Openings 1.d4 Nf6: Indian defenses

Old Indian Defense (2...d6): Setups, English Rat and Stats

2...d6 prepares ...e5 without putting the bishop on g7 as in the King’s Indian. Black plays ...Nbd7, ...e5, ...Be7 and ...c6 for a solid, slightly cramped position that is hard to break.

For Black1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6Seen in 0.2% of rated games

Lichess rating

A53Old Indian Defense

Games from this position (1600–1999): 17k

Played	Games	White · Draw · Black
79%	13k	48%47%
12%	2,112	49%47%
4%	637	45%50%
2%	269	47%47%
1%	245	43%52%
0.7%	112	43%49%
0.6%	95	46%47%

Practice as White Practice as Black

Plans for both sides

White

Nc3, e4 and Nf3 take the center; Be2 and O-O are natural.
Against an early ...e5, dxe5 dxe5 trades queens and leaves Black’s king in the center; d5 gains space instead.
Expand on the queenside with b4 and c5 once the center is closed.

Black

...Nbd7, ...e5, ...Be7, ...O-O and ...c6 is the classic setup.
You can still switch to a King’s Indian with ...g6 and ...Bg7.
The queen trade after dxe5 dxe5 Qxd8+ is not bad for Black: the position is level.

Old Indian Defense at each rating

How often the position after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 comes up in rated Lichess games, how it scores and what players answer next.

Rating	Games (Share of games)	White · Draw · Black	Top next move
<1200	2,114<0.1%	50%47%	3.Nc356%
1200–1599	8,9570.2%	48%48%	3.Nc369%
1600–1999	17k0.3%	48%47%	3.Nc379%
2000+	8,2990.4%	49%45%	3.Nc377%
All	36k0.2%	48%47%	3.Nc375%

What usually comes next

The most played moves from here, all ratings together. Thicker line = played more often.

Main variations

The classic Old Indian setup. White has more space; Black follows with ...Qc7, ...Re8 and ...Bf8.
Too rare in our data for numbers.
Show on the board: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Nf3 Nbd7 5.e4 Be7 6.Be2 O-O 7.O-O c6
White trades queens at once. Black’s king stays in the center, but with no queens there is little to fear.
576 games from this position (all ratings, any move order). White won 41%, 7% were drawn, Black won 52%.
Show on the board: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 e5 4.dxe5 dxe5 5.Qxd8+ Kxd8
White closes the center and plays on the queenside; Black prepares ...Nbd7 and ...Nc5 or ...f5.
Too rare in our data for numbers.
Show on the board: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 e5 4.d5 Be7 5.e4 O-O
The same idea without ...Nf6; the queen trade is again harmless for Black.
1,800 games from this position (all ratings, any move order). White won 41%, 8% were drawn, Black won 51%.
Show on the board: 1.d4 d6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 dxe5 4.Qxd8+ Kxd8
Black develops the bishop before ...e5. White scores about 54% after it, a little better than usual.
Too rare in our data for numbers.
Show on the board: 1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 Bg4 3.e3 Nd7 4.c4 e5

At club level

White answers 2...d6 with 3.Nc3 about three times in four. After 3...e5, the most common reply is 4.dxe5, and White scores only about 49% there. The English Rat (1.d4 d6 2.c4 e5) is similar: White scores about 47% at 2000+.

Practice it

The trainer answers with the replies people at your rating choose, in the same proportions, and brings back your mistakes on a schedule.

Practice as Black Practice as White

Related openings

Indian Defense: 1.d4 Nf6
1.d4 Nf6
810k games
King’s Indian Defense
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6
47k games
Nimzo-Indian Defense
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4
43k games
Trompowsky Attack
1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5
33k games
Budapest Gambit
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5
22k games
Grünfeld Defense
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5
19k games