Larsen Variation

The Larsen Variation is a sideline of the Classical King's Indian in which White answers 5...O-O with 6. Be3 rather than the far more common 6. Be2. White develops the queen's bishop immediately and keeps the f1-bishop's destination undecided. Without the Sämisch's f3, however, the bishop on e3 is exposed to ...Ng4, and because Be2 has not been played, the f3-knight can be pinned by ...Bg4. A typical illustration of the first problem is 6...e5 7. d5 Ng4 8. Bg5 f6 9. Bh4 Nh6, where Black gains tempi against the bishop and prepares the ...f5 break once the center is closed.

In online play the most frequent reply is 6...Nbd7, which prepares ...e5 without committing the knight to the c6-square. 6...Bg4 and 6...Nc6 come next. Engines favor 6...e5, 6...Ng4 and 6...Nbd7, and assess the position as a slight edge for White. Results on Lichess are close to even, with Black scoring marginally better overall, although White performs well against 6...Bg4.