Indian Defense: Knights Variation, Alburt-Miles Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 a6
The Indian Defense: Knights Variation, Alburt-Miles Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A46, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 a6. It is a line of the Indian Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 105 times by this move order. White won 51%, 3% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 3. e3 (24% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.32 (Stockfish, depth 41; best line 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 d5 5. cxd5 exd5)
- ECO
- A46
- Moves
- 4 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/1ppppppp/p4n2/8/3P4/5N2/PPP1PPPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 a6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 25 | |
| 1500-1999 | 40 | |
| 2000+ | 40 | |
| All | 105 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3. e3 | 25 (24%) | |
| 3. Bf4 | 23 (22%) | |
| 3. c4 | 19 (18%) | |
| 3. g3 | 14 (13%) | |
| 3. Nc3 | 8 (8%) | |
| 3. c3 | 4 (4%) | |
| 3. Bg5 | 4 (4%) | |
| 3. a4 | 3 (3%) |
Master games
72 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 35%, draw 18%, Black 47%). The strongest:
- GM Parham Maghsoodloo (2698) – GM Praggnanandhaa R (2608) 0-1 · chess.com Junior Speed · 2021-07-05
- GM Rinat Jumabayev (2577) – GM Gareev, T. (2541) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE World Rapid Team · 2024-08-03
- GM Lucas Van Foreest (2577) – GM Sipke Ernst (2512) 1-0 · ch-NED 2022 · 2022-12-22
- CM Konstantin Garagulya (2389) – GM Igor Kovalenko (2674) 0-1 · Titled Tue 19th Sep Early · 2023-09-19
- GM Tuan Minh Le (2542) – IM Thomas Beerdsen (2507) 1-0 · Titled Tue 2nd May Early · 2023-05-02
Highest-rated Lichess games
- CM BallinLikeAntMan (2531) – El_Precisione (2610) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Zaplya (2535) – CM Asatryan_Gor (2604) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- FM Magek (2592) – stovm (2465) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Indian Defense: Knights Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3
More Indian Defense lines (all)
- Indian Defense: Pseudo-Benko A43
- Indian Defense (1. d4 Nf6) A45
- Indian Defense: Accelerated London System A45
- Indian Defense: Gedult Attack A45
- Indian Defense: Gibbins-Weidenhagen Gambit A45
- Indian Defense: Gibbins-Weidenhagen Gambit Accepted A45
- Indian Defense: Gibbins-Weidenhagen Gambit, Maltese Falcon A45
- Indian Defense: Gibbins-Weidenhagen Gambit, Oshima Defense A45
- Indian Defense: Gibbins-Weidenhagen Gambit, Stummer Gambit A45
- Indian Defense: Lazard Gambit A45
- Indian Defense: Maddigan Gambit A45
- Indian Defense: Omega Gambit A45
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.