Indian Defense 2.c4: Win Rate by Lichess Rating

Indian Defense: Normal Variation · 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 · CC0 name list

At 1500–1799 (Lichess rating), White scored 51.4% in 23,753 Indian Defense: Normal Variation games (±0.6; games from Oct 2025–Sep 2026).

White won 49.5% of them, Black won 46.7%, and 3.8% were drawn.

White scores above 50% at this level (outside the margin)

In games from Oct 2025–Sep 2026, White scored 51.4% (±0.6) with the Indian Defense: Normal Variation in sampled Lichess games at the 1500–1799 Lichess rating level (23,753 games). Observed results, not causation.

Data period: games from 1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026 (sample of the Lichess open database) · Page updated: 9 Oct 2026

2.7%

of rated games at Lichess rating 1800–2099 reached the Indian Defense: Normal Variation · 35,321 of 1,329,701 games, Oct 2025–Sep 2026 sample

Under 1200: 0.4%. At 1800–2099: 2.7%. 6.7× as common at 1800–2099 as under 1200.

Position after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4. 99,447 games in this sample reached it — 2,571 of them by a different move order.

At a glance

In this sample, White's score ranged from 50.9% (1800–2099) to 52.5% (2100+).
Treat this spread with caution: the margins are approximate (see How it works).
It appeared most often in the 2100+ group (3.9% of that group's games).
Draws were most common in the 2100+ group (7.0%).

These are observed results for the selected games (rated, players within 200 rating points of each other). They describe what happened — they do not prove the opening caused the result.

Results by Lichess rating level

Each row shows how the Indian Defense: Normal Variation games at one rating level ended: White wins, draws and Black wins, across all time controls combined. Rating level is the average Lichess rating of both players.

White won drawn Black won. Indian Defense: Normal Variation — results by Lichess rating level, all time controls combined (minimum 300 games per row).

Under 12003,254 gamesCompared with

White wins 50.0% · draws 2.4% · Black wins 47.5% · White's score 51.2% ±1.7 · how common 0.4%
1200–149910,012 games

White wins 49.7% · draws 3.1% · Black wins 47.2% · White's score 51.3% ±1.0 · how common 0.8%
1500–179923,753 games

White wins 49.5% · draws 3.8% · Black wins 46.7% · White's score 51.4% ±0.6 · how common 1.5%
1800–209935,321 gamesIn the headline

White wins 48.5% · draws 4.8% · Black wins 46.6% · White's score 50.9% ±0.5 · how common 2.7%
2100+27,107 games

White wins 49.0% · draws 7.0% · Black wins 44.0% · White's score 52.5% ±0.6 · how common 3.9%

"White's score" = wins + half of draws. "±" is an approximate 95% margin based only on the number of games. It does not cover sampling bias or related games (the same players appear many times), so real uncertainty is larger. "How common" = share of all sampled games at that level that reached this position. Ratings are Lichess ratings; they are not interchangeable with Chess.com or FIDE ratings.

See the replies most often played next at the Lichess level you choose, on one printable sheet: Prepare replies in Find Your Opening (the sheet needs JavaScript)

Results by time control

Each row shows how the Indian Defense: Normal Variation games ended in one Lichess time control, across all rating levels combined.

Indian Defense: Normal Variation — results by time control, all rating levels combined (minimum 300 games per row)
Time control	Games	White wins	Draws	Black wins	White's score
Bullet	32,064	49.7%	3.8%	46.5%	51.6%
Blitz	54,229	48.8%	5.3%	45.9%	51.5%
Rapid	12,595	48.5%	6.0%	45.5%	51.5%
Classical	559	43.8%	8.6%	47.6%	48.1%

This table and the rating rows are separate summaries: rating levels are not split by time control here, and time controls are not split by rating. Observed results only; approximate uncertainty applies as above.

Most played replies for Black at each level

Top replies with at least 150 games. "Score" is Black's score after that reply (wins + half of draws). These comparisons alone can't show that one reply is reliably better — the margins are approximate and stronger or weaker players may prefer different replies.

Replies to 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 by Lichess rating level, all time controls combined
Rating level	Reply · share · games · score
Under 1200	2...g6 ·32.2% · 1,048 · 48.7% ±3.0 2...d5 ·21.5% · 700 · 46.9% ±3.7 2...e6 ·21.1% · 685 · 50.9% ±3.7
1200–1499	2...g6 ·32.6% · 3,259 · 50.7% ±1.7 2...e6 ·28.1% · 2,808 · 46.8% ±1.8 2...d5 ·15.4% · 1,536 · 48.0% ±2.5
1500–1799	2...e6 ·32.3% · 7,674 · 47.6% ±1.1 2...g6 ·30.8% · 7,307 · 49.8% ±1.1 2...d5 ·10.5% · 2,503 · 45.9% ±1.9
1800–2099	2...e6 ·34.3% · 12,108 · 48.8% ±0.9 2...g6 ·30.3% · 10,688 · 49.0% ±0.9 2...c5 ·10.5% · 3,700 · 51.7% ±1.6
2100+	2...e6 ·39.6% · 10,729 · 47.3% ±0.9 2...g6 ·30.0% · 8,142 · 47.1% ±1.1 2...c5 ·14.3% · 3,871 · 49.0% ±1.5

Up next: related positions with a page

Earlier position: Indian Defense 1.d4 Nf6
Deeper line: King's Indian Defense 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3
Related line: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 (Queen's Gambit)
Related line: 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 (Queen's Pawn Game: Zukertort Variation)
Related line: 1.d4 d5 2.Bf4 (London System)

Download these numbers: Indian Defense: Normal Variation (CSV), released under CC0. For move-by-move exploration with your own filters, see the free Lichess opening explorer. This independent page lists each rating level and each time control in its own row for comparison.