Old Indian Defense Theory?

The old indian is annoying. It's so equal and drawish when you allow e5 unopposed. Generally a good idea to make it slightly more difficult for black is Nf3-Bf4 and other more indirect ways if they still persist.

I play the Old Indian. One of the first chess DVDs that IM Andrew Martin ever did was on the Old Indian, it was Foxy DVD #6 "Anti-Flank", and Martin explains how you can use the Old Indian against all flank openings. This was a godsend to me since I often play against Rybka 4, and it opens with c4, Nf3, and g3 just as much as it opens with e4. It was nice to have a system to use against all of them so I don't have to spend study time on theory.

The only thing is Martin recommends blocking the center with c5 if White plays d5 but another more active idea is to play a knight into c5.

There's also something called the Janowski Old Indian where you play an early Bg4.

The New Old Indian book is pretty good too, though it really only covers using the Old Indian against 1.d4. Also that book is kind of advanced. I've only skimmed through it.

I think the people who play things like 1.Nf3 1.g3 1.b3 1.c4 etc are trying to make their opponent feel uncomfortable by taking them out of their main e4 and d4 openings. That's why the Old Indian is so good, it gives you a general development plan you can use against all of them based on getting a pawn stake at e5. You can actually feel your opponent's disappointment when he sees your purposeful development in the face of their vague opening, like they're thinking "ah no, my stupid 1.Nf3 move isn't confusing them like it does to everyone else".

Also people say it's a stodgy opening but I've had some great tactical games, and one game Martin shows in the DVD is him vs I think it was Wolfgang Ullman, but he ending up getting a kingside attack and winning in fantastic tactical style with a killer interference move.

(1) What are Fifa 15 Coins e4 defenses?

(2) What are you looking to do with d4?

This user seems to be a bot that copies others' posts in their entirety but inserts advertising links.  ... interesting approach.

Yeah, I was hesitant to click on it...

Yeah Black can play normally with a6, b5 but there is another way after 6...O-O 7.Be3 d5. It can get complicated though.

I think I like the Old Indian!

There is a recent book by IM Gerald Welling and FM Steve Giddens titled Side-Stepping Mainline Theory that is about playing the Old Indian and Hanham Philidor when black, and it is also about playing it as white. An entire repertoire in one book.  https://www.newinchess.com/side-stepping-mainline-theory

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9085.pdf

I've been playing chess half my life, and got very few wins out of it. In my days of UK club chess, I would always only get to play someone 400-500 points above me, as I only had a rating of 800. Nowadays I play casual games with a friend (who is stronger player) and again find it very difficult to win. The reason? - I try to play either the Philidor or Old Indian Defence as it is supposed to cut down on tactics from the opponent, but as a result, my game has suffered because I can't play actively and with the initiative. My mindset has gone from "playing to win" to "playing at all costs not to lose" so I am no better off as the life has been sucked out of my game.

I feel that like the Philidor it's the sort of opening novice players with no opening theory can fall into. Then they learn that these openings are rarely seen at the higher levels but are dime a dozen among people who don't know what they're doing. It then takes another mental shift and maturity to come back around again and say these setups might have something good to offer after all, especially at the intermediate levels where people rarely see them and may not have a clue how to play against them (and still seen occasionally at the higher ones). Being very defensive also doesn't do a lot for the Old Indian's popularity.

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Just found a video on Youtube that looks exactly the same as opening videos on chess.com, so I thought to report to the admins to react (I guess). Here is the video (and the guy has more of those, probably all taken from Chess.com): https://youtu.be/CBgfGHTkzr8?si=G3gigv8G_ZzBAAf5

there is an amazing course by NM calhoun on the old indian in chessable. One of the best courses i have seen there. Old indian is one of those openings thats super easy to play at bare bones level but somewhat difficulty to play really well and you must have a fine positional understanding to choose between subtle plans by moves 10-15.

This is what I learnt and is my Black repertoire. Basically either d6 to start with or 2nd move after Nf6. For my level it is solid enough. I also play a variant of it as White depending on the response to my 1.Nf3.

Hi