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King's Indian Defense · As White · updated October 2026

Play against the King's Indian like Aleksei Sarana

A repertoire against the King's Indian built from 87 of Aleksei Sarana's public Chess.com blitz games. At every position you play the move Aleksei Sarana chose most often. Where Aleksei Sarana 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 Aleksei Sarana or Chess.com.

  • Aleksei Sarana was #7 in Chess.com blitz in October 2026 (3,316) and scored 76% against opponents averaging 3,019 in these games.
  • You play Aleksei Sarana's own move in 15 of 40 positions.
  • The whole course is free, and it is updated monthly.

Free · first 5 lines need no account

Blitz rank

#7

Chess.com

Rating

3,316

Games

87

in this opening

Score

76%

in these games

Opponents

3,019

average rating

More about Aleksei Sarana

Use arrow keys to navigate the board. Press Enter to select a piece, then use arrow keys and Enter to move. Press Escape to cancel a move.
Line 1 after 13 moves

Lines to learn

  1. Line 1 · 7% at top level

    4.e4 d6 5.Be2 O-O 6.Be3 e5 7.d5 Na6 8.h3 Nc5 9.Qc2 a5 10.Nf3

  2. Line 2 · 7% at top level

    4.e4 d6 5.Be2 O-O 6.Be3 e5 7.d5 Nbd7 8.h3 Nc5 9.Qc2 a5 10.Nf3 b6 11.Nd2

  3. Line 3 · 6% at top level

    4.e4 d6 5.Be2 O-O 6.Be3 Na6 7.Nf3 e5 8.O-O

  4. Line 4 · 6% at top level

    4.e4 d6 5.Be2 O-O 6.Be3 Nc6 7.d5 Ne5 8.f4 Neg4 9.Bd2 Nh6 10.h3 e6 11.dxe6 fxe6 12.g4 Nf7 13.Qc2 g5 14.fxg5 Nd7 15.h4

  5. Line 5 · 6% at top level

    4.e4 d6 5.Be2 O-O 6.Be3 Nc6 7.d5 Ne5 8.f4 Neg4 9.Bd2 c6 10.h3 Nh6 11.g4 cxd5 12.cxd5 e6 13.g5 Nxe4 14.Nxe4 Nf5 15.Bc3 exd5 16.Bxg7

  6. Line 6 · 5% at top level

    4.e4 d6 5.Be2 O-O 6.Be3 a5 7.Nf3 Ng4 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bh4 Nf6 10.h3

  7. Line 7 · 5% at top level

    4.e4 d6 5.Be2 O-O 6.Be3 c5 7.d5 e6 8.Nf3 exd5 9.cxd5 Nbd7 10.O-O Ng4 11.Bd2

  8. Line 8 · 5% at top level

    4.e4 d6 5.Be2 O-O 6.Be3 c6 7.Nf3

  9. Line 9 · 5% at top level

    4.e4 O-O 5.Be2 d6 6.Be3 c5 7.d5 e6 8.Nf3 exd5 9.cxd5 b5 10.e5 dxe5 11.Bxc5

Ordered by how often they come up in top-level games. Learned lines join your daily review.

Aleksei Sarana'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.Be3 e5 7.d5 Na6 8.h3 Nc5 9.Qc2 a5 10.Nf3.

  1. 4.e4 Your move · Aleksei Sarana's games Aleksei Sarana played 4.e4 in 82 games, scoring 77%.
  2. 4…d6 Reply · Aleksei Sarana's games A common reply here is 4…d6. At top level, this comes up about 88% of the time.
  3. 5.Be2 Your move · Aleksei Sarana's games Aleksei Sarana played 5.Be2 in 54 games, scoring 69%.
  4. 5…O-O Reply · Aleksei Sarana's games A common reply here is 5…O-O. At top level, this comes up about 80% of the time.
  5. 6.Be3 Your move · Aleksei Sarana's games Aleksei Sarana played 6.Be3 in 31 games, scoring 69%.
  6. 6…e5 Reply · Aleksei Sarana's games A common reply here is 6…e5. At top level, this comes up about 23% of the time.
  7. 7.d5 Your move · Aleksei Sarana's games Aleksei Sarana played 7.d5 in 9 games, scoring 83%.
  8. 7…Na6 Reply · Aleksei Sarana's games A common reply here is 7…Na6. At top level, this comes up about 10% of the time.
  9. 8.h3 Your move · Aleksei Sarana's games Aleksei Sarana played 8.h3 in 3 games, scoring 83%.
  10. 8…Nc5 Reply · Aleksei Sarana's games A common reply here is 8…Nc5.
  11. 9.Qc2 Your move · Aleksei Sarana's games Aleksei Sarana played 9.Qc2 in 3 games, scoring 83%.
  12. 9…a5 Reply · Aleksei Sarana's games A common reply here is 9…a5. At top level, this comes up about 7% of the time.
  13. 10.Nf3 Your move · Stockfish The games give no move to follow here, so this is Stockfish's choice.

Questions about this course

How does Aleksei Sarana play against the King's Indian?
After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7, Aleksei Sarana's most common line is 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 O-O 6.Be3 e5 7.d5 Na6 8.h3 Nc5 9.Qc2 a5 10.Nf3. At top level it comes up about 7% of the time.
Is this Aleksei Sarana's course?
No. ChessDrills builds it automatically from Aleksei Sarana's public Chess.com blitz games.
What is this King's Indian course based on?
87 of Aleksei Sarana's Chess.com blitz games in the King's Indian Defense as White, against opponents with an average rating of 3,019. Aleksei Sarana scored 76% in them.
How many lines does the course have?
9 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.
Who is Aleksei Sarana?
GM Aleksei Sarana was ranked number 7 on the Chess.com blitz leaderboard with a rating of 3,316 when this course was built.