Old Indian Defense (2. c4 d6)

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6

Old Indian Defense after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6 87654321abcdefgh

The Old Indian Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO A53, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6. White is to move. 7 named lines continue from this position.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 14,137 times by this move order. White won 49%, 5% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 3. Nc3 (74% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.47 (Stockfish, depth 52; best line 3. Nc3 e5 4. Nf3 exd4 5. Nxd4 d5)

ECO
A53
Moves
4 plies
FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp1pppp/3p1n2/8/2PP4/8/PP2PPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 3
PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6

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

Results by rating

Average ratingGamesWhite / draw / Black
0-14992,63851%46%
1500-19997,86649%47%
2000+3,63348%46%
All14,13749%46%

Most played moves

MoveGamesWhite / draw / Black
3. Nc310,449 (74%)49%46%
3. Nf32,191 (15%)48%47%
3. e3490 (3%)50%45%
3. g3276 (2%)45%51%
3. Bg5242 (2%)52%46%
3. d5139 (1%)50%45%
3. Bf4102 (1%)52%45%
3. h368 (0%)62%32%

Master games

6,021 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 44%, draw 21%, Black 35%). The strongest:

Search all games of the Old Indian Defense and its sub-variations

Highest-rated Lichess games

Comes from

Indian Defense: Normal Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4

Continuations

More Old 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.