Indian Defense: Complete Guide

The flexible umbrella reply to 1.d4 — Black brings the knight out first and keeps every setup in reserve, from quiet e6 systems to the sharp Budapest Gambit. Drill every main line against an adaptive engine, backed by real Lichess win rates and Stockfish evaluations.

98 variations 305,910,210 total games Avg Stockfish +0.30

Play the main line: Indian Defense

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All 98 variations of the Indian Defense

Openings & Plans Indian Defense ECO A45 94M games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Normal Variation ECO A50 37M games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Accelerated London System ECO A45 17M games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Knights Variation ECO A46 16M games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: c4 ECO A45 13M games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Nc3 ECO A45 13M games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: West Indian Defense ECO E60 11M games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Accelerated London System: d5 ECO A45 11M games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Normal Variation: e6 ECO A50 9M games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Normal Variation: g6 ECO A50 8M games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Anti-Nimzo-Indian: d5 ECO E10 7M games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Knights Variation: d5 ECO A46 5M games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Bf4 ECO A45 4M games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Nf3 ECO A45 4M games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Normal Variation: d5 ECO A50 4M games Gambits Indian Defense: Budapest Defense ECO A51 3M games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Anti-Nimzo-Indian ECO E10 2M games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Knights Variation: e6 ECO A46 2M games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: West Indian Defense: Nf3 ECO E60 2M games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: e3 ECO A45 2M games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Knights Variation: g6 ECO A46 2M games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Wade-Tartakower Defense ECO A46 2M games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: London System ECO A46 2M games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Accelerated London System: e6 ECO A45 2M games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Normal Variation: c5 ECO A50 1M games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: West Indian Defense: Nc3 ECO E60 1M games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Normal Variation: e5 ECO A50 1M games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Accelerated London System: g6 ECO A45 1M games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Bg5 ECO A45 1M games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: West Indian Defense: e3 ECO E60 1M games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Pawn Push Variation ECO A45 1M games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Knights Variation: d6 ECO A46 1M games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Normal Variation: d6 ECO A50 1M games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Tartakower Attack ECO A45 862K games Gambits Indian Defense: Omega Gambit ECO A45 829K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Seirawan Attack ECO E00 755K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Spielmann-Indian ECO A46 685K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Accelerated London System: d6 ECO A45 589K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Wade-Tartakower Defense: e3 ECO A46 546K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Przepiorka Variation ECO A49 460K games Gambits Indian Defense: Budapest Defense: Nc3 ECO A51 398K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: London System: c5 ECO A46 371K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Accelerated London System: Nc6 ECO A45 362K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: London System: Nc6 ECO A46 331K games Gambits Indian Defense: Budapest Defense: e3 ECO A51 327K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: London System: d5 ECO A46 310K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Czech-Indian ECO A46 276K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Pawn Push Variation: d6 ECO A45 275K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Reversed Chigorin Defense ECO A45 255K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Anti-Nimzo-Indian: Be7 ECO E10 238K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Budapest Defense, Fajarowicz Variation ECO A51 193K games Gambits Indian Defense: Budapest Defense: dxe5 ECO A51 193K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Anti-Grünfeld, Advance Variation ECO E60 170K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Anti-Grünfeld, Advance Variation ECO E60 170K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Wade-Tartakower Defense: c4 ECO A46 159K games Gambits Indian Defense: Budapest Defense: d5 ECO A51 158K games Gambits Indian Defense: Maddigan Gambit ECO A45 152K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Pawn Push Variation: e6 ECO A45 137K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Anti-Nimzo-Indian: c5 ECO E10 133K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Wade-Tartakower Defense: g3 ECO A46 124K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Knights Variation: c5 ECO A46 116K games Gambits Indian Defense: Paleface Attack, Blackmar-Diemer Gambit Deferred ECO A45 116K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Wade-Tartakower Defense: Bg5 ECO A46 107K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Pawn Push Variation: c6 ECO A45 92K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Accelerated London System: c5 ECO A45 90K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Pawn Push Variation: g6 ECO A45 80K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Anti-Grünfeld, Alekhine Variation ECO E60 59K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Anti-Grünfeld, Alekhine Variation ECO E60 59K games Gambits Indian Defense: Budapest Defense: Nf3 ECO A51 48K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Gedult Attack ECO A45 41K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Anti-Nimzo-Indian: Bb4+ ECO E10 41K games Gambits Indian Defense: Pyrenees Gambit ECO A50 39K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Wade-Tartakower Defense: Bf4 ECO A46 37K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Anti-Nimzo-Indian: b6 ECO E10 28K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Knights Variation: b6 ECO A46 28K games Gambits Indian Defense: Gibbins-Weidenhagen Gambit ECO A45 25K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Anti-Grünfeld, Basman-Williams Attack ECO E60 20K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Dzindzi-Indian Defense ECO E10 19K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: London System: Be7 ECO A46 18K games Gambits Indian Defense: Medusa Gambit ECO A50 18K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: West Indian Defense: Bg5 ECO E60 17K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Knights Variation, Alburt-Miles Variation ECO A46 17K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Döry Indian ECO E10 16K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Polish Variation ECO A46 15K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: London System: d6 ECO A46 14K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Pseudo-Benko ECO A43 11K games Gambits Indian Defense: Gibbins-Weidenhagen Gambit Accepted ECO A45 11K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: West Indian Defense: f3 ECO E60 9K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Anti-Nimzo-Indian: c6 ECO E10 8K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: Wade-Tartakower Defense: Nc3 ECO A46 5K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: West Indian Defense: g3 ECO E60 4K games Gambits Indian Defense: Lazard Gambit ECO A45 3K games Gambits Indian Defense: Devin Gambit ECO E00 3K games Openings & Plans Indian Defense: London System: b6 ECO A46 2K games Gambits Indian Defense: Gibbins-Weidenhagen Gambit, Oshima Defense ECO A45 1K games Gambits Indian Defense: Anti-Grünfeld, Adorjan Gambit ECO E60 383 games Gambits Indian Defense: Schnepper Gambit ECO A47 48 games Gambits Indian Defense: Anti-Grünfeld, Alekhine Variation, Leko Gambit ECO E60 37 games

Frequently asked questions about the Indian Defense

What is the indian in chess?

The Indian is a chess opening family with 98 variations covered on Chessy. Over 306 million Lichess games have reached these positions across all rating levels.