Indian Defense: Paleface Attack, Blackmar-Diemer Gambit Deferred
1. d4 Nf6 2. f3 d5 3. e4
The Indian Defense: Paleface Attack, Blackmar-Diemer Gambit Deferred is a chess opening classified as ECO A45, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. f3 d5 3. e4. It is a line of the Indian Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1,059 times by this move order. White won 55%, 4% were drawn and Black won 41%. The most popular continuation is 3… dxe4 (88% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.58 (Stockfish, depth 46; best line 3… dxe4 4. Nc3 exf3 5. Nxf3 c6 6. h3)
- ECO
- A45
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp1pppp/5n2/3p4/3PP3/5P2/PPP3PP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. f3 d5 3. e4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 113 | |
| 1500-1999 | 587 | |
| 2000+ | 359 | |
| All | 1,059 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… dxe4 | 929 (88%) | |
| 3… e6 | 56 (5%) | |
| 3… c6 | 30 (3%) | |
| 3… c5 | 20 (2%) | |
| 3… Nc6 | 17 (2%) | |
| 3… e5 | 2 (0%) | |
| 3… h6 | 1 (0%) | |
| 3… Nxe4 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
506 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 50%, draw 7%, Black 43%). The strongest:
- IM Shamil Arslanov (2410) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2795) 0-1 · 1st 3-0 Thu 27th Nov 2025 · 2025-11-27
- IM Shamil Arslanov (2410) – GM Vincent Keymer (2755) 0-1 · Titled Tue 28th Oct 2025 · 2025-10-28
- IM Shamil Arslanov (2410) – GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2731) 0-1 · Titled Tue 16th Apr Early · 2024-04-16
- IM Shamil Arslanov (2410) – GM Nihal Sarin (2723) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 26th May 2026 · 2026-05-26
- IM Shamil Arslanov (2410) – GM Chithambaram VR. Aravindh (2723) 0-1 · Titled Tue 9th Sep 2025 · 2025-09-09
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GolfeDuMorbihan (2683) – GM ILikeBlitz (2832) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- GolfeDuMorbihan (2704) – Kruciatos (2738) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- GolfeDuMorbihan (2687) – JeromePanoSoler (2703) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Paleface Attack 1. d4 Nf6 2. f3
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.