ChessScreenshot

Indian Defense

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 · A45–A79, D70–D99, E00–E99

Starting positionWhite to move

0 / 10

The first knight move leaves the pawn setup open

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The idea

The family name for every defence where Black develops the knight to f6 first and decides later whether the centre will be blocked, undermined or handed over.

Main line: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 d5

What White wants

  • Take the centre with e4 or hold it with Nf3 and e3
  • Choose between the space of the Classical setups and the restraint of g3
  • Play against whichever structural weakness Black's choice creates

What Black wants

  • Control the centre from a distance with pieces and fianchettos
  • Provoke a structural concession with ...Bb4 or ...c5
  • Trade pieces early to blunt White's space advantage

Key idea

Understand this and the moves stop needing to be memorised.

The first knight move leaves the pawn setup open

After ...Nf6, Black can choose ...e6 for Nimzo-Indian or Queen's Indian structures, or ...g6 for King's Indian and Grünfeld setups. White's choice of Nc3, Nf3 or g3 affects the available branches; later pawn moves narrow the options.

Common mistake

Committing the centre before choosing a setup. The same moves lead to the Nimzo-Indian, the Queen's Indian or a Queen's Gambit Declined, and playing automatically with Nf3, e3 and Bd3 can drop into whichever variation suits Black best.

Representative position

The position this opening is aiming at. Copy the FEN, or open it in the analysis board and let the engine tell you what it is worth.

rnbq1rk1/ppp2ppp/4pn2/3p4/1bPP4/2NBP3/PP3PPP/R1BQK1NR w KQ - 0 6

Analyze this position

Variations

7 lines branching from here.

Related openings

Nimzo-Indian Defense1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O · E20–E59Black pins the knight on c3 and fights for e4 with pieces rather than pawns — one of the most respected defences in all of chess.Queen's Indian Defense1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 · E12–E19Black fianchettoes the queen's bishop and challenges e4 along the long diagonal — solid, principled and a lifetime's work to master.King's Indian Defense1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 · E60–E99Black lets White build a huge centre and then attacks it with a kingside pawn storm — the most combative defence to 1.d4 in existence.Grünfeld Defense1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 · D70–D99Black strikes at the centre immediately with ...d5 and lets White build an enormous pawn mass, planning to destroy it from the flanks.Bogo-Indian Defense1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Qe7 · E11Black checks on b4 with the bishop, forcing White to block and then trading it off — an unambitious but very hard-to-beat system.Benoni Defense1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 · A43–A44, A56–A79Black plays ...c5 against 1.d4 and accepts a locked, asymmetric structure where the fight is over the d5 pawn and the dark squares.