A54

Old Indian Defense: Two Knights Variation

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Statistics from Lichess

241,817 games: White 54.6% / Draw 5.8% / Black 39.6%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	95,16095K
	62,63763K
	46,58947K
	19,69620K
	8,7408,740
	3,8313,831
	1,0061,006
	805805

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 2, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.69 White is slightly better

Best play: 4... exd4 5. Nxd4 g6 6. e4 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Be3 a6 9. Be2

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 55% both under 1400 and at 2200 and up, and 59% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	29K
1400–1799	68K
1800–2199	136K
2200 and up	63K
Masters, over the board	1,618

Master games

Caruana, F. – McShane, L. J. 1–0, 2012
Svidler, P. – Jobava, B. ½–½, 2013
Tomashevsky, E. – McShane, L. J. ½–½, 2012
Aronian, L. – Demchenko, A. 1–0, 2022
Vitiugov, N. – Andreikin, D. ½–½, 2012

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 27, 2026

Overview

Old Indian Defense: Two Knights Variation (ECO A54, Flank Openings) is a variation of the Old Indian Defense: Ukrainian Variation, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6 3. Nc3 e5 4. Nf3 (4 moves).

In 241,817 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 54.6%, Black 39.6% and 5.8% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 4…exd4, in 39% of those games.

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Description

How to play against the Old Indian Defense: Two Knights Variation

4…Nbd7 scores best for Black: 47.7%, with Black winning 44.3% and White 48.9% of 47K games. The most played answer, 4…exd4, scores lowest: 40.5% in 95K games. Stockfish's first choice is 4…exd4.

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 Old Indian Defense: Two Knights Variation peaked in 2018 at 0.012% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.0094% in 2025.

0.0089%0.0094%0.012%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.0089%	3,196
2017	0.011%	5,960
2018	0.012%	9,526
2019	0.012%	14,377
2020	0.0097%	28,505
2021	0.0086%	33,744
2022	0.0086%	32,442
2023	0.0089%	33,615
2024	0.0091%	32,677
2025	0.0094%	32,786
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.0096%	10,504

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

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Old Indian Defense: Two Knights Variation (A54)”. Lichess data as of 2 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/old-indian-defense-two-knights-variation