Queen's Indian Defense

5. QID against 5.Nbd2 and the ...Bb7 Development

When White avoids b3, Black repositions the bishop on b7, dominating the diagonal.

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Nbd2 Bb7 6.Bg2 c5 7.O-O cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bxg2 9.Kxg2

Move by move

  1. 1.d4 – White occupies the center with the d-pawn, protected by the queen, and frees the c1 bishop. This is the move that starts Queen's Gambit, Catalan and Nimzo-Indian games.
  2. 1...Nf6 – Black develops the knight toward the center and immediately prevents 2.e4. With Nf6 Black stays flexible: he can choose between the Nimzo-Indian, Queen's Indian, King's Indian or the Queen's Gambit Declined.
  3. 2.c4 – White gains space on the queenside and attacks the d5 square from a distance. White now threatens Nc3 and e4 to build a big pawn center.
  4. 2...e6 – Black opens the diagonal for the f8 bishop and prepares both d5 and Bb4. Compared with 2...d5, Black stays elastic: he waits to see whether White plays Nc3, which allows the Nimzo-Indian.
  5. 3.Nf3 – White develops the kingside knight instead of Nc3 and avoids the Nimzo-Indian: without the knight on c3, ...Bb4 can't pin anything, but White controls e4 less.
  6. 3...b6 – The Queen's Indian Defense: Black prepares Bb7 or Ba6 to control e4 and the light squares. Without a knight on c3, ...Bb4 would have no pin.
  7. 4.g3 – White prepares the fianchetto to oppose Black's bishop on the long diagonal. However, the f1 bishop will no longer defend the c4 pawn.
  8. 4...Ba6 – The bishop attacks the c4 pawn, which the f1 bishop can no longer defend after g3. White must protect it with b3, Qa4, Qc2 or Nbd2.
  9. 5.Nbd2 – White defends c4 with the knight instead of a pawn. The knight on d2, however, doesn't control d5 and puts less pressure on the center.
  10. 5...Bb7 – The bishop returns to b7: with the knight on d2 the c4 pawn is well defended, and on the long diagonal the bishop controls e4, where the d2 knight would like to help the e4 push.
  11. 6.Bg2 – White completes the fianchetto to oppose the b7 bishop on the long diagonal. He prepares castling.
  12. 6...c5 – Black attacks d4 before White plays e4. With the knight on d2 the d4 pawn is less protected and Black wants to exchange it.
  13. 7.O-O – White castles and lets Black exchange on d4. By recapturing with the f3 knight, White will open the g2 bishop's diagonal.
  14. 7...cxd4 – Black exchanges on d4 to eliminate White's central pawn and open the c-file. White will recapture with the knight.
  15. 8.Nxd4 – The knight recaptures on d4 and opens the g2 bishop's diagonal against the b7 bishop. White has more space, but Black has a healthy structure.
  16. 8...Bxg2 – Black exchanges the dark-squared bishops before White can exploit the open diagonal. After the exchange White's king is left with fewer defenders on the light squares.
  17. 9.Kxg2 – The king recaptures on g2. White's king now stands on the long light diagonal, where Black can give check with the queen from b7 or c6.

How to exploit the position

Balanced position: the dark-squared bishops have been exchanged, White has more space, Black has a healthy structure with no weaknesses. White's king on g2 is exposed on the light diagonal.

Master tips

The check on the light diagonal

After ...Bxg2 Kxg2 White's king stays on the a8-h1 diagonal.

Model games