The Practical Old Indian A Complete Fighting Repertoire May 02, 2025

Make the Old Indian Your “Old Reliable” Opening for Beating 1.d4

Which is more powerful: some knowledge in a ‘top tier’ mainline opening, or knowing a sideline like the back of your hand?

National Master Luke Calhoun would say it’s the latter, and his course The Practical Old Indian: A Complete Fighting Repertoire makes his case beautifully!

The Old Indian Defense – a rare cousin of the King’s Indian Defense – is the ‘strong silent’ version of its flashier cousin. But don’t let this opening fool you. Like a coiled spring, the power of this opening is latent but explosive.

And in this course – a complete repertoire against 1.d4, 1.c4, and 1.Nf3 – you will learn how to release that awesome power while keeping memorized theory manageable.

In similar fashion to his widely acclaimed Philidor course, NM Calhoun presents a comprehensive guide to the opening – complete with pawn structure analyses, tactics, model games, and more.

The starting position looks docile enough – but a hidden venom lurks inside

Best of all, the course is structured so that both club players and masters can wield the Old Indian with winning results. In fact, each chapter highlights the lines you’ll see at club level vs. master level, so you can prioritize which ones you’re most likely to face.

In addition to ‘theory’ chapters preparing you for the most common and theoretically testing lines in each variation, you’ll also get:

✅ Thorough overviews of each major pawn structure in the Old Indian, including battle plans for all the major pawn breaks and strategic plans White has

✅ A 14-line Quickstarter Guide so you can start playing the Old Indian the same day you get the course

✅ Chapters on all the major sidelines from White, such as the London System, Trompowsky, etc. – best of all, NM Calhoun’s recommendations for each are in Old Indian style!

✅ Elegant answers to the English (1.c4) and Reti (1.Nf3) which either keep you in the Old Indian or get an Old Indian-like kingside attack

✅ Dedicated chapters to common tactical themes, model games, and so-called ‘inspiration games’, which show you common winning methods using the opening

✅ Bonus chapters on starting the opening with 1…d6 for a comprehensive and surprising 1…d6 repertoire. It’s the perfect complement to a Philidor or Pirc repertoire, so students of NM Calhoun’s Philidor course will love these chapters!

And more. Much like the coiled spring nature of the Old Indian, this course is compact but packed full of power!

NM Calhoun’s comprehensive and detailed explanations make it possible to know this opening inside and out in just over 150 trainable variations. He also includes over 100 alternative variations to customize the repertoire to your taste. If knowledge is power, NM Calhoun will arm you with a tank!

This winning formula made his first course, The Practical Philidor, a smash hit among the Chessable community – and we’re confident this course will hold the same appeal. The rarity of this opening combined with the thorough knowledge you’ll have of it is sure to get you a practical edge in your games.