Queen's Indian Defence
Put a bishop on b7 and fight for e4 from a distance: White never gets the two centre pawns side by side, and your position has no weak points to attack. The moves are the same against almost every White setup, the knight jump to e4 is the one tactic to learn, and the traps in this opening mostly catch White.
Spar this openingYour setup
- Bishopb7 / a6
- Knightf6 / e4
- Bishope7 / b4
- Knightd7
- Queene7 / c7
- Pawnse6 b6
- CastleO-O
Bb7 or Ba6 before Ne4. Bishop first, then the knight jump. The knight on e4 is only safe because the b7-bishop guards it; jump before the bishop is out and Nfd2 or Qc2 chases it while the g2-bishop suddenly sees your queenside.
Ideas
You control e4 with pieces instead of occupying it with pawns. Deny it and White's centre never forms.
White's dream after d4 and c4 is e4: two centre pawns together and your pieces pushed back. The Queen's Indian says no from a distance. The f6-knight covers e4, the b7-bishop covers e4, and later ...d5 or ...f5 can add a pawn. If White never gets e4 for free, the space advantage stays symbolic and your position has no weaknesses to attack.
...b6 and ...Bb7 come before ...Ne4. The bishop is what makes the knight safe.
A knight on e4 with nothing behind it is a target: Nfd2 or Qc2 hits it, and if White's f3-knight moves, the g2-bishop looks straight at your b7. With the bishop already on b7 the knight is guarded and the jump gains time. Order matters more than speed here.
...Ne4 hits c3 and asks the question. Qc2 Nxc3 Qxc3 and you have traded your way to an easy game.
The knight on c3 is the piece that would support e4. Your knight lands on e4, attacks it, and cannot be kicked cheaply: Nxe4 Bxe4 puts your bishop on the same square, Bd2 lets ...Bf6 lean on d4, and Qc2 Nxc3 Qxc3 trades a pair of knights and leaves you ...c5 with a comfortable position. Watch for one thing: if White plays Qc2, the knight is attacked twice, so take on c3 at once.
Ne5, Ng5 or Nd2 opens two diagonals at once: theirs onto b7, yours onto g2. Take on g2 first.
The knights on f3 and your bishop on b7 stand on the same long diagonal as the g2-bishop. Whenever the f3-knight moves, both bishops can take. If it is your move, ...Bxg2 first and then deal with whatever the knight threatened; if you deal with the knight first, Bxb7 comes with the same idea for White. This is how most of the material in the Queen's Indian changes hands.
a3 stops ...Bb4, so play ...Bb7, ...d5, and recapture on d5 with the knight.
The Petrosian move a3 spends a whole tempo to keep your bishop off b4. Use it: ...Bb7 and ...d5 claim the centre, and after cxd5 you recapture with the knight so the b7-bishop's diagonal stays open. ...Nxc3 and ...Be7 follow and you castle into a healthy position while White's doubled c-pawns wait to be attacked with ...c5.
When White pushes d5 and trades, do not recapture with a piece that the queen on d1 can take.
After d5 exd5 cxd5 the d-file is open and White's queen sees d5 from d1. A knight or bishop that recaptures there is defended only by pieces that may be gone or blocked, and Qxd5 wins it. Look at what still guards d5 before you take: usually the right answer is ...Bf6 or ...d6 and the pawn is dealt with later.
Castle, put the knight on d7, and break with ...c5 or ...d5 when the b7-bishop is on an open diagonal.
Your position is solid and your bishop is your best piece. Keep the long diagonal open, meet e4 with ...d5 or a trade, and put the rooks on c8 and e8. If White's knights leave f3 or c3, look for ...Bxg2 and ...Ne4 tricks. There is no rush: White has to prove the extra space means something.
The structure
Traps
The tell: You play ...c5 and White answers d5. Trading on d5 looks like it wins a pawn.
After the trades the d-file is open and White's queen sees d5 from d1. Your knight recaptures, White's knight takes it, your bishop takes back, and Qxd5 collects a piece: the bishop on d5 has nothing behind it. Against d5 play ...exd5 and then ...d6 or ...Bf6, and never recapture with a piece the queen can take.
The tell: White's knight jumps to g5 to hit your e4-knight a second time. Both White knights are now off the long diagonal.
The order matters. ...Nxg5 Bxg5 and now ...Bxg2 first: the king recaptures and your bishop on e7 takes the g5-bishop for free. Take on g5 before g2 and White plays Bxb7 with the same trick against you.
The tell: Your bishop is on e4, White pushes d5, and recapturing on d5 with the bishop looks free.
The f3-knight blocks White's g2-bishop, so d5 looks undefended. It is not: the d-file is open and the queen on d1 sees straight down it. After ...exd5 cxd5, leave the pawn and play ...Bf6. The pawn is weak and will fall later; the bishop is not.
Model games
Bishop to b7, castle, and the moment a knight lands on c3 your knight jumps to e4 and trades it. Then ...c5, ...d6 and ...Bf6 lean on d4 with both bishops.
a3 stops the pin, so you claim d5 instead and recapture with the knight. White ends up with doubled c-pawns and you hit them with ...c5.
Against the quiet setup you play the same moves, castle, and put a pawn on d5 so e4 never comes. Then ...c5 and the position is level with nothing to fear.
How the coach grades a move
Every move you play gets one of six grades, from the engine’s view of the position, with the book’s verdict taking over when it is harsher. The sentence beside it is always the reason. Tap it for what the move did, why this opening wants it, and whether anything was better.
- Best
- Nothing better was available.
- Good
- Within a few percent of best. Noise at this depth.
- Playable
- A small real gap. The better move is named, play goes on.
- Inaccuracy
- Seven to twelve points of winning chances. The game stops to show you.
- Mistake
- Twelve or more, or a move the book warns against, or a broken order rule.
- Blunder
- Twenty-five or more. Usually material.
Catalogued as E12–E19 in the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings, the reference index most databases sort by.