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King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Main line (E69)
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 c6 9 h3

Number of games in database: 2610
Years covered: 1936 to 2025
Overall record:
   White wins 44.1%
   Black wins 22.9%
   Draws 33.0%

Popularity graph, by decade

Explore this opening  |  Search for sacrifices in this opening.
PRACTITIONERS
With the White Pieces With the Black Pieces
Levente Lengyel  18 games
Aleksander Wojtkiewicz  16 games
Drazen Marovic  16 games
Vasilios Kotronias  20 games
Dragoljub Minic  17 games
Miguel Najdorf  16 games
NOTABLE GAMES [what is this?]
White Wins Black Wins
Botvinnik vs Pachman, 1961
Huebner vs Kasparov, 1992
Portisch vs Stein, 1967
Botvinnik vs Tal, 1960
Botvinnik vs Bronstein, 1951
Botvinnik vs Geller, 1969
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 page 1 of 105; games 1-25 of 2,610  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. S Kogan vs O Bogatyrev  1-0461936Moscow ChampionshipE69 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Main line
2. S Landau vs W Schelfhout  1-0441936NED-chE69 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Main line
3. M Yudovich Sr vs F Duz-Khotimirsky  ½-½271938URS-ch sf KievE69 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Main line
4. Kotov vs F Bohatirchuk  ½-½361938URS-ch sf KievE69 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Main line
5. I Pogrebissky vs F Bohatirchuk  ½-½481938URS-ch sf KievE69 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Main line
6. Veresov vs G Kasparian  0-1911938URS-ch sf LeningradE69 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Main line
7. M Luckis vs J Vinuesa  0-1571941Mar del PlataE69 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Main line
8. Veresov vs Lilienthal  ½-½461944USSR ChampionshipE69 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Main line
9. Kotov vs Bronstein 1-0561945USSR ChampionshipE69 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Main line
10. F Zita vs Pachman  ½-½321945ZlinE69 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Main line
11. Petrosian vs G Kasparian 1-0521946ARM-ch mE69 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Main line
12. Letelier vs A Garritani  1-0381946Buenos Aires La RogeE69 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Main line
13. Denker vs Najdorf ½-½421946GroningenE69 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Main line
14. H Steiner vs Boleslavsky 0-1401946GroningenE69 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Main line
15. Najdorf vs J Sajtar 1-0571946PragueE69 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Main line
16. J Sajtar vs W Winter  ½-½281947England - CzechoslovakiaE69 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Main line
17. J Pizzi vs Najdorf 0-1421947Mar del PlataE69 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Main line
18. J Sajtar vs A Pytlakowski  1-0541947WarsawE69 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Main line
19. O'Kelly vs Szabo  1-0461947Hilversum ZonalE69 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Main line
20. P Ivanov vs S Mechkarov  ½-½401947Bulgarian ChampionshipE69 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Main line
21. N Novotelnov vs V Saigin  0-1441947URS-ch sf SverdlovskE69 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Main line
22. N Novotelnov vs Boleslavsky  ½-½431947MoscowE69 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Main line
23. J Duthilleul vs P Vertadier  ½-½271948FRA-ch13 corrE69 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Main line
24. A Bozic vs K Piskov  ½-½321948BelgradeE69 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Main line
25. B Rabar vs B Tot  1-0411948BelgradeE69 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Main line
 page 1 of 105; games 1-25 of 2,610  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)  

Kibitzer's Corner
Mar-28-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  beatgiant: Would any practitioner of this line comment on the claim that 9...Qb6 is no longer playable in top level chess because 10. c5 dxc5 11. dxe5 is too strong, as raised by <EphemeralAdvantage> here Botvinnik vs Geller, 1969 (kibitz #48) ?

We still see strong players continue to try 9...Qb6 recently, for example D Lazavik vs Firouzja, 2023 or M Matlakov vs M Chigaev, 2023, albeit these examples were at speed chess.

Following <EphemeralAdvantage>'s suggestion, I looked into a few lines with his recommended engine to try to see why it evaluates it so highly for White. I found that while it's certainly a chore for Black to defend, there's no obvious path to a definite White advantage either.

I'd be interested in views from anyone who has this line in your repertoire. Do you think 9...Qb6 is dubious, fine, or somewhere in between?

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