Queen's Indian Defense

ECO E12-E19intermediate

The Queen's Indian, 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6, is the Nimzo-Indian's natural partner: when White dodges the pin with 3.Nf3, Black fianchettoes and fights for e4 with the b7 bishop instead. The resulting positions are models of sophisticated maneuvering — White's main tries are the Fianchetto (4.g3, met by the modern 4...Ba6 hitting c4) and Petrosian's 4.a3 preparing Nc3 without allowing the pin. Solid, flexible, and immune to refutation, it has been an elite mainstay for a century.

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Main line

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Diagram shows the position after 6 half-moves of the main line. On SpeakChess you can drill this line move by move — the trainer plays the other side and corrects you instantly, then spaced repetition schedules each variation so you review it right before you would forget it.

Move by move

The first 12 moves of the main line, explained one at a time. Every move of every variation is annotated like this inside the trainer — this page shows the opening moves so you can judge the explanations before signing up.

White advances the pawn to d4, staking a claim in the center and giving the bishop and queen room to develop.
Black brings the knight to f6, a strong central square. It challenges White's control of the center and prepares for quick development.
White pushes the pawn to c4, building a powerful pawn duo in the center. Together with d4, these pawns control a lot of important squares.
Black advances the pawn to e6, giving the dark-squared bishop a path to open up. This solid move also supports the d5 pawn advance later.
The knight leaps to f3, a great central square. It supports the d4 pawn and eyes important squares in the middle of the board.
Black pushes the pawn to b6, preparing to develop the bishop to a6 or b7. This is the key idea of the Queen's Indian Defense!
White nudges the pawn to g3, making space to place the bishop on g2. This fianchetto setup gives the bishop a powerful diagonal aiming at the center.
The bishop slides out to a6, targeting White's c4 pawn and putting pressure on that square. Black is fighting for control of the center from the side.
White advances the pawn to b3, preparing to develop the bishop to b2 and build a strong fianchetto. This also helps guard the center pawns.
The bishop moves boldly to b4, delivering check to the white king! Black forces White to deal with the threat right away.
White blocks the check by moving the bishop to d2. This gets the bishop off the back rank and keeps the king safe while developing a new piece.
The black bishop retreats to e7, moving away from the pressure and finding a safe square where it can support the kingside. The king will be able to castle soon.

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Win rates by rating

Results from real online games, measured after the line shown in each row. Most opening sites show one aggregate number — how an opening scores depends heavily on who is playing it.

Rating	Games	White wins	Draws	Black wins	Position after
400-600	69	47.8%	1.4%	50.7%	1.d4 Nf6 2.c4
600-800	75	45.3%	4%	50.7%	1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6
800-1000	94	57.4%	2.1%	40.4%	1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3
1000-1200	29	65.5%	0%	34.5%	1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3
1200-1400	29	48.3%	3.5%	48.3%	1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3
1400-1600	42	40.5%	16.7%	42.9%	1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7
1600-1800	28	42.9%	7.1%	50%	1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3
1800-2000	71	45.1%	2.8%	52.1%	1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7
2000-2200	221	40.3%	9.1%	50.7%	1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7
2200-2400	273	41.4%	11%	47.6%	1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7

Most played continuations (2200-2400 rating)

After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7:

Bg2 — played 77.7% of the time (White wins 42.5%, draws 10.8%, Black wins 46.7%)
Nc3 — played 18.3% of the time (White wins 40%, draws 12%, Black wins 48%)
Bc3 — played 3.3% of the time (White wins 33.3%, draws 11.1%, Black wins 55.6%)

Frequently asked questions

What is the point of 4...Ba6 in the Queen's Indian?

Against 4.g3, the bishop attacks c4 — suddenly White must spend a move (Qa4, Qc2, b3 or Nbd2) defending it, and each defense commits White somehow. This modern treatment largely replaced the routine 4...Bb7 at top level because it poses problems before White's setup is complete.

Is the Queen's Indian drawish?

It is solid rather than sterile. Black has clear dynamic resources — the ...c5 and ...d5 breaks, dark-square play after trading on c3 in hybrid lines — and the maneuvering middlegames reward whoever understands the structures better. At club level that is a winning edge, not a drawing one.