Indian Defense: Anti-Nimzo-Indian
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Statistics from Lichess
10,145,180 games: White 49.6% / Draw 6.5% / Black 43.9%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 4,252,2604.3M | ||
| Queen's Indian Defense | 2,110,6672.1M | |
| Bogo-Indian Defense | 1,997,6512M | |
| 1,061,8461.1M | ||
| 328,195328K | ||
| 102,855103K | ||
| 69,66970K | ||
| 56,76357K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 31, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.18 The position is about equal
Best play: 3... d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 h6 6. Qa4+ Nc6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8. e3
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 53% both under 1400 and at 2200 and up, and 54% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 565K | |
| 1400–1799 | 2.6M | |
| 1800–2199 | 5.7M | |
| 2200 and up | 2.8M | |
| Masters, over the board | 151K |
Master games
- Carlsen, M. – Caruana, F.
- Carlsen, M. – Caruana, F.
- Carlsen, M. – Caruana, F.
- Carlsen, M. – Caruana, F.
- Carlsen, M. – Aronian, L.
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
Indian Defense: Anti-Nimzo-Indian (ECO E10, Indian Defenses) is a chess opening that starts 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3.
In 10,145,180 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 49.6%, Black 43.9% and 6.5% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 3…d5, in 42% of those games.
It branches into 17 named variations; the most played are Queen's Indian Defense and Bogo-Indian Defense. In all, 87 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 Indian Defense: Anti-Nimzo-Indian
3…b6 (Queen's Indian Defense) scores best for Black: 48.6%, with Black winning 45.2% and White 47.9% of 2.1M games. The most played answer, 3…d5, scores lowest: 46.7% in 4.3M games. Stockfish's first choice is 3…d5.
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 Indian Defense: Anti-Nimzo-Indian peaked in 2018 at 0.51% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.37% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.4% | 143,537 |
| 2017 | 0.43% | 239,353 |
| 2018 | 0.51% | 397,037 |
| 2019 | 0.47% | 581,376 |
| 2020 | 0.44% | 1,279,802 |
| 2021 | 0.36% | 1,413,406 |
| 2022 | 0.38% | 1,411,389 |
| 2023 | 0.39% | 1,448,345 |
| 2024 | 0.37% | 1,342,464 |
| 2025 | 0.37% | 1,299,788 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.38% | 416,507 |
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 (17)
- E10 Blumenfeld Countergambit 3…c5 4. d5 b5
- E11 Bogo-Indian Defense 3…Bb4+
- E11 Bogo-Indian Defense: Retreat Variation 3…d5 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O c6 8. Qc2 Nbd7 9. Bf4 b6 10. Nbd2
- E06 Catalan Opening: Closed 3…d5 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O c6 8. Bf4 b6
- E09 Catalan Opening: Closed, Main Line 3…d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Qc2 c6 8. Nbd2
- E09 Catalan Opening: Closed, Main Line 3…d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O c6 7. Qc2 b6 8. Nbd2 Bb7 9. e4 Nbd7
- E09 Catalan Opening: Closed, Main Line 3…d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Qc2 c6 8. Bf4 b6 9. Nbd2 Bb7 10. e4 dxe4 11. Nxe4 Nxe4 12. Qxe4
- E04 Catalan Opening: Open Defense 3…d5 4. g3 c6 5. Bg2 dxc4
- E05 Catalan Opening: Open Defense, Classical Line 3…d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4
- E10 Dzindzi-Indian Defense 3…a6
- E10 Döry Indian 3…Ne4
- E12 Queen's Indian Defense 3…b6
- E14 Queen's Indian Defense, with e3 3…d5 4. e3 b6 5. Nc3 Bb7
- E14 Queen's Indian Defense, with e3 3…d5 4. e3 b6 5. Nc3 Bd6 6. Bd3
- E14 Queen's Indian Defense, with e3 3…d5 4. e3 Be7 5. Nc3 O-O 6. b3 b6
- E14 Queen's Indian Defense, with e3 3…d5 4. e3 Be7 5. b3 O-O 6. Bd3 b6
- E14 Queen's Indian Defense, with e3 3…d5 4. e3 Be7 5. b3 O-O 6. Bb2 b6 7. Nbd2 Bb7 8. Bd3
All 87 named lines that continue from here
No line matches.
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Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Indian Defense: Anti-Nimzo-Indian (E10)”. Lichess data as of 31 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/indian-defense-anti-nimzo-indian