Indian Defense: Polish Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 b5
The Indian Defense: Polish Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A46, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 b5. 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 107 times by this move order. White won 54%, 6% were drawn and Black won 40%. The most popular continuation is 3. e3 (26% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.65 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 3. e4 Nxe4 4. Bxb5 g6 5. Qe2 Nf6)
- ECO
- A46
- Moves
- 4 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/p1pppppp/5n2/1p6/3P4/5N2/PPP1PPPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 b5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 18 | |
| 1500-1999 | 24 | |
| 2000+ | 65 | |
| All | 107 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3. e3 | 28 (26%) | |
| 3. Bf4 | 22 (21%) | |
| 3. g3 | 12 (11%) | |
| 3. Bg5 | 11 (10%) | |
| 3. a4 | 9 (8%) | |
| 3. c4 | 6 (6%) | |
| 3. e4 | 5 (5%) | |
| 3. Nc3 | 3 (3%) |
Master games
531 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 42%, draw 18%, Black 40%). The strongest:
- GM Levon Aronian (2812) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2872) 1/2-1/2 · Zurich CC Blitz 2014 · 2014-01-29
- GM Anish Giri (2782) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2801) 1/2-1/2 · chess.com Speed 5m+1spm 2018 · 2018-09-07
- GM Sanan Sjugirov (2636) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2807) 0-1 · Abu Dhabi Masters Online · 2025-08-18
- GM Jeffery Xiong (2672) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2749) 1-0 · PRO League Group Stage · 2019-03-13
- GM Gata Kamsky (2665) – GM Dmitry Andreikin (2725) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tuesday 25th May · 2021-05-25
Search all games of the Indian Defense: Polish Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- CHILOSCA (2622) – olegP_BY (2438) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
- Mondesespoir2700 (2485) – ynzj1515 (2513) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- fgdg231ggs (2435) – FM Combative_Noob (2563) 1/2-1/2 · 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.