch-variation-bronstein-defense