Openings · E12–E19

Queen's Indian Defence

3…b6 — a bishop on b7, a fight for the e4 square, and the standard answer to the move order that dodges the Nimzo.

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6played as Black

Play it through on the board below.

Practise the line

You play Black; the other side answers on its own. Nothing here is saved or graded.

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a
Your move 1 of 30/3
  1. 1.d4Nf6
  2. 2.c4e6
  3. 3.Nf3b6

White is answering…

The idea

White's 3.Nf3 is played to avoid 3.Nc3 Bb4. The Queen's Indian answers it by fighting for e4 with pieces instead of pawns: the bishop on b7, a knight that comes to e4, and often …Bb4+ inserted anyway once a knight appears on c3.

4.g3 is the main line, and it is a direct argument: White's bishop on g2 wants the same diagonal Black's does. 4…Ba6, hitting c4, is the modern answer — a provocation rather than a development.

Common mistakes

Three that come up again and again below master level: named traps and the errors every coach corrects.

Letting e4 happen

After 7…O-O
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
  7. 7.
The mistake
Answering 5.Nc3 with a quiet developing move and allowing e4 in one go.
Why it costs
e4 is the square the whole opening is about. Once the pawn is there, the bishop on b7 is looking at the back of it, White has the classical centre, and Black is playing a bad Old Indian with a wasted move on …b6.
Instead
5…Bb4, pinning the knight that guards e4 — a Nimzo-Indian by transposition, which is what White was trying to avoid — or 5…d5.

Playing …Ba6 as a developing move

After 6…Be7
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
The mistake
Putting the bishop on a6 and then wandering with it, as though the square were the point.
Why it costs
It is not a square, it is a question: hit c4 and White has to answer b3 or Nbd2, both of which are small concessions. The follow-up is the check on b4, forcing Bd2, and only then does the bishop go back to b7 having made White commit twice.
Instead
4…Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 — the whole sequence, in that order. It looks like moving pieces about, and it is a series of provocations.

Shutting the bishop in with …d5

After 8…exd5
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
  7. 7.
  8. 8.
The mistake
Playing …d5 and recapturing with the e-pawn, so the bishop on b7 stares at a pawn on d5.
Why it costs
Two bishops sit on the same long diagonal, and after …exd5 only White's can see anything. The pawn on d5 is Black's own, and it will be there for a long time.
Instead
…Ne4 first, or recapture on d5 with the knight, or keep the pawn on d6 and play …c5. Whatever …d5 is met with, the bishop has to be part of the plan.

What the engine says

After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6, these are White's six best moves according to Stockfish, with the bar showing White's chance of winning. The whole list sits within 2 percentage points of win chance: none of them is a mistake, and the choice is about the positions you want to play.

  1. g3+0.3
  2. e3+0.3
  3. Nc3+0.2
  4. a3+0.2
  5. Bf4+0.2
  6. Qc2+0.1

The engine's main line from g3: g3 Bb7 Bg2 Bb4+ Bd2 Bxd2+ Qxd2 O-O.

Stockfish 18, depth 24. Scores are in pawns from White's side. Another engine or depth will move individual numbers a little; the picture does not change. How we check.

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