French Defense: King's Indian Attack
Chess opening · ECO C00 · 3 half-moves
1. e4 e6 2. d3
The French Defense: King's Indian Attack is reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d3. It is Black's move in the position shown.
It branches from the French Defense with 2. d3.
How often it is played
The French Defense: King's Indian Attack and its variations appeared in 0.23% of games — 6,875 of 3,000,000 rated games sampled from Lichess in September 2026. That makes it number 170 of the openings listed here.
Results
White won 50%, 3.7% were drawn and Black won 46%. These are games between players of every strength and time control, so they say how the opening does in practice rather than how sound it is.
What the engine thinks
Stockfish, at depth 18, evaluates the position at -0.04 — which is level. Positive numbers favour White; see reading the evaluation bar.
Similar openings
The most-played alternatives — what else could have been chosen around the move where this opening begins.
| Opening | Moves | Share of games |
|---|---|---|
| French Defense: Normal Variation | 1. e4 e6 2. d4 | 3.9% |
| French Defense: Knight Variation | 1. e4 e6 2. Nf3 | 1.0% |
| French Defense: Queen's Knight | 1. e4 e6 2. Nc3 | 0.26% |
Main continuations
| Variation | Moves | Share of games |
|---|---|---|
| French Defense: King's Indian Attack, Franco-Hiva Gambit | 1. e4 e6 2. d3 f5 | 0.00% |
| French Defense: Reversed Philidor Formation | 1. e4 e6 2. d3 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. Ngf3 Nc6 5. Be2 | 0.00% |
Check your own games
Paste a game, or share one straight from lichess or chess.com, and Chess Analyzer names the opening, marks where the game left known theory and grades every move after it.
Open the analyzer