Queen's Indian Defence
E15 · Played as black · Intermediate · Indian Defences
Fight for e4 with a fianchettoed bishop and give White absolutely nothing
The main line
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Bg2 c6 8.Bc3 d5 9.Ne5 Nfd7
Strategic ideas
- Fianchetto on b7 to fight for the e4 square without committing a pawn
- Play …Ba6 to hit c4 and provoke a concession before the bishop settles on b7
- Keep the structure flexible — …d5 and …c5 both stay available
- Reach a position with no weaknesses where White's space advantage means very little
- Pair it with the Nimzo-Indian for a complete, water-tight answer to 1.d4
Key themes
- Solid — There's nothing to attack — Black's structure is sound and every piece is defended
- Positional — The whole battle is over the e4 square and the long diagonal, fought with pieces not pawns
- Flexible — Black keeps both …d5 and …c5 in reserve and commits only when White has shown their hand
Typical plans
When White plays 3.Nf3 to sidestep the Nimzo-Indian, this is the standard reply — the two openings together form the backbone of countless grandmaster repertoires. Black fianchettoes on b7 and fights for e4 with pieces. The modern touch is …Ba6 first, hitting the c4-pawn and forcing White to weaken something before the bishop takes its natural square. It's an opening with a reputation for dryness that has quietly hosted some extremely sharp theory.
Move by move
- d4 — White claims the centre.
- Nf6 — Black develops and controls e4 with a piece.
- c4 — White grabs space and prepares Nc3.
- e6 — Black keeps things flexible, ready for the Nimzo with …Bb4 or this system.
- Nf3 — White develops the knight, sidestepping the Nimzo-Indian entirely — …Bb4 no longer pins anything useful.
- b6 — Black prepares the fianchetto. The b7-bishop will fight for e4 without a pawn ever going there.
- g3 — White fianchettoes too, contesting the same long diagonal.
- Ba6 — Black develops to a6 instead of b7, hitting c4 immediately and asking White to make a decision.
- b3 — White defends c4 with the pawn, which slightly loosens the queenside.
- Bb4+ — Black develops with a check-like nuisance, provoking another concession.
- Bd2 — White blocks with the bishop.
- Be7 — Black retreats, having gained the tempo and made White commit the bishop to a passive square.
- Bg2 — White completes the fianchetto, finally contesting the long diagonal.
- c6 — Black shores up d5 and b5, keeping the structure flexible.
- Bc3 — White reroutes the bishop to the long diagonal where it belongs.
- d5 — Black finally commits in the centre, having extracted every concession first.
- Ne5 — White jumps to e5, the aggressive square.
- Nfd7 — Black offers the trade of the strong knight. The structure is solid, nothing is weak, and White's extra space hasn't produced a single target — a textbook Queen's Indian.