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In chess openings, the Indian defences are characterized by the opening moves 1. d4 Nf6, although they can be reached by other move orders. These defences have a vast body of theory and have been employed by nearly all masters since the early twentieth century. They are all to varying degrees hypermodern defences, where Black invites White to establish an imposing presence in the centre with the plan of drawing it out, undermining it, and destroying it. This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This image is originally from xboard. ... This is a list of chess openings by the ECO classification: See also Chess and chess openings. ... Algebraic chess notation is the method used today by all competition chess organizations and most books, magazines, and newspapers to record and describe the play of chess games. ... Hypermodernism can refer to: hypermodernism (chess) hypermodernism (art) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

The Indian defences are considered more ambitious and double-edged than the symmetrical reply 1 ... d5. In the Queen's Gambit Declined, Black accepts a cramped, passive position with the plan of gradually equalizing and obtaining counterplay. In contrast, breaking symmetry on move one leads to rapid combat in the centre, where Black can obtain counterplay without necessarily equalizing first. The Queens Gambit Declined (QGD) is, in its broadest sense any variation of the Queens Gambit chess opening where Black does not play the Queens Gambit Accepted, 2. ...

The usual White second move is 2. c4, grabbing a larger share of the centre and allowing Nc3, to prepare e4, without blocking the c-pawn. Black then has three major choices and several more offbeat alternatives:

2 ... g6, preparing a fianchetto of the king's bishop and entering the King's Indian or Grünfeld Defence. In chess the fianchetto (Italian little flanking) 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. ... The Kings Indian Defence is a chess opening that begins 1. ... The Grünfeld Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves (in algebraic notation) 1. ...

2 ... e6, freeing a line for the king's bishop to move out into the centre and leading into the Nimzo-Indian Defence/Bogo-Indian Defence or Queen's Indian. The Nimzo-Indian Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves (in algebraic notation) 1. ... The Bogo-Indian is a chess opening characterised by the moves 1. ... The Queens Indian Defense is a chess opening defined by the moves 1. ...

2 ... c5, the Modern Benoni, with an immediate counter-punch in the centre. The Benoni Defense is a group of chess openings generally characterized by the opening moves 1. ...

2 ... d6, the Old Indian Defence, a sound but unambitious move. The Old Indian Defense is a chess opening. ...

2 ... b6, the "Accelerated Queen's Indian", which is playable although modern theory favours the Queen's Indian only after 2... e6 3 Nf3. The Queens Indian Defense is a chess opening defined by the moves 1. ...

2 ... c6, the Slav-Indian Defence, an obscure idea that may transpose into the King's Indian.

2 ... e5!?, the Budapest Defence, a lively countergambit. White cannot hold on to his extra pawn without making compromises in the deployment of his pieces, so he often chooses to return the pawn and retain the initiative. The Budapest Defence is a chess opening beginning with the moves 1. ...