The Old Indian Defense is a chess opening defined by the moves:
- 1. d4 Nf6
- 2. c4 d6
This opening is distinguished from the King's Indian Defense by Black developing his king's bishop on e7 rather than the fianchetto at g7. Mikhail Chigorin pioneered this defence late in his career.
The Old Indian is considered sound, though developing the bishop at e7 is less active 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 (ECO) with the codes A53–A55.
Read more about Old Indian Defense: Main Line, Janowski Variation
Famous quotes containing the words indian and/or defense:
“No contact with savage Indian tribes has ever daunted me more than the morning I spent with an old lady swathed in woolies who compared herself to a rotten herring encased in a block of ice.”
—Claude Lévi-Strauss (b. 1908)
“For he is the cleanest in the use of his forepaws of any quadruped.
For the dexterity of his defense is an instance of the love of God
to him exceedingly.”
—Christopher Smart (1722–1771)