King's Indian Defense: Win Rate by Lichess Rating

King's Indian Defense · 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 · CC0 name list

At 1500–1799 (Lichess rating), White scored 50.4% in 5,860 King's Indian Defense games (±1.3; games from Oct 2025–Sep 2026).

White won 48.4% of them, Black won 47.6%, and 4.0% were drawn.

No clear difference from 50% at this level (inside the margin)

In games from Oct 2025–Sep 2026, White scored 50.4% (±1.3) with the King's Indian Defense in sampled Lichess games at the 1500–1799 Lichess rating level (5,860 games). Observed results, not causation.

Data period: games from 1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026 (sample of the Lichess open database) · Page updated: 9 Oct 2026

53.0%

White's score at Lichess rating 2100+ · 6,580 games, Oct 2025–Sep 2026 sample

White scores 53.0% at 2100+ and 48.7% at 1200–1499.

Position after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3. 24,475 games in this sample reached it — 1,938 of them by a different move order.

At a glance

In this sample, White's score ranged from 48.7% (1200–1499) to 53.0% (2100+).
Treat this spread with caution: the margins are approximate (see How it works).
It appeared most often in the 2100+ group (1.0% of that group's games).
Draws were most common in the 2100+ group (6.3%).

These are observed results for the selected games (rated, players within 200 rating points of each other). They describe what happened — they do not prove the opening caused the result.

Results by Lichess rating level

Each row shows how the King's Indian Defense games at one rating level ended: White wins, draws and Black wins, across all time controls combined. Rating level is the average Lichess rating of both players.

White won drawn Black won. King's Indian Defense — results by Lichess rating level, all time controls combined (minimum 300 games per row).

Under 1200669 games

White wins 49.6% · draws 3.3% · Black wins 47.1% · White's score 51.3% ±3.7 · how common 0.1%
1200–14992,379 gamesCompared with

White wins 47.1% · draws 3.2% · Black wins 49.7% · White's score 48.7% ±2.0 · how common 0.2%
1500–17995,860 games

White wins 48.4% · draws 4.0% · Black wins 47.6% · White's score 50.4% ±1.3 · how common 0.4%
1800–20998,987 games

White wins 49.0% · draws 4.7% · Black wins 46.4% · White's score 51.3% ±1.0 · how common 0.7%
2100+6,580 gamesIn the headline

White wins 49.8% · draws 6.3% · Black wins 43.9% · White's score 53.0% ±1.2 · how common 1.0%

"White's score" = wins + half of draws. "±" is an approximate 95% margin based only on the number of games. It does not cover sampling bias or related games (the same players appear many times), so real uncertainty is larger. "How common" = share of all sampled games at that level that reached this position. Ratings are Lichess ratings; they are not interchangeable with Chess.com or FIDE ratings.

See the replies most often played next at the Lichess level you choose, on one printable sheet: Prepare replies in Find Your Opening (the sheet needs JavaScript)

Results by time control

Each row shows how the King's Indian Defense games ended in one Lichess time control, across all rating levels combined.

King's Indian Defense — results by time control, all rating levels combined (minimum 300 games per row)
Time control	Games	White wins	Draws	Black wins	White's score
Bullet	7,735	49.5%	3.3%	47.1%	51.2%
Blitz	13,474	49.0%	5.1%	45.9%	51.6%
Rapid	3,140	47.0%	6.6%	46.4%	50.3%
Classical	126	Not enough games in this sample

This table and the rating rows are separate summaries: rating levels are not split by time control here, and time controls are not split by rating. Observed results only; approximate uncertainty applies as above.

Most played replies for Black at each level

Top replies with at least 150 games. "Score" is Black's score after that reply (wins + half of draws). These comparisons alone can't show that one reply is reliably better — the margins are approximate and stronger or weaker players may prefer different replies.

Replies to 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 by Lichess rating level, all time controls combined
Rating level	Reply · share · games · score
Under 1200	3...Bg7 ·87.4% · 585 · 47.9% ±4.0
1200–1499	3...Bg7 ·85.2% · 2,026 · 50.8% ±2.1 3...d5 ·8.6% · 204 · 53.7% ±6.7
1500–1799	3...Bg7 ·77.0% · 4,512 · 49.2% ±1.4 3...d5 ·16.4% · 961 · 50.3% ±3.1 3...d6 ·5.3% · 308 · 52.3% ±5.4
1800–2099	3...Bg7 ·70.8% · 6,365 · 48.7% ±1.2 3...d5 ·23.6% · 2,119 · 49.0% ±2.1 3...d6 ·4.5% · 405 · 46.0% ±4.7
2100+	3...Bg7 ·66.6% · 4,385 · 47.7% ±1.4 3...d5 ·26.9% · 1,771 · 45.9% ±2.2 3...d6 ·5.0% · 332 · 42.5% ±5.1

Up next: related positions with a page

Earlier position: Indian Defense: Normal Variation 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4
Related line: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 (Queen's Gambit)
Related line: 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 (Queen's Pawn Game: Zukertort Variation)
Related line: 1.d4 d5 2.Bf4 (London System)

Download these numbers: King's Indian Defense (CSV), released under CC0. For move-by-move exploration with your own filters, see the free Lichess opening explorer. This independent page lists each rating level and each time control in its own row for comparison.