Old Indian Defense: Janowski Variation, Fianchetto Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6 3. Nc3 Bf5 4. g3
The Old Indian Defense: Janowski Variation, Fianchetto Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A53, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6 3. Nc3 Bf5 4. g3. It is a line of the Old Indian Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 25 times by this move order. White won 68%, 0% were drawn and Black won 32%. The most popular continuation is 4… c6 (24% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.52 (Stockfish, depth 34; best line 4… e6 5. d5 g6 6. Bg2 exd5 7. cxd5)
- ECO
- A53
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rn1qkb1r/ppp1pppp/3p1n2/5b2/2PP4/2N3P1/PP2PP1P/R1BQKBNR b KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6 3. Nc3 Bf5 4. g3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 5 | |
| 1500-1999 | 13 | |
| 2000+ | 7 | |
| All | 25 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… c6 | 6 (24%) | |
| 4… Nbd7 | 6 (24%) | |
| 4… e6 | 5 (20%) | |
| 4… Nc6 | 3 (12%) | |
| 4… g6 | 2 (8%) | |
| 4… e5 | 1 (4%) | |
| 4… h6 | 1 (4%) | |
| 4… Ne4 | 1 (4%) |
Master games
140 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 47%, draw 24%, Black 29%). The strongest:
- LCZero0.31-dag-5350a2e-BT4-6147500 (3634) – Stockfishdev-20240513-e608eab8 (3662) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Superfinal 2024 · 2024-05-16
- Stockfishdev-20240513-e608eab8 (3662) – LCZero0.31-dag-5350a2e-BT4-6147500 (3634) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Superfinal 2024 · 2024-05-16
- Stockfish dev-20241122-b7f17346 (3677) – Ethereal 14.40 (3545) 1-0 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-12-09
- Ethereal 14.40 (3545) – Stockfish dev-20241122-b7f17346 (3677) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-12-06
- LCZero 0.30-dag-8092b376-BT2-3 (3573) – SlowChess Blitz 2.9 avx2 (3455) 1-0 · TCEC 24 Premier 2023 · 2023-03-28
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Zashibeatles_Chess (2672) – kasparik_garik (2627) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- FM ErgRaider (2520) – makchudra (2597) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Hippolytus (2543) – Rawhen (2545) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Old Indian Defense: Janowski Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6 3. Nc3 Bf5
More Old Indian Defense lines (all)
- Old Indian Defense (1… d6 2. c4) A41
- Old Indian Defense (2. c4 d6) A53
- Old Indian Defense: Aged Gibbon Gambit A53
- Old Indian Defense: Czech Variation, with Nc3 A53
- Old Indian Defense: Czech Variation, with Nf3 A53
- Old Indian Defense: Janowski Variation, Grinberg Gambit A53
- Old Indian Defense: Janowski Variation, Main Line A53
- Old Indian Defense: Duz-Khotimirsky Variation A54
- Old Indian Defense: Tartakower-Indian A54
- Old Indian Defense: Two Knights Variation A54
- Old Indian Defense: Ukrainian Variation A54
- Old Indian Defense: Normal Variation A55
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.