Indian Defense: Normal Variation

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4

Indian Defense: Normal Variation after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 87654321abcdefgh

The Indian Defense: Normal Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A50, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4. It is a line of the Indian Defense. Black is to move. 23 named lines continue from this position.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 226,234 times by this move order. White won 49%, 5% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 2… e6 (34% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.16 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 2… e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Qa4+)

ECO
A50
Moves
3 plies
FEN
rnbqkb1r/pppppppp/5n2/8/2PP4/8/PP2PPPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 2
PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4

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

Results by rating

Average ratingGamesWhite / draw / Black
0-149930,28350%46%
1500-1999116,59049%47%
2000+79,36148%45%
All226,23449%46%

Most played moves

MoveGamesWhite / draw / Black
2… e677,475 (34%)49%45%
2… g6
West Indian Defense		69,070 (31%)48%47%
2… c5
Benoni Defense (2. c4 c5)		22,567 (10%)46%48%
2… d516,599 (7%)53%42%
2… e5
Budapest Gambit		16,021 (7%)48%47%
2… d6
Old Indian Defense (2. c4 d6)		14,137 (6%)49%46%
2… c6
Slav Indian		4,936 (2%)50%45%
2… b6
Queen's Indian Accelerated		2,050 (1%)50%45%

Master games

13,975 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 45%, draw 20%, Black 35%). The strongest:

Search all games of the Indian Defense: Normal Variation and its sub-variations

Highest-rated Lichess games

Comes from

Indian Defense (1. d4 Nf6) 1. d4 Nf6

Continuations

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.