Caissa Codex
E60

Indian Defense: West Indian Defense

Chess diagram: Indian Defense: West Indian Defense after 2…g6

Type a move and press Enter: e4, Nf3, O-O, or from and to squares like g1f3 (e7e8q to promote). The board is also played with the mouse.

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Statistics from Lichess

26,903,007 games: White 47.6% / Draw 5.6% / Black 46.8%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
King's Indian Defense 21,582,56921.6M
King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation, King's Knight Variation 2,714,0392.7M
King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Immediate Fianchetto 726,610727K
628,794629K
Indian Defense: Anti-Grünfeld, Alekhine Variation 360,021360K
337,962338K
169,527170K
Indian Defense: Anti-Grünfeld, Basman-Williams Attack 74,03274K

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 3, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.24 The position is about equal

Best play: 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Nf3 c5

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 44% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

PlayersGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400 2.4M
1400–1799 10.2M
1800–2199 16M
2200 and up 4.4M
Masters, over the board 151K

Master games

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: West Indian Defense (ECO E60, Indian Defenses) is a chess opening that starts 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6.

In 26,903,007 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 47.6%, Black 46.8% and 5.6% were drawn. White's most played move here is 3. Nc3, in 80% of those games.

It branches into 8 named variations; the most played are King's Indian Defense and King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation. In all, 123 named lines continue from it.

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How to play against the Indian Defense: West Indian Defense

The most played answer, 3. Nc3 (King's Indian Defense), also scores best for White: 50.6%, with White winning 47.8% and Black 46.6% of 21.6M games. Of the main answers, 3. Nf3 scores lowest: 50.1%. Stockfish's first choice is also 3. Nc3.

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: West Indian Defense has lost ground since 2016: 0.92% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 1.1% (its peak: 1.4% in 2018).

Numbers by year
YearShare of gamesGames
20161.1%399,018
20171.3%692,145
20181.4%1,095,980
20191.3%1,605,889
20201.2%3,582,411
20211.1%4,123,515
20221.0%3,791,758
20230.96%3,625,153
20240.92%3,312,476
20250.92%3,191,878
2026 (Jan–Apr)0.94%1,033,326

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 (8)

Transpositions

From here, a move transposes into another named line:

All 123 named lines that continue from here

Loading sub-variations…

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Indian Defense: West Indian Defense (E60)”. Lichess data as of 3 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/indian-defense-west-indian-defense

https://chesscodex.org/openings/indian-defense-west-indian-defense