9. ... Nd7 or Ne8 - E98 King's Indian, orthodox, Aronin - Taimanov, 9.Ne1

Hi guys, I have a question about the opening. In the main variant of the King's Indian defense, the most common move is the 9. ... Nd7. This move is OK, of course, but for some reason, I like 9 ... Ne8 more. The knight from e8 covers the important c7 square, which is sometimes attacked by white, and at the same time, it covers the pawn on d6, which is also often the target of the attack. I know the plan with f5 and the attack on the king's side, so I know that the knight sometimes returns to f6 to support the attack. So the question is, isn't Ne8 a better move than Nd7? For example, in the game V. Korchnoi- G. Kasparov (1989, Barcelona), black returns knight relatively quickly from d7 to f6. So wouldn't it be better to leave the knight on e8, which would protect the d6 and c7, and first develop the pieces and then get the knight back on f6? Is there any reason why Nd7 is better? Thanks!
lichess.org/study/Kyh5Dkwk/09ZOCRNJ#17

Both moves are ok and are played in GM chess, though 9...Nd7 is played more often. A reason may be that after 9...Ne8 10.f4 the knight does not control e5.

I just analyzed this a bit, black is a bit in trouble after 9...Ne8 10.f4. So I recommend playing the knight to d7. Then white has nothing after 10.f4 f5.

That said, I play this line (9.Ne1) myself with white, and I believe that white also has something after 9..Nd7 10.Nd3.

its funny because every time I played as white otb chess they went Ne8, never Nd7 the most popular.

It does give you the further possibility of ...a5 (and ...Nc5).

Personally, I have played them both (and consider them more or less interchangeable).