Indian Defense
The Indian Defense, or Indian Game, is 1.d4 Nf6, the starting point of a large family of openings. Read the guide
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Statistics from Lichess
181,760,983 games: White 48.3% / Draw 5.5% / Black 46.2%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Normal Variation | 83,496,44483.5M | |
| Knights Variation | 35,408,03535.4M | |
| Accelerated London System | 25,364,01025.4M | |
| 11,943,19911.9M | ||
| 9,867,5289.9M | ||
| Trompowsky Attack | 7,785,7757.8M | |
| 2,045,1672M | ||
| Tartakower Attack | 1,409,4631.4M |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 7, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.16 The position is about equal
Best play: 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 O-O 5. Qc2 d5 6. a3 Bxc3+
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
Rating changes little here: Black scores 50% under 1400, 48% at 2200 and up and 46% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 29.9M | |
| 1400–1799 | 79.6M | |
| 1800–2199 | 106.2M | |
| 2200 and up | 27.8M | |
| Masters, over the board | 627K |
Master games
- Carlsen, M. – Caruana, F.
- Caruana, F. – Carlsen, M.
- Carlsen, M. – Caruana, F.
- Carlsen, M. – Caruana, F.
- Carlsen, M. – Caruana, F.
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
Description
The Indian Defense, or Indian Game, is 1.d4 Nf6, the starting point of a large family of openings. They are all to some degree hypermodern defences: Black invites White to build an imposing pawn centre and plans to undermine and eventually destroy it. The hypermodern school championed them in the 1920s, but they were fully accepted only after Russian players showed in the late 1940s that they are sound. Since then the Indian defences have become a popular answer to 1.d4, as they often give a balanced game with winning chances for both sides.
The name
The earliest known use of the term dates from 1884, and it referred to the openings played by the Indian player Moheschunder Bannerjee against John Cochrane. Savielly Tartakower popularised it in the early 1920s, and the modern names King's Indian, Queen's Indian and Old Indian were attributed by Richard Réti to Hans Kmoch.
After 2.c4
The usual second move is 2.c4, taking a bigger share of the centre and preparing Nc3.
- 2...e6 is Black's most popular reply. It leads to the Nimzo-Indian (3.Nc3 Bb4), the Queen's Indian (3.Nf3 b6), the Bogo-Indian (3.Nf3 Bb4+) and the Catalan (3.g3), among others.
- 2...g6, the main alternative, prepares a kingside fianchetto and leads to the King's Indian or the Grünfeld.
- 2...c5 is the Benoni Defense, and 2...d6 the Old Indian. 2...e5 is the Budapest Gambit.
Black can also return to classical openings with ...d5, such as the Queen's Gambit Declined or the Slav; these are not counted as Indian openings.
White's other second moves
The main alternative is 2.Nf3. Against 2...d5 White can play c4 and reach the Queen's Gambit, or avoid it with the London System, the Colle System or the Torre Attack. White can also play the Trompowsky Attack, 2.Bg5, or 2.Nc3, which leads to the Richter-Veresov Attack after 2...d5 3.Bg5 or the Jobava London after 2...d5 3.Bf4.
The numbers
On Lichess White wins 48.3% of the 182 million games and Black 46.2%. White's winning percentage hardly changes with rating, 48.2–48.5%, while Black wins 47.7% under 1400 and 43.9% from 2200 up, where more games are drawn. In 626,798 master games over the board White won 31.9%, Black 23.3%, and 44.8% were drawn.
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How to play against the Indian Defense
2. Nf3 (Knights Variation) scores best for White: 52.0%, with White winning 48.9% and Black 44.9% of 35.4M games. The most played, 2. c4, scores 50.9% in 83.5M games, and 2. e3 scores lowest: 49.6%. Stockfish's first choice is 2. c4.
Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: White'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 Indian Defense peaked in 2018 at 8.3% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 6.8% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 6.8% | 2,425,852 |
| 2017 | 7.5% | 4,146,624 |
| 2018 | 8.3% | 6,538,004 |
| 2019 | 7.9% | 9,909,292 |
| 2020 | 7.8% | 22,740,862 |
| 2021 | 6.8% | 26,562,882 |
| 2022 | 6.9% | 25,727,915 |
| 2023 | 6.8% | 25,630,611 |
| 2024 | 6.7% | 24,126,627 |
| 2025 | 6.8% | 23,460,669 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 6.8% | 7,511,283 |
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 (14)
- A45 Canard Opening 2. f4
- A45 Accelerated London System 2. Bf4
- A45 Gibbins-Weidenhagen Gambit 2. g4
- A46 Knights Variation 2. Nf3
- A45 Lazard Gambit 2. Nd2 e5
- A45 Maddigan Gambit 2. Nc3 e5
- A50 Normal Variation 2. c4
- A45 Omega Gambit 2. e4
- A45 Pawn Push Variation 2. d5
- A45 Reversed Chigorin Defense 2. Nc3 c5
- A45 Tartakower Attack 2. g3
- A45 Paleface Attack 2. f3
- A45 Queen's Pawn Game: Chigorin Variation 2. Nc3 d5
- A45 Trompowsky Attack 2. Bg5
All 165 named lines that continue from here
No line matches.
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Sources
- History and theory: adapted from the Wikipedia article Indian Defence, version of 26 October 2026, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Results: Lichess opening explorer, figures collected from September to November 2026.
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Indian Defense (A45)”. Lichess data as of 7 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/indian-defense