King's Indian Defense
Chess opening · ECO E61 · 5 half-moves
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3
The King's Indian Defense is reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3. It is Black's move in the position shown.
It branches from the Indian Defense: West Indian Defense with 3. Nc3.
How often it is played
The King's Indian Defense and its variations appeared in 0.81% of games — 24,277 of 3,000,000 rated games sampled from Lichess in September 2026. That makes it number 63 of the openings listed here.
Results
White won 49%, 4.5% were drawn and Black won 47%. 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 +0.35 — a small edge for White. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Indian Defense: Anti-Nimzo-Indian | 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 | 0.56% |
| Nimzo-Indian Defense | 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 | 0.24% |
| Benoni Defense | 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 | 0.24% |
Main continuations
| Variation | Moves | Share of games |
|---|---|---|
| King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation | 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 | 0.48% |
| Grünfeld Defense | 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 | 0.15% |
| King's Indian Defense: Smyslov Variation | 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Nf3 d6 5. Bg5 | 0.04% |
| King's Indian Defense: Semi-Classical Variation | 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Nf3 O-O 5. e3 d6 6. Be2 | 0.03% |
| King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Delayed Fianchetto | 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Nf3 d6 5. g3 | 0.01% |
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