East Indian Defense
Chess opening · ECO A48 · 4 half-moves
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6
The East Indian Defense is reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6. It is White's move in the position shown.
It branches from the Indian Defense: Knights Variation with 2… g6.
How often it is played
The East Indian Defense and its variations appeared in 0.53% of games — 15,881 of 3,000,000 rated games sampled from Lichess in September 2026. That makes it number 84 of the openings listed here.
Results
White won 48%, 4.5% were drawn and Black won 48%. These are games between players of every strength and time control, so they say how the opening does in practice rather than how sound it is.
What the engine thinks
Stockfish, at depth 18, evaluates the position at +0.37 — a small edge for White. Positive numbers favour White; see reading the evaluation bar.
Similar openings
The most-played alternatives — what else could have been chosen around the move where this opening begins.
| Opening | Moves | Share of games |
|---|---|---|
| Indian Defense: Normal Variation | 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 | 2.5% |
| Indian Defense: Accelerated London System | 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 | 0.54% |
| Queen's Gambit | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 | 4.5% |
Main continuations
| Variation | Moves | Share of games |
|---|---|---|
| London System | 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bf4 | 0.24% |
| King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation, King's Knight Variation | 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 | 0.06% |
| Torre Attack: Fianchetto Defense | 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bg5 | 0.04% |
| Indian Defense: Przepiorka Variation | 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 | 0.04% |
| Indian Defense: Colle System, King's Indian Variation | 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. e3 Bg7 4. Bd3 d6 | 0.03% |
| Queen's Pawn Game: Barry Attack | 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bf4 | 0.01% |
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