Indian Defense: Anti-Nimzo-Indian

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3

The Indian Defense: Anti-Nimzo-Indian is a chess opening classified as ECO E10, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3. It is a line of the Indian Defense. Black is to move. 22 named lines continue from this position.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 17,339 times by this move order. White won 50%, 6% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 3… d5 (43% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.11 (Stockfish, depth 65; best line 3… d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5)

ECO: E10
Moves: 5 plies
FEN: rnbqkb1r/pppp1ppp/4pn2/8/2PP4/5N2/PP2PPPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 1 3
PGN: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
0-1499	1,187	51%45%
1500-1999	6,626	50%44%
2000+	9,526	49%43%
All	17,339	50%44%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
3… d5	7,418 (43%)	50%43%
3… b6 Queen's Indian Defense	3,775 (22%)	49%44%
3… Bb4+ Bogo-Indian Defense	3,682 (21%)	50%44%
3… c5	1,388 (8%)	48%46%
3… Be7	430 (2%)	52%43%
3… c6	159 (1%)	54%40%
3… d6	104 (1%)	57%40%
3… Nc6	93 (1%)	48%43%

Master games

19,945 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 38%, draw 29%, Black 33%). The strongest:

Stockfish dev-20260228-702d4b8c (3796) – Reckless 0.9.0-dev-b32e0895 (3741) 1-0 · TCEC 29 Premier 2026 · 2026-03-15
Reckless 0.9.0-dev-b32e0895 (3741) – Stockfish dev-20260228-702d4b8c (3796) 1-0 · TCEC 29 Premier 2026 · 2026-03-12
LCZero 0.30-dag-9a9c42d_784968 (3599) – Stockfish dev16_20221027 (3625) 1-0 · TCEC 23 Superfinal 2022 · 2022-10-31
Stockfish dev16_20221027 (3625) – LCZero 0.30-dag-9a9c42d_784968 (3599) 1-0 · TCEC 23 Superfinal 2022 · 2022-10-31
KomodoDragon 2894.00 (3600) – Stockfish dev15_20220401 (3617) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 22 Superfinal 2022 · 2022-04-06

Search all games of the Indian Defense: Anti-Nimzo-Indian and its sub-variations

Highest-rated Lichess games

GM sillyMASTER (2825) – GM cutemouse83 (2961) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
ScaryIndianJunior (2811) – GM cutemouse83 (2972) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
vistagusta (2825) – GM cutemouse83 (2940) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s

Comes from

Indian Defense: Normal Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4

Continuations

Bogo-Indian Defense E11 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+
Indian Defense: Döry Indian E10 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Ne4
Indian Defense: Dzindzi-Indian Defense E10 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 a6
Queen's Indian Defense E12 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6
Queen's Gambit Declined: Three Knights Variation (3… d5 4. Nc3) D37 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3
Queen's Gambit Declined: Traditional Variation D30 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Bg5
Blumenfeld Countergambit E10 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. d5 b5
Catalan Opening: Open Defense (5. Bg2 dxc4) E04 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 c6 5. Bg2 dxc4
Queen's Indian Defense, with e3 (5. Nc3 Bb7) E14 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. e3 b6 5. Nc3 Bb7
Queen's Indian Defense, with e3 (5… Bd6 6. Bd3) E14 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. e3 b6 5. Nc3 Bd6 6. Bd3
Benoni Defense (6. Nc3 g6) A61 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nc3 g6
Catalan Opening: Open Defense, Classical Line (6. O-O dxc4) E05 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4
Queen's Gambit Declined: Exchange Variation (6. cxd5 exd5) D35 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. e3 b6 5. Nc3 Bd6 6. cxd5 exd5
Queen's Indian Defense, with e3 (6. b3 b6) E14 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. e3 Be7 5. Nc3 O-O 6. b3 b6
Queen's Indian Defense, with e3 (6. Bd3 b6) E14 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. e3 Be7 5. b3 O-O 6. Bd3 b6
Queen's Gambit Declined: Tarrasch Defense (7. Be2 Nc6) D32 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. e3 c5 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Nc3 a6 7. Be2 Nc6
Catalan Opening: Closed, Main Line (7… c6 8. Nbd2) E09 · 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
Queen's Indian Defense, with e3 (7… Bb7 8. Bd3) E14 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. e3 Be7 5. b3 O-O 6. Bb2 b6 7. Nbd2 Bb7 8. Bd3
Catalan Opening: Closed (8. Bf4 b6) E06 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O c6 8. Bf4 b6
Catalan Opening: Closed, Main Line (9. e4 Nbd7) E09 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O c6 7. Qc2 b6 8. Nbd2 Bb7 9. e4 Nbd7
Bogo-Indian Defense: Retreat Variation (9… b6 10. Nbd2) E11 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O c6 8. Qc2 Nbd7 9. Bf4 b6 10. Nbd2
Catalan Opening: Closed, Main Line (11… Nxe4 12. Qxe4) E09 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Qc2 c6 8. Bf4 b6 9. Nbd2 Bb7 10. e4 dxe4 11. Nxe4 Nxe4 12. Qxe4

More Indian Defense lines (all)

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.