King's Indian Attack
12 variations · 8.5M games from Lichess · Updated January 2026
White expected score · Overall
53.8%
the worst score you would still get, 90% confident. Its best is the same figure — the band is too tight to plot.
Measured over 8.5M games at this level and clock.
A strong opening choice for White at this level and clock.
Outcomes for White
Draw 5.0 · Score = win + ½ of the draws · 8.5M games
- Rank among the families White can choose here
- #8 of 56
- Games in this context
- 8.5M
- Best context
- 64.7% at 2500+ UltraBullet
- Worst context
- 51.0% at 0-999 Blitz
- Variations measured
- 12
- Average game length
- 37 moves
Best and worst are the strongest and weakest squares with at least 500 games behind them. The table further down shows every square, including thinner ones.
What to play from here
White · OverallThese are the moves players actually choose from here, ranked by how they score. A higher score is a better bet on the numbers alone — familiarity and playstyle still matter.
Where it holds · White score by rating × clock
Green is clearly ahead for White, grey is around even, red is behind. Tap a cell to measure there, and again to clear. It gets better as the rating rises: 52.0% at 0-999, 58.4% at 2500+.
| Rating | UB | Bulle | Blitz | Rapid | Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0-999 | |||||
| 1000-1199 | |||||
| 1200-1399 | |||||
| 1400-1599 | |||||
| 1600-1799 | |||||
| 1800-1999 | |||||
| 2000-2199 | |||||
| 2200-2499 | |||||
| 2500+ |
Expected score matrix by rating bracket and time control
- 0-999 rating, UltraBullet: 54.3% expected score (624 games)
- 0-999 rating, Bullet: 51.4% expected score (56,647 games)
- 0-999 rating, Blitz: 51.0% expected score (109,459 games)
- 0-999 rating, Rapid: 51.5% expected score (48,528 games)
- 0-999 rating, Classical: 52.0% expected score (349 games)
- 1000-1199 rating, UltraBullet: 54.8% expected score (2,224 games)
- 1000-1199 rating, Bullet: 53.0% expected score (106,988 games)
- 1000-1199 rating, Blitz: 52.1% expected score (167,010 games)
- 1000-1199 rating, Rapid: 52.4% expected score (73,377 games)
- 1000-1199 rating, Classical: 51.4% expected score (1,374 games)
- 1200-1399 rating, UltraBullet: 54.4% expected score (6,774 games)
- 1200-1399 rating, Bullet: 53.2% expected score (181,065 games)
- 1200-1399 rating, Blitz: 52.2% expected score (233,195 games)
- 1200-1399 rating, Rapid: 52.3% expected score (100,839 games)
- 1200-1399 rating, Classical: 52.0% expected score (3,545 games)
- 1400-1599 rating, UltraBullet: 53.5% expected score (20,082 games)
- 1400-1599 rating, Bullet: 53.4% expected score (291,451 games)
- 1400-1599 rating, Blitz: 52.3% expected score (347,149 games)
- 1400-1599 rating, Rapid: 51.9% expected score (125,046 games)
- 1400-1599 rating, Classical: 53.0% expected score (6,999 games)
- 1600-1799 rating, UltraBullet: 54.3% expected score (36,052 games)
- 1600-1799 rating, Bullet: 53.6% expected score (425,366 games)
- 1600-1799 rating, Blitz: 52.5% expected score (506,225 games)
- 1600-1799 rating, Rapid: 52.3% expected score (136,000 games)
- 1600-1799 rating, Classical: 51.9% expected score (8,398 games)
- 1800-1999 rating, UltraBullet: 55.4% expected score (33,372 games)
- 1800-1999 rating, Bullet: 53.9% expected score (635,394 games)
- 1800-1999 rating, Blitz: 53.1% expected score (658,147 games)
- 1800-1999 rating, Rapid: 53.0% expected score (127,069 games)
- 1800-1999 rating, Classical: 53.2% expected score (6,867 games)
- 2000-2199 rating, UltraBullet: 57.0% expected score (13,066 games)
- 2000-2199 rating, Bullet: 54.0% expected score (801,131 games)
- 2000-2199 rating, Blitz: 53.9% expected score (730,937 games)
- 2000-2199 rating, Rapid: 54.2% expected score (95,078 games)
- 2000-2199 rating, Classical: 58.1% expected score (3,257 games)
- 2200-2499 rating, UltraBullet: 58.7% expected score (4,085 games)
- 2200-2499 rating, Bullet: 54.7% expected score (1,120,858 games)
- 2200-2499 rating, Blitz: 55.2% expected score (564,978 games)
- 2200-2499 rating, Rapid: 55.6% expected score (54,266 games)
- 2200-2499 rating, Classical: 59.7% expected score (1,045 games)
- 2500+ rating, UltraBullet: 64.7% expected score (518 games)
- 2500+ rating, Bullet: 56.1% expected score (559,931 games)
- 2500+ rating, Blitz: 57.1% expected score (106,172 games)
- 2500+ rating, Rapid: 58.7% expected score (3,111 games)
- 2500+ rating, Classical: 55.4% expected score (177 games)
12 variations · ranked by floor
Floor — the worst score you would still get, 90% confident.
Methodology
Across every rating and clock, the King's Indian Attack family scores 53.8% for White — we are 90% confident it is 53.8% — from 8.5M Lichess games across 12 variations. Win rate, draw rate and loss rate come from games played December 2023 to November 2025.
How the figures are made
- Whose games these are
- 8.5M+ rated games played on Lichess (2023-12 to 2025-11). The games are Lichess’s and free for anyone to use. What is ours is the reading of them. Last rebuilt January 2026.
- Which games we count
- Rated games only — nothing casual.
- Both players within 200 rating points of each other. A mismatch tells you about the gap, not about the opening.
- At least 2 moves played.
- A game is filed under White’s rating.
- Why every number comes with a range
- A number off a few hundred games is a guess. The same number off millions is a fact. The range is what tells them apart, and it is what the lists rank on — so an opening cannot reach the top on a lucky run of forty games. The more games behind a figure, the narrower its range.
- How much we need before we say anything
- An opening page needs 100 games. A gambit needs 50 games at a rating before we will say whether it pays there. The chaos and trap lists need 500 games overall and 250 games at one rating or clock.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the King's Indian Attack win rate?
Across the King's Indian Attack's 12 variations, White wins 51.3%, draws 5.0% and loses 43.7%. Counting a draw as half a point, that is an Expected Score of 53.8%. It rests on 8.5M rated games from Lichess.
How many King's Indian Attack variations are there?
12 King's Indian Attack variations have a page of their own, each broken down by rating and by clock.
At what rating does the King's Indian Attack perform best?
The King's Indian Attack family performs best for White at 2500+, with an Expected Score of 56.3% (670K games) and the highest Floor of any rating with enough games to read. Performance may vary by specific variation.
Is the King's Indian Attack better in blitz or rapid?
For White, the King's Indian Attack scores about the same in both: an Expected Score of 53.4% in Blitz (3.4M games) against 52.8% in Rapid (763K games).
How sharp is the King's Indian Attack?
King's Indian Attack games are 95.0% decisive (non-draws), with an average length of 37 moves. Sharpness varies by specific variation.
Is the King's Indian Attack a good opening family?
The King's Indian Attack family is good for White overall. Across its games, White wins 51.3% and loses 43.7%. Results differ between its 12 variations, so open the one you play for its own figures.