Indian Defense: Anti-Nimzo-Indian
Chess opening · ECO E10 · 5 half-moves
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3
The Indian Defense: Anti-Nimzo-Indian is reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3. It is Black's move in the position shown.
It branches from the Indian Defense: Normal Variation with 2… e6 3. Nf3.
How often it is played
The Indian Defense: Anti-Nimzo-Indian and its variations appeared in 0.56% of games — 16,939 of 3,000,000 rated games sampled from Lichess in September 2026. That makes it number 82 of the openings listed here.
Results
White won 51%, 6.1% were drawn and Black won 43%. 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 +0.35 — 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: West Indian Defense | 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 | 0.98% |
| Nimzo-Indian Defense | 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 | 0.24% |
| Benoni Defense | 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 | 0.24% |
Main continuations
| Variation | Moves | Share of games |
|---|---|---|
| Queen's Gambit Declined: Three Knights Variation | 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 | 0.35% |
| Queen's Indian Defense | 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 | 0.07% |
| Bogo-Indian Defense | 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ | 0.04% |
| Queen's Gambit Declined: Traditional Variation | 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Bg5 | 0.03% |
| Benoni Defense: Classical Variation | 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nc3 g6 7. e4 | 0.01% |
| Catalan Opening: Closed, Main Line | 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Qc2 c6 8. Nbd2 | 0.01% |
| Benoni Defense: Fianchetto Variation | 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nc3 g6 7. g3 | 0.00% |
| Blumenfeld Countergambit | 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. d5 b5 | 0.00% |
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