Old Indian Defense: Tartakower-Indian
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6 3. Nf3 Bg4
The Old Indian Defense: Tartakower-Indian is a chess opening classified as ECO A54, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6 3. Nf3 Bg4. It is a line of the Old Indian Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 130 times by this move order. White won 49%, 4% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 4. Nc3 (32% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.59 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 4. e3 c6 5. h3 Bh5 6. Nc3 e6)
- ECO
- A54
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rn1qkb1r/ppp1pppp/3p1n2/8/2PP2b1/5N2/PP2PPPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 2 4- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6 3. Nf3 Bg4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 29 | |
| 1500-1999 | 71 | |
| 2000+ | 30 | |
| All | 130 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. Nc3 | 42 (32%) | |
| 4. e3 | 29 (22%) | |
| 4. g3 | 26 (20%) | |
| 4. Nbd2 | 6 (5%) | |
| 4. Bg5 | 6 (5%) | |
| 4. Qb3 | 6 (5%) | |
| 4. h3 | 5 (4%) | |
| 4. Bf4 | 2 (2%) |
Master games
142 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 40%, draw 25%, Black 35%). The strongest:
- GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek (2715) – GM Luka Lenic (2659) 1-0 · FIDE World Rapid 2014 · 2014-06-17
- GM Boris Gelfand (2741) – GM Evgeny Romanov (2573) 1/2-1/2 · 31st ECC Open 2015 · 2015-10-21
- GM Sam Shankland (2662) – GM Naroditsky, D. (2626) 1/2-1/2 · Imre Konig Inv Rapid 2017 · 2017-09-16
- GM Matthias Bluebaum (2640) – GM Naroditsky, D. (2619) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 30th Jul Early · 2024-07-30
- GM Quang Liem Le (2693) – GM Pavel Kotsur (2548) 1-0 · World Blitz Final · 2012-07-09
Search all games of the Old Indian Defense: Tartakower-Indian and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- SonofAtlantis (2643) – IM Lenyas66 (2612) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- dolynachess (2503) – IM Lenyas66 (2609) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- IM Ogloblin (2487) – Rawhen (2557) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Old Indian Defense (2. c4 d6) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6
More Old Indian Defense lines (all)
- Old Indian Defense (1… d6 2. c4) A41
- 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 A53
- Old Indian Defense: Janowski Variation, Fianchetto Variation 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: 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.