English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense, King's Knight Variation
1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3
The English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense, King's Knight Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A15, reached after 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3. It is a line of the English Opening. Black is to move. 7 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 3,384 times by this move order. White won 52%, 7% were drawn and Black won 41%. The most popular continuation is 2… g6 (39% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.12 (Stockfish, depth 56; best line 2… e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Qa4+)
- ECO
- A15
- Moves
- 3 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pppppppp/5n2/8/2P5/5N2/PP1PPPPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 2 2- PGN
1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 299 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,271 | |
| 2000+ | 1,814 | |
| All | 3,384 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2… g6 Anglo-Indian Defense, King's Indian Formation | 1,318 (39%) | |
| 2… e6 | 857 (25%) | |
| 2… d6 Anglo-Indian Defense, Old Indian Formation | 291 (9%) | |
| 2… c5 | 278 (8%) | |
| 2… d5 Anglo-Indian Defense, Scandinavian Defense | 215 (6%) | |
| 2… Nc6 | 153 (5%) | |
| 2… c6 | 142 (4%) | |
| 2… b6 Anglo-Indian Defense, Queen's Indian Formation (2. Nf3 b6) | 71 (2%) |
Master games
4,815 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 43%, draw 30%, Black 27%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2872) – GM Levon Aronian (2809) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE Candidates · 2013-03-24
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2864) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2778) 1-0 · FTX Crypto Cup 2022 · 2022-08-20
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2852) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2768) 1-0 · Airthings Masters Div 1 W · 2023-02-10
- GM So, W. (2769) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2835) 0-1 · Aimchess Rapid Div 1 W · 2023-07-14
- GM Levon Aronian (2799) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2792) 1/2-1/2 · Saint Louis Rapid 2017 · 2017-08-16
Highest-rated Lichess games
- IM roggefeller (2763) – FM Guary1 (2819) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- CSIM2026 (2668) – FM Guary1 (2896) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- GM ILikeBlitz (2820) – spartak20 (2719) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Continuations
- English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense, King's Indian Formation A15 · 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6
- English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense, Old Indian Formation A15 · 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d6
- English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense, Queen's Indian Formation (2. Nf3 b6) A15 · 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 b6
- English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense, Scandinavian Defense A15 · 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5
- English Opening: Romanishin Gambit A13 · 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. g3 a6 4. Bg2 b5
- Réti Opening: Anglo-Slav Variation, Capablanca Variation (4. Bb2 Bg4) A12 · 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 c6 3. b3 d5 4. Bb2 Bg4
- English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Full Symmetry Line A38 · 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 c5 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. g3 g6 5. Bg2 Bg7
More English Opening lines (all)
- English Opening A10
- English Opening: Achilles-Omega Gambit A10
- English Opening: Adorjan Defense A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Dutch Defense A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Dutch Defense, Hickmann Gambit A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Dutch Variation, Chabanon Gambit A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Dutch Variation, Ferenc Gambit A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Lithuanian Variation A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Scandinavian Defense A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Scandinavian Defense, Löhn Gambit A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Scandinavian Defense, Malvinas Variation A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Scandinavian Defense, Schulz Gambit A10
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.