King's Indian Defense · As White · updated October 2026
Play against the King's Indian like Rudik Makarian
A repertoire against the King's Indian built from 81 of Rudik Makarian's public Chess.com blitz games. At every position you play the move Rudik Makarian chose most often. Where Rudik Makarian has fewer than 3 games, the course takes the other top-50 players' most played move, then Stockfish's. Learn a line on the board, then each position comes back in a short daily review until it sticks.
Not affiliated with or endorsed by Rudik Makarian or Chess.com.
- Rudik Makarian was #23 in Chess.com blitz in October 2026 (3,245) and scored 67% against opponents averaging 3,010 in these games.
- You play Rudik Makarian's own move in 33 of 40 positions.
- The whole course is free, and it is updated monthly.
Train lines
Learn a new line move by move. Lines due for review go to your daily review first.
Free · first 5 lines need no account
Blitz rank
#23
Chess.com
Rating
3,245
Games
81
in this opening
Score
67%
in these games
Opponents
3,010
average rating
Lines to learn
- Next
Line 1 · 8% at top level
4.e4 d6 5.Be2 O-O 6.Nf3 e5 7.O-O Bg4 8.d5 a5 9.Be3 Na6 10.Nd2 Bd7 11.g4 Kh8 12.Kh1
- New
Line 2 · 6% at top level
4.e4 O-O 5.Be2 d6 6.Nf3 c5 7.d5
- New
Line 3 · 5% at top level
4.e4 d6 5.Be2 O-O 6.Nf3 Na6 7.O-O e5 8.Be3 Ng4 9.Bg5
- New
Line 4 · 5% at top level
4.e4 O-O 5.Be2 d6 6.Nf3 e5 7.O-O Nc6 8.d5
- New
Line 5 · 4% at top level
4.e4 d6 5.Be2 O-O 6.Nf3 e5 7.O-O h6 8.dxe5 dxe5 9.Qc2 Nc6 10.Be3 Nd4 11.Bxd4 exd4 12.Rad1 c5 13.Nd5 Re8 14.Nd2 Be6 15.Rde1
- New
Line 6 · 4% at top level
4.e4 d6 5.Be2 O-O 6.Nf3 e5 7.O-O Bg4 8.d5 a5 9.Be3 Na6 10.Nd2 Bd7 11.g4 Ne8 12.Kh1
- New
Line 7 · 4% at top level
4.e4 d6 5.Be2 O-O 6.Nf3 e5 7.O-O Na6 8.Be3
- New
Line 8 · 4% at top level
4.e4 d6 5.Be2 O-O 6.Nf3 e5 7.O-O Nbd7 8.Be3
- New
Line 9 · 4% at top level
4.e4 d6 5.Be2 O-O 6.Nf3 Bg4 7.Be3
- New
Line 10 · 4% at top level
4.e4 d6 5.Be2 O-O 6.Nf3 Nbd7 7.O-O e5 8.Be3
- New
Line 11 · 4% at top level
4.e4 d6 5.Be2 O-O 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.O-O
- New
Line 12 · 4% at top level
4.e4 d6 5.Be2 O-O 6.Nf3 Re8 7.O-O Nc6 8.d5 Nb4 9.Bg5 h6 10.Bh4 e6 11.dxe6 Bxe6 12.Nd4 Bd7 13.f4
- New
Line 13 · 3% at top level
4.e4 d6 5.Be2 O-O 6.Nf3 e5 7.O-O Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.b4 a5 10.bxa5 Rxa5 11.a4
- New
Line 14 · 3% at top level
4.e4 d6 5.Be2 O-O 6.Nf3 e5 7.O-O Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.b4 a5 10.bxa5 c5 11.a4 Rxa5 12.Bd3
Ordered by how often they come up in top-level games. Learned lines join your daily review.
Rudik Makarian's main line against the King's Indian, move by move
The most common line at top level: 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 O-O 6.Nf3 e5 7.O-O Bg4 8.d5 a5 9.Be3 Na6 10.Nd2 Bd7 11.g4 Kh8 12.Kh1.
- 4.e4 Your move · Rudik Makarian's games Rudik Makarian played 4.e4 in 80 games, scoring 68%.
- 4…d6 Reply · Rudik Makarian's games A common reply here is 4…d6. At top level, this comes up about 74% of the time.
- 5.Be2 Your move · Rudik Makarian's games Rudik Makarian played 5.Be2 in 58 games, scoring 72%.
- 5…O-O Reply · Rudik Makarian's games A common reply here is 5…O-O. At top level, this comes up about 71% of the time.
- 6.Nf3 Your move · Rudik Makarian's games Rudik Makarian played 6.Nf3 in 53 games, scoring 70%.
- 6…e5 Reply · Rudik Makarian's games A common reply here is 6…e5. At top level, this comes up about 46% of the time.
- 7.O-O Your move · Rudik Makarian's games Rudik Makarian played 7.O-O in 33 games, scoring 62%.
- 7…Bg4 Reply · Rudik Makarian's games A common reply here is 7…Bg4. At top level, this comes up about 14% of the time.
- 8.d5 Your move · Rudik Makarian's games Rudik Makarian played 8.d5 in 10 games, scoring 65%.
- 8…a5 Reply · Rudik Makarian's games A common reply here is 8…a5. At top level, this comes up about 12% of the time.
- 9.Be3 Your move · Rudik Makarian's games Rudik Makarian played 9.Be3 in 7 games, scoring 64%.
- 9…Na6 Reply · Rudik Makarian's games A common reply here is 9…Na6.
- 10.Nd2 Your move · Rudik Makarian's games Rudik Makarian played 10.Nd2 in 4 games, scoring 75%.
- 10…Bd7 Reply · Rudik Makarian's games A common reply here is 10…Bd7.
- 11.g4 Your move · Rudik Makarian's games Rudik Makarian played 11.g4 in 3 games, scoring 67%.
- 11…Kh8 Reply · Rudik Makarian's games A common reply here is 11…Kh8. At top level, this comes up about 8% of the time.
- 12.Kh1 Your move · Stockfish The games give no move to follow here, so this is Stockfish's choice.
Questions about this course
- How does Rudik Makarian play against the King's Indian?
- After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7, Rudik Makarian's most common line is 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 O-O 6.Nf3 e5 7.O-O Bg4 8.d5 a5 9.Be3 Na6 10.Nd2 Bd7 11.g4 Kh8 12.Kh1. At top level it comes up about 8% of the time.
- Is this Rudik Makarian's course?
- No. ChessDrills builds it automatically from Rudik Makarian's public Chess.com blitz games.
- What is this King's Indian course based on?
- 81 of Rudik Makarian's Chess.com blitz games in the King's Indian Defense as White, against opponents with an average rating of 3,010. Rudik Makarian scored 67% in them.
- How many lines does the course have?
- 14 lines covering 40 positions, ordered by how often they come up in top-level games. The first 5 lines need no account; saving your progress with an email unlocks the rest, free.
- Does Rudik Makarian always play the best move?
- The course follows the moves from the games. In 1 position a quick Stockfish check prefers another move by 0.7 pawns or more, and the course marks it.
- Who is Rudik Makarian?
- GM Rudik Makarian was ranked number 23 on the Chess.com blitz leaderboard with a rating of 3,245 when this course was built.