East Indian Defense
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6
The East Indian Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO A48, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6. White is to move. 6 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 34,240 times by this move order. White won 48%, 6% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 3. Bf4 (21% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.22 (Stockfish, depth 51; best line 3. e3 Bg7 4. c4 O-O 5. Be2 c5)
- ECO
- A48
- Moves
- 4 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pppppp1p/5np1/8/3P4/5N2/PPP1PPPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 6,271 | |
| 1500-1999 | 15,683 | |
| 2000+ | 12,286 | |
| All | 34,240 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3. Bf4 London System (2… g6 3. Bf4) | 7,359 (21%) | |
| 3. c4 Normal Variation, King's Knight Variation | 6,388 (19%) | |
| 3. e3 | 5,580 (16%) | |
| 3. g3 Przepiorka Variation | 4,125 (12%) | |
| 3. Bg5 Fianchetto Defense | 3,826 (11%) | |
| 3. Nc3 | 3,510 (10%) | |
| 3. c3 | 1,082 (3%) | |
| 3. Nbd2 | 758 (2%) |
Master games
9,368 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 23%, Black 36%). The strongest:
- Komodo 2576.00 (3505) – LCZero v0.26.2-rc1_J92-100 (3543) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 19 Premier 2020 · 2020-09-05
- LCZero v0.26.2-rc1_J92-100 (3543) – Komodo 2576.00 (3505) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 19 Premier 2020 · 2020-09-02
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2872) – GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2780) 0-1 · 11th London Classic 2019 · 2019-12-04
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2855) – GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2789) 1/2-1/2 · GCT Blitz Paris 2016 · 2016-06-12
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2839) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2789) 1-0 · chess.com SpeedChess 2025 · 2025-11-14
Search all games of the East Indian Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Americanchampion (2850) – Sunrise34 (2859) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Knightrider6767 (2795) – MeeTion01 (2874) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Americanchampion (2842) – Jiordani_Jovanovich (2820) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Indian Defense: Knights Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3
Continuations
- Indian Defense: Przepiorka Variation A49 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3
- King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation, King's Knight Variation E60 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4
- London System (2… g6 3. Bf4) A48 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bf4
- Torre Attack: Fianchetto Defense A48 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bg5
- Queen's Pawn Game: Barry Attack (3… d5 4. Bf4) A48 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bf4
- Indian Defense: Colle System, King's Indian Variation A48 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. e3 Bg7 4. Bd3 d6
Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.