Indian Defense: Maddigan Gambit
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5
The Indian Defense: Maddigan Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO A45, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5. 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 541 times by this move order. White won 53%, 5% were drawn and Black won 42%. The most popular continuation is 3. dxe5 (74% of games).
Engine evaluation: +1.59 (Stockfish, depth 38; best line 3. dxe5 Ng4 4. Bf4 Nc6 5. Nf3 d6)
- ECO
- A45
- Moves
- 4 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pppp1ppp/5n2/4p3/3P4/2N5/PPP1PPPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 193 | |
| 1500-1999 | 291 | |
| 2000+ | 57 | |
| All | 541 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3. dxe5 | 398 (74%) | |
| 3. d5 | 36 (7%) | |
| 3. e4 | 35 (6%) | |
| 3. Bg5 | 20 (4%) | |
| 3. Bf4 | 19 (4%) | |
| 3. Nf3 | 14 (3%) | |
| 3. e3 | 9 (2%) | |
| 3. f4 | 2 (0%) |
Master games
13 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 54%, draw 0%, Black 46%). The strongest:
- GM Tamir Nabaty (2638) – IM Robert Baskin (2390) 1-0 · Chess.com Bullet Open 1 · 2020-12-19
- IM Nataliya Buksa (2419) – GM Pavel Anisimov (2527) 1-0 · Titled Arena Apr 3rd 2021 · 2021-04-03
- FM Bernardo Vainzoff Sztokbant (2213) – FM Daniel Shapiro (2284) 1-0 · Titled Tue 13th Sep Early · 2022-09-13
- FM Aleksa Micic (2145) – FM Erik Ronka (2297) 1-0 · Titled Tue 5th Sep Late · 2023-09-05
- Mike Sailer (2095) – IM Tarun Kanyamarala (2305) 0-1 · Titled Tue 19th Dec Early · 2023-12-19
Search all games of the Indian Defense: Maddigan Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- fedyaivanov (2392) – hollow-attack (2323) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- Rickiller (2347) – NM grupojanari (2292) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- IM DrMelekess (2633) – Dip63 (1995) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Indian Defense (1. d4 Nf6) 1. d4 Nf6
More Indian Defense lines (all)
- Indian Defense: Pseudo-Benko A43
- 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: Omega Gambit A45
- Indian Defense: Omega Gambit, Arafat Gambit A45
- Indian Defense: Paleface Attack, Blackmar-Diemer Gambit Deferred 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.