Old Indian Defense
Encyclopedia
The Old Indian Defense is a chess
opening
defined by the moves:
This opening is distinguished from the King's Indian Defense
by Black developing his king's bishop on e7 rather than fianchetto
ing it at g7. Mikhail Chigorin
pioneered this defense late in his career.
The Old Indian is considered sound, though developing the bishop at e7 is less active than in 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
(ECO) with the codes A53-A55.
in the 1920s, although it did not gain much popularity until the 1980s. Several top-level players have employed the opening multiple times, including Mikhail Tal
, Bent Larsen
, Florin Gheorghiu
, and Kamran Shirazi
.
The idea behind the variation is that by playing 3...Bf5, Black prevents White from immediately playing the space-grabbing 4.e4.
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
opening
Chess opening
A chess opening is the group of initial moves of a chess game. Recognized sequences of opening moves are referred to as openings as initiated by White or defenses, as created in reply by Black. There are many dozens of different openings, and hundreds of named variants. The Oxford Companion to...
defined by the moves:
- 1. d4 Nf6
- 2. c4 d6
This opening is distinguished from the King's Indian Defense
King's Indian Defence
The King's Indian Defence is a common chess opening. It arises after the moves:Black intends to follow up with 3...Bg7 and 4...d6.The Grünfeld Defence arises when Black plays 3...d5 instead, and is considered a separate opening...
by Black developing his king's bishop on e7 rather than fianchetto
Fianchetto
In chess the fianchetto is a pattern of development wherein a bishop is developed to the second rank of the adjacent knight file, the knight pawn having been moved one or two squares forward....
ing it at g7. Mikhail Chigorin
Mikhail Chigorin
Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin also was a leading Russian chess player...
pioneered this defense late in his career.
The Old Indian is considered sound, though developing the bishop at e7 is less active than in 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
Friedrich Sämisch
Friedrich Sämisch was a German chess grandmaster .-Main results:* 2nd at Berlin 1920...
and Averbakh variations.
The opening is classified in the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings
Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings
The Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings is a classification system for the opening moves in a game of chess. It is presented as a five volume book collection describing chess openings...
(ECO) with the codes A53-A55.
Main Line
The main line of the opening 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!, often followed by some combination of ...c6, ...Kd8-c7, ...a5, ...Na6 and ...f6. Black's position is solid and his piece coordination is good; White's pawn exchange in the center has allowed Black equal space and freed the f8 bishop. 5...Be7 6.Be2 0-0 7. 0-0 c6 8.Re1 (or 8.Be3) +=Janowski Variation
The "Janowski Indian Defense" is 3.Nc3 Bf5, and was first introduced by Dawid JanowskiDawid Janowski
Dawid Markelowicz Janowski was a leading Polish chess master and subsequent French citizen....
in the 1920s, although it did not gain much popularity until the 1980s. Several top-level players have employed the opening multiple times, including Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Tal was a Soviet–Latvian chess player, a Grandmaster, and the eighth World Chess Champion.Widely regarded as a creative genius, and the best attacking player of all time, he played a daring, combinatorial style. His play was known above all for improvisation and unpredictability....
, Bent Larsen
Bent Larsen
Jørgen Bent Larsen was a Danish chess Grandmaster and author. Larsen was known for his imaginative and unorthodox style of play and he was the first western player to pose a serious challenge to the Soviet Union's dominance of chess...
, Florin Gheorghiu
Florin Gheorghiu
Florin Gheorghiu is a Romanian chess player and university lecturer in foreign languages.Born in Bucharest, his prodigious talent for the game was evidenced by his many early achievements; he became an International Master in 1963 and Romania's first Grandmaster just two years later...
, and Kamran Shirazi
Kamran Shirazi
Kamran Shirazi is an International Master of chess. Born in Tehran, he has represented Iran, the United States, and France...
.
The idea behind the variation is that by playing 3...Bf5, Black prevents White from immediately playing the space-grabbing 4.e4.
Further reading
- The Old Indian Renewed, Pickett, The Chess Player (Nottingham) 1984, ISBN 0906042534