French Defense: King's Indian Attack: what to play after e6?

In the King's Indian Attack against the French Defense, White's most accurate move according to computer evaluation is g3, preparing the quintessential kingside fianchetto. While Nf3 is the most popular choice, occurring in 40.9% of the 2,801,371 recorded games, g3 yields the top engine evaluation of +0.02 and scores 51.4% for White across 168K encounters. This quiet pawn thrust establishes White's thematic setup without committing the knights prematurely.

Kingside Fianchetto with g3

The primary plan behind g3 is clearing the g2 square for the light-squared bishop, reinforcing White's central presence against Black's pawn chain. An illustrative engine continuation demonstrates this standard piece development: g3 Nc6 Bg2 Nf6 Nf3 d5. By placing g2 along the long diagonal, White maintains pressure through the center while keeping options flexible regarding pawn structures on the queenside.

Strategic Alternatives

Although g3 carries the highest evaluation, players frequently select different move orders to reach King's Indian setups. The natural developing move Nf3 has been tested in over 1.15M games (engine eval -0.04) and often leads to lines such as Nf3 d5 Qe2 Be7 g3 Nf6. Another prominent approach is Nd2, played in 15.5% of games (435K recorded) with an evaluation of -0.09; it scores 54.8% for White, often followed by Nd2 Nc6 Ngf3 g6 c3 Bg7. White can also choose Nc3 (27.9% of games, -0.11 eval, continuing Nc3 Nc6 g3 g6 Bg2 Bg7) or c3 (9.7% of games, -0.14 eval, leading toward c3 d5 f4 Nc6 Nf3 Be7).