The Old Indian Defense is a
chess opening
A chess opening or simply an opening is the initial stage of a chess game. It usually consists of established theory; the other phases are the middlegame and the endgame. Many opening sequences have standard names such as the "Sicilian Defen ...
defined by the moves:
:1.
d4 Nf6
:2.
c4 d6
This opening is distinguished from the
King's Indian Defense in that Black develops their on e7 rather than by
fianchetto
In chess, the fianchetto ( or ; "little flank") is a pattern of wherein a bishop is developed to the second rank of the adjacent b- or g-, the having been moved one or two squares forward.
The fianchetto is a staple of many " hypermodern" ...
on g7.
Mikhail Chigorin
Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin (also ''Tchigorin''; russian: Михаи́л Ива́нович Чиго́рин; – ) was a Russian chess player. He played two World Championship matches against Wilhelm Steinitz, losing both times. The last great ...
pioneered this defense late in his career.
The Old Indian is considered sound, though developing the bishop at e7 is less than the fianchetto, and it has never attained the popularity of the King's Indian. Some King's Indian players will use the Old Indian to avoid certain anti-King's Indian systems, such as the
Sämisch and
Averbakh Variations.
The opening is classified in the ''
Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings
The ''Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings'' () is a reference work describing the state of opening theory in chess, originally published in five volumes from 1974 to 1979 by the Serbian company Šahovski Informator (Chess Informant). It is curre ...
'' with the codes A53–A55.
Main line: 3.Nc3 e5
The Main line is 3. Nc3 e5 4. Nf3 Nbd7 5. e4; White can also play 4.dxe5 dxe5 5.Qxd8+, but despite the displacement of Black's king, this has long been known to offer no advantage, e.g. 5...Kxd8 6.Nf3 Nfd7, with Black often following up with some combination of ...c6, ...Kd8–c7, ...a5, ...Na6, and ...f6. Black's position is solid and their piece coordination is good; White's pawn exchange in the center has allowed Black equal and freed the f8-bishop. 5... Be7 6. Be2 0-0 7. 0-0 c6 8. Re1 (or 8.Be3) and White stands slightly better.
Janowski Variation: 3.Nc3 Bf5
The Janowski Variation, 3. Nc3 Bf5, was first introduced by
Dawid Janowski in the 1920s. The idea behind it is that 3...Bf5 prevents White from immediately grabbing space with 4.e4. The variation did not gain much popularity until the 1980s. Several top-level players have employed the line multiple times, including
Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Nekhemyevich Tal; rus, Михаил Нехемьевич Таль, ''Mikhail Nekhem'yevich Tal' '', ; sometimes transliterated ''Mihails Tals'' or ''Mihail Tal'' (9 November 1936 – 28 June 1992) was a Soviet-Latvian chess player ...
,
Bent Larsen
Jørgen Bent Larsen (4 March 1935 – 9 September 2010) was a Danish chess grandmaster and author. Known for his imaginative and unorthodox style of play, he was the second strongest non-Soviet player, behind Bobby Fischer, for much of the 19 ...
,
Florin Gheorghiu, and
Kamran Shirazi
Kamran Shirazi ( fa, کامران شیرازی; born 21 November 1952) is an International Master of chess, who won the Iranian Chess Championship in 1972. Born in Tehran, he has represented Iran, the United States, and France. He moved to the U ...
.
3.Nf3
Or via the
transposition 2.Nf3 d6 3.c4. Now:
* 3...Bg4 is suggested by
De Firmian. (Tartakower-Indian variation)
* 3...c6 (Czech Variation) and 3...Bf5 are possible.
* 3...g6 will likely transpose to the
King's Indian Defence.
* 3...Nbd7 4.Nc3 will likely transpose to the Main line.
See also
*
List of chess openings
This is a list of chess openings, organized by the ''Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings'' () code. In 1966, Chess Informant categorized the chess openings into five broad areas ("A" through "E"), with each of those broken down into one hundred subcat ...
Further reading
*
*
{{chess, state=collapsed
Chess openings