English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense, King's Knight Variation
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Statistics from Lichess
5,529,598 games: White 50.5% / Draw 6.9% / Black 42.6%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense, King's Indian Formation | 2,200,7552.2M | |
| 1,287,0181.3M | ||
| 745,572746K | ||
| English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense, Old Indian Formation | 329,054329K | |
| 287,917288K | ||
| English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense, Scandinavian Defense | 268,038268K | |
| 193,810194K | ||
| English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense, Queen's Indian Formation | 149,719150K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 30, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.22 The position is about equal
Best play: 2... e6 3. g3 d5 4. d4 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 a5 6. Bg2 O-O 7. Qc2
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
Rating changes little here: White scores 52% under 1400, 54% at 2200 and up and 57% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 250K | |
| 1400–1799 | 1M | |
| 1800–2199 | 3M | |
| 2200 and up | 1.8M | |
| Masters, over the board | 91K |
Master games
- Aronian, L. – Carlsen, M.
- Carlsen, M. – Aronian, L.
- Ding, L. – Carlsen, M.
- Carlsen, M. – Mamedyarov, S.
- Carlsen, M. – So, W.
Rated blitz, rapid and classical Lichess games by rating band, and over-the-board games of players rated 2200+ from the Lichess masters database, updated Sep 26, 2026
Overview
English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense, King's Knight Variation (ECO A15, Flank Openings) is a variation of the English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense, reached after 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 (2 moves).
In 5,529,598 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 50.5%, Black 42.6% and 6.9% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 2…g6, in 40% of those games.
It branches into 7 named variations; the most played are English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense, King's Indian Formation and English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Four Knights Variation. In all, 15 named lines continue from it.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
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How to play against the English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense, King's Knight Variation
The most played answer, 2…g6 (English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense, King's Indian Formation), also scores best for Black: 46.8%, with Black winning 43.4% and White 49.7% of 2.2M games. Of the main answers, 2…c5 scores lowest: 45.4%. Stockfish's first choice is 2…e6.
Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: Black's wins plus half the draws, in rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500. How to play against other popular openings
Popularity by year
The English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense, King's Knight Variation peaked in 2018 at 0.3% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.21% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.21% | 76,103 |
| 2017 | 0.24% | 133,674 |
| 2018 | 0.3% | 235,982 |
| 2019 | 0.28% | 354,378 |
| 2020 | 0.25% | 738,173 |
| 2021 | 0.2% | 781,079 |
| 2022 | 0.19% | 714,448 |
| 2023 | 0.19% | 727,158 |
| 2024 | 0.2% | 711,100 |
| 2025 | 0.21% | 721,414 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.22% | 240,554 |
Share of rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500 (blitz, rapid and classical) that reach this position, by year; 2026: January to April. Which openings are rising and falling
Variations (7)
- A15 Anglo-Indian Defense, King's Indian Formation 2…g6
- A15 Anglo-Indian Defense, Old Indian Formation 2…d6
- A15 Anglo-Indian Defense, Queen's Indian Formation 2…b6
- A15 Anglo-Indian Defense, Scandinavian Defense 2…d5
- A13 Romanishin Gambit 2…e6 3. g3 a6 4. Bg2 b5
- A35 Symmetrical Variation, Four Knights Variation 2…c5 3. Nc3 Nc6
- A12 Réti Opening: Anglo-Slav Variation, Capablanca Variation 2…c6 3. b3 d5 4. Bb2 Bg4
Transpositions
All 15 named lines that continue from here
- A15 English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense, King's Indian Formation 2 moves
- A15 English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense, Old Indian Formation 2 moves
- A15 English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense, Queen's Indian Formation 2 moves
- A15 English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense, Scandinavian Defense 2 moves
- A13 English Opening: Romanishin Gambit 4 moves
- A35 English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Four Knights Variation 3 moves
- A12 Réti Opening: Anglo-Slav Variation, Capablanca Variation 4 moves
- A15 English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense, Grünfeld Formation 3 moves
- A15 Double Fianchetto 4 moves
- A15 Exchange Variation 3 moves
- A15 English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense, Slav Formation 3 moves
- A38 English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Duchamp Variation 7 moves
- A38 English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Full Symmetry Line 5 moves
- A15 English Orangutan 3 moves
- A39 English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Mecking Variation 7 moves
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense, King's Knight Variation (A15)”. Lichess data as of 30 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/english-opening-anglo-indian-defense-kings-knight-variation