Indian Defense: Pawn Push Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. d5
The Indian Defense: Pawn Push Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A45, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. d5. 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 3,812 times by this move order. White won 46%, 4% were drawn and Black won 50%. The most popular continuation is 2… d6 (35% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.26 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 2… c6 3. c4 cxd5 4. cxd5 Qa5+ 5. Bd2)
- ECO
- A45
- Moves
- 3 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pppppppp/5n2/3P4/8/8/PPP1PPPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 2- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. d5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2,306 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,417 | |
| 2000+ | 89 | |
| All | 3,812 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2… d6 | 1,345 (35%) | |
| 2… g6 | 714 (19%) | |
| 2… c6 | 616 (16%) | |
| 2… e6 | 593 (16%) | |
| 2… e5 | 210 (6%) | |
| 2… c5 | 115 (3%) | |
| 2… b6 | 92 (2%) | |
| 2… Nxd5 | 43 (1%) |
Master games
22 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 32%, draw 4%, Black 64%). The strongest:
- GM Baadur Jobava (2603) – GM Artur Gabrielian (2458) 1-0 · Levitov Christmas Q4 · 2020-12-19
- GM Susanto Megaranto (2550) – Aituar Zhukenov (2241) 1/2-1/2 · Asian Individual Hybrid · 2021-05-25
- IM Reza Mahdavi (2485) – FM Henry Deng (2298) 1-0 · 3rd 3-0 Thu 16th Jul 2026 · 2026-07-16
- CM Egor Baskakov (2215) – FM Gediz Avsar (2443) 0-1 · Titled Tue 28th Oct 2025 · 2025-10-28
- FM Kirill Shoshin (2217) – FM Stefan Mladenovic (2346) 1-0 · Titled Tue 12th Nov Late · 2024-11-12
Search all games of the Indian Defense: Pawn Push Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Ehyagar (2261) – patriarzo (2343) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Heriantoy256 (2242) – Warwick_138 (2359) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 600 + 0s
- Hangover75 (2288) – chessnerdnyc (2292) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
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: Maddigan Gambit A45
- Indian Defense: Omega Gambit A45
- Indian Defense: Omega Gambit, Arafat 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.