Opening family
King's Indian Defense Lines and Variations
The King's Indian Defense family contains 119 named lines in this opening book, spanning ECO E60 to E99. Use this page as the map, then open individual lines for exact move orders and diagrams.
How to study this family
White
White usually claims central space and must be ready for Black’s kingside pawn storm or central break.
Black
Black lets White occupy the center, then attacks it with ...e5 or ...c5 and often plays for kingside initiative.
Start with the shortest line, then branch to the variations that change the pawn structure or tactical target. Memorizing every branch before understanding the family plan is usually wasted work.
Main named lines
- E60 · King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Immediate Fianchetto
- E60 · King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation, King's Knight Variation
- E61 · King's Indian Defense
- E60 · King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation
- E60 · King's Indian Defense: Santasiere Variation
- E70 · King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation
- E70 · King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation
- E61 · King's Indian Defense: Smyslov Variation
- E62 · King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Delayed Fianchetto
- E70 · King's Indian Defense: Accelerated Averbakh Variation
- E70 · King's Indian Defense: Kramer Variation
- E71 · King's Indian Defense: Makogonov Variation
- E72 · King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Deferred Fianchetto
- E73 · King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Standard Development
- E76 · King's Indian Defense: Four Pawns Attack
- E80 · King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation
- E90 · King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Rare Defenses
- E64 · King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Pterodactyl Variation
- E76 · King's Indian Defense: Four Pawns Attack, Modern Defense
- E81 · King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Normal Defense
- E61 · King's Indian Defense: Semi-Classical Variation
- E71 · King's Indian Defense: Karpov System
- E73 · King's Indian Defense: Averbakh Variation
- E73 · King's Indian Defense: Semi-Averbakh System
Deep theory branches
- 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. Ne1 Nd7 10. Be3 f5 11. f3 f4 12. Bf2 g5 13. Rc1 Ng6 14. c5 — King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Classical System, Kozul Gambit
- 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O Nc6 7. Nc3 a6 8. d5 Na5 9. Nd2 c5 10. Qc2 Rb8 11. b3 b5 12. Bb2 bxc4 13. bxc4 Bh6 — King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Panno Variation, Donner Line
- 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 Nxc4 — King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Orthodox Variation, Bronstein Variation
- 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 — King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Bronstein Defense
- 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Nf3 d6 5. g3 O-O 6. Bg2 Nbd7 7. O-O e5 8. e4 Re8 9. h3 exd4 10. Nxd4 Nc5 11. Re1 a5 — King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Long Variation
- 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. d5 Nbd7 8. Bg5 h6 9. Bh4 g5 10. Bg3 Nh5 11. h4 — King's Indian Defense: Petrosian Variation, Keres Defense
- 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. Ne1 Nd7 10. f3 f5 11. g4 — King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Classical System, Benko Attack
- 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O Nc6 7. Nc3 a6 8. d5 Na5 9. Nd2 c5 10. Qc2 e5 — King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Panno Variation, Blockade Line
- 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. Ne1 Nd7 10. f3 f5 — King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Classical System, Traditional Line
- 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O Nc6 7. Nc3 a6 8. h3 Rb8 9. Be3 b5 10. Nd2 — King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Panno Variation, Korchnoi Line
- 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f4 O-O 6. Be2 c5 7. d5 e6 8. dxe6 fxe6 9. g4 Nc6 10. h4 — King's Indian Defense: Six Pawns Attack
- 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. b4 Nh5 10. Re1 — King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Bayonet Attack, Sokolov's Line
- 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. b4 Nh5 10. Qc2 — King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Bayonet Attack, Yepishin's Line
- 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. Ne1 Nd7 10. Be3 — King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Classical System, Neo-Classical Line
- 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nbd7 8. Re1 c6 9. Bf1 a5 — King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Positional Defense, Main Line
- 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Nc3 e5 8. e4 c6 9. h3 — King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Classical Main Line