Indian Defense
Chess opening · ECO A45 · 2 half-moves
1. d4 Nf6
The Indian Defense is reached after 1. d4 Nf6. It is White's move in the position shown.
It branches from the Queen's Pawn Game with 1… Nf6.
How often it is played
The Indian Defense and its variations appeared in 5.1% of games — 153,625 of 3,000,000 rated games sampled from Lichess in September 2026. That makes it number 9 of the openings listed here.
Results
White won 49%, 4.7% were drawn and Black won 46%. 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 +0.31 — 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Queen's Gambit | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 | 4.5% |
| Queen's Pawn Game: Zukertort Variation | 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 | 2.3% |
| Englund Gambit | 1. d4 e5 | 1.9% |
Main continuations
| Variation | Moves | Share of games |
|---|---|---|
| Indian Defense: Normal Variation | 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 | 2.5% |
| Indian Defense: Knights Variation | 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 | 1.1% |
| Indian Defense: Accelerated London System | 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 | 0.54% |
| Trompowsky Attack | 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 | 0.17% |
| Richter-Veresov Attack | 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bg5 | 0.07% |
| Paleface Attack | 1. d4 Nf6 2. f3 | 0.05% |
| Indian Defense: Omega Gambit | 1. d4 Nf6 2. e4 | 0.04% |
| Indian Defense: Tartakower Attack | 1. d4 Nf6 2. g3 | 0.03% |
Check your own games
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