E85

King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Orthodox Variation

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Statistics from Lichess

512,498 games: White 51.5% / Draw 5.5% / Black 43.0%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Closed Variation	309,505310K
	147,156147K
	23,13823K
	16,66817K
	14,54315K
	540540
	195195
	153153

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 29, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.67 White is slightly better

Best play: 7. d5 Nh5 8. g4 Nf4 9. h4 Bf6 10. h5 Bh4+ 11. Kd2 c5

Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.

By rating

Rating changes little here: Black scores 45% under 1400, 46% at 2200 and up and 41% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	4,166
1400–1799	67K
1800–2199	351K
2200 and up	109K
Masters, over the board	2,169

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: Sämisch Variation, Orthodox Variation (ECO E85, 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. Be3 e5 (6 moves).

In 512,498 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 51.5%, Black 43.0% and 5.5% were drawn. White's most played move here is 7. d5, in 60% of those games.

It branches into 2 named variations; the most played are King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Closed Variation and King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation. In all, 6 named lines continue from it.

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Description

How to play against the King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Orthodox Variation

7. Nge2 scores best for White: 57.2%, with White winning 54.4% and Black 39.9% of 147K games. The most played answer, 7. d5, scores lowest: 53.3% in 310K games. Stockfish's first choice is 7. d5.

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: Sämisch Variation, Orthodox Variation has lost ground since 2016: 0.016% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.027% (its peak: 0.033% in 2018).

0.027%0.016%0.033%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.027%	9,568
2017	0.032%	17,418
2018	0.033%	25,745
2019	0.027%	34,176
2020	0.025%	73,432
2021	0.019%	74,202
2022	0.018%	66,958
2023	0.017%	64,699
2024	0.017%	61,454
2025	0.016%	57,109
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.017%	18,380

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)

All 6 named lines that continue from here

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Orthodox Variation (E85)”. Lichess data as of 29 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/kings-indian-defense-samisch-variation-orthodox-variation