Queen's Indian Defense

11. Rubinstein System (4.e3 Bb7 5.Bd3 d5)

Absolute solidity against White's quiet positional development.

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.e3 Bb7 5.Bd3 d5 6.O-O Be7 7.b3 O-O 8.Bb2 Nbd7 9.Nc3 c5 10.Qe2 Rc8 11.Rfd1 Qc7

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.e3 – White chooses a quiet setup: he reinforces d4 and opens the f1 bishop's diagonal toward d3. The c1 bishop, however, stays shut in behind e3.
  8. 4...Bb7 – Black develops the bishop on the long diagonal, from where it controls e4. With White's bishop on d3, the fight for e4 becomes the main theme.
  9. 5.Bd3 – White develops the bishop to d3, where it controls e4 and aims at h7. He prepares castling.
  10. 5...d5 – Black occupies the center with the d-pawn and prevents e4, which the d3 bishop wanted to support. The structure resembles the Queen's Gambit Declined.
  11. 6.O-O – White castles and puts the king safe. He prepares b3 and Bb2 to develop the c1 bishop, blocked by the e3 pawn.
  12. 6...Be7 – Black develops the bishop to e7 and prepares castling. In this closed structure the bishop is safe and defends the dark squares on the kingside.
  13. 7.b3 – White prepares Bb2: without this move the c1 bishop would stay shut in behind the e3 pawn. The b3 pawn also defends c4.
  14. 7...O-O – Black castles and completes the kingside development. The position is symmetrical and Black is ready for ...Nbd7 and ...c5.
  15. 8.Bb2 – The bishop goes to b2 on the long dark diagonal, where it supports d4 and e5. It's the Colle-Zukertort setup.
  16. 8...Nbd7 – Black develops the knight to d7, where it supports ...c5 and controls e5. It leaves the c-pawn free for the break.
  17. 9.Nc3 – White develops the knight and increases the pressure on d5. He now prepares Qe2 and Rd1 for the d-file.
  18. 9...c5 – Black breaks with ...c5 and attacks d4. It's the move that gives Black play in this symmetrical structure.
  19. 10.Qe2 – The queen goes to e2, where it supports e4 and leaves d1 free for the rook. White prepares Rfd1 on the d-file.
  20. 10...Rc8 – The rook goes to c8 on the file that will open with ...cxd4 or ...dxc4. Black also prepares ...Qc7.
  21. 11.Rfd1 – The rook goes to the d-file, behind the d4 pawn. White prepares dxc5 or cxd5 to open the file.
  22. 11...Qc7 – The queen goes to c7 and forms a battery with the c8 rook on the c-file. From c7 it also controls e5. Beware of the Nb5 jump, which attacks the queen and a7.

How to exploit the position

Symmetrical, balanced position of the Queen's Gambit Declined type. Whoever opens the c-file or the d-file better takes the initiative.

Master tips

The hanging pawns on c4 and d4

After ...cxd4 exd4 ...dxc4 bxc4 White has two central pawns with no neighboring pawns.

Model games