Indian Defense: Seirawan Attack
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Bg5
The Indian Defense: Seirawan Attack is a chess opening classified as ECO E00, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Bg5. 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 1,734 times by this move order. White won 49%, 5% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 3… Be7 (32% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 70; best line 3… h6 4. Bxf6 Qxf6 5. Nc3 Bb4 6. Rc1)
- ECO
- E00
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pppp1ppp/4pn2/6B1/2PP4/8/PP2PPPP/RN1QKBNR b KQkq - 1 3- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Bg5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 430 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,074 | |
| 2000+ | 230 | |
| All | 1,734 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… Be7 | 550 (32%) | |
| 3… d5 | 402 (23%) | |
| 3… Bb4+ | 279 (16%) | |
| 3… h6 | 239 (14%) | |
| 3… c5 | 133 (8%) | |
| 3… b6 | 56 (3%) | |
| 3… c6 | 28 (2%) | |
| 3… d6 | 15 (1%) |
Master games
577 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 43%, draw 20%, Black 37%). The strongest:
- GM Erigaisi Arjun (2778) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2832) 1-0 · chess.com SpeedChess 2024 · 2024-08-08
- GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (2678) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2863) 0-1 · Legends of Chess Prelim · 2020-07-25
- GM Erigaisi Arjun (2778) – GM So, W. (2752) 1/2-1/2 · Julius Baer Gen Cup P/I m D1 · 2024-09-26
- GM Alexander Grischuk (2732) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2789) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 26th Mar Early · 2024-03-26
- GM Alexander Grischuk (2736) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2782) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 8th Aug Early · 2023-08-08
Search all games of the Indian Defense: Seirawan Attack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FM iustin104 (2682) – GM Dr_Tiger (2947) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- FM iustin104 (2602) – Lifvix01 (2816) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- FM iustin104 (2585) – kuhmft (2818) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Indian Defense: Normal Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4
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.