Learn the Queen's Indian Defense

E12-E19 · a repertoire for black · 7 chapters · 46 annotated lines

"The Nimzo player's answer when White ducks with 3.Nf3"

You learned the Nimzo-Indian — and then White plays 3.Nf3 instead of 3.Nc3 and your bishop has nowhere to pin. The Queen's Indian is the classical companion: 3...b6 puts the bishop on the longest diagonal on the board, restrains e4 without giving White a target, and equalizes with clean, learnable plans. This course covers the fianchetto main line (4.g3 Bb7 with the classical ...Ne4 equalizer), the Petrosian 4.a3, the quiet 4.e3, and what to do when White finally plays Nc3 after all. Together with the Nimzo-Indian course you'll have a complete, coherent answer to 1.d4 and 2.c4.

What's inside

• Chapter 1: The Fianchetto Main Line — 4.g3
  Lines: Study 1: The Classical Main Line — 7...Ne4, Study 2: 7.Re1 — Meet the e4 Plan with ...d5, Study 3: 6.Nc3 Before Castling — 6...Ne4 and 7...Bf6
• Chapter 2: The Sidelines — 4.a3, 4.e3 and 4.Nc3
  Lines: Study 1: The Petrosian 4.a3 — Strike Back with ...d5, Study 2: The Quiet 4.e3 — Develop, then ...d5 and ...c5, Study 3: 4.Nc3 — Back to Nimzo Territory with ...Bb4
• Chapter 3: The Fianchetto Tabiya — White's Seventh Moves
  Lines: Study 1: 7.b3 — The Double Fianchetto, Met by ...d5, Study 2: 7.d5 — The Space Grab, Punished by ...c6, Study 3: 7.Qc2 — Answer with ...c5!, Study 4: 8.Nxe4 — The Trade-Everything Line, Study 5: 7.Ne5 — Trade the Bishops, then ...Qxd5+!, Study 6: 9.bxc3 — The Broad Center, Undermined by ...Nc6-a5, Study 7: 9.Ng5? — The Greedy Raid, Refuted by ...Nxe2+!
• Chapter 4: The Petrosian Deepened — 4.a3
  Lines: Study 1: 7.e4? — Win a Pawn with ...Bxe4!, Study 2: 6.Bg5 — Develop Through the Pin, then ...dxc4 and ...c5, Study 3: 7.e3 — The Quiet Petrosian, Same Recipe, Study 4: 7.Bd2 — The Solid Try, Met by ...Qxd5!, Study 5: 7.g3 — The Fianchetto Petrosian, Simplified to Safety, Study 6: 7.Nxd5 — The Trade That Frees Your Queen, Study 7: 5.d5?! — The Overreach That Drops a Pawn
• Chapter 5: 4.Nc3 Bb4 — The Hybrid Files
  Lines: Study 1: 5.e3 — Hanging-Pawn Play with ...c5 and ...d5, Study 2: 5.Qc2 — Trade, Castle, then ...d5 and ...c5, Study 3: 5.Bg5 with Bxf6 — The Bishop-Pair Gambit That Isn't, Study 4: 5.Qb3 — Hit d4 with ...c5, then the Familiar Storm, Study 5: 5.a3 — The Sämisch Twist, Met by the ...e5 Break, Study 6: 5.g3 — The Fianchetto Hybrid, Met by ...Qa6 Pressure, Study 7: 5.Bd2 — The Modest Block, Met by ...Ne4 Anyway
• Chapter 6: Bishop Sorties and the Quiet 4.e3
  Lines: Study 1: 4.Bf4 — Check First, then Hunt the Bishop, Study 2: 4.Bg5 — Calm Development, then the ...Ne4 Simplifier, Study 3: 4.e3 with Nc3 — The Double Break Setup, Study 4: 4.Bf4 with 5.Bd2 — Trade and Take the Center, Study 5: 4.Bg5 with 6.Bxf6 — The Trade That Helps You, Study 6: 4.Qc2 — The Early Queen, and the 8.Bg5 Pin
• Chapter 7: The Classical Tabiya — Middlegame Plans
  Lines: Study 1: 10.dxc5 — The Release, Met by the ...Bf6 Regroup, Study 2: 10.b3 — The Slow Squeeze, Met by ...d5!, Study 3: 8.Bd2 with e4 — Blockade the Big Center

Free sample: the main line, move by move

• 1. d4 — 1.d4 — White takes the center the queen's-pawn way.
• 1... Nf6 — Control e4 with a piece. Black refuses to lock the pawn structure on move one — the Indian defenses keep every central option open until White shows a hand.
• 2. c4 — White grabs more space and eyes d5.
• 2... e6 — Open the f8 bishop's diagonal and keep ...d5 in reserve. This is the same flexible start as the Nimzo-Indian — White's third move decides which defense you get.
• 3. Nf3 — The Nimzo sidestep. With no knight on c3 there is nothing to pin, so 3...Bb4+ would just be met by a block.
• 3... b6 — The Queen's Indian! Since ...Bb4 has lost its target, Black fights for e4 the other way: the bishop is coming to b7, where it will watch the central light squares from a distance. Paired with the Nimzo against 3.Nc3, this move gives you a complete answer to 1.d4.
• 4. g3 — The main line. White fianchettoes too, meeting the b7 bishop head-on along the h1-a8 diagonal.
• 4... Bb7 — Complete the plan. The bishop takes the long diagonal and immediately makes e4 a hard square for White to claim — every fight in this opening runs through that square.
• 5. Bg2 — White's bishop arrives opposite yours.
• 5... Be7 — Modest and correct. The bishop belongs on e7 here: it keeps f6 covered, prepares castling, and leaves c5 free for the pawn. Development first — the central strike comes once the king is safe.
• 6. O-O — White castles.
• 6... O-O — Castle in step. Both sides are three moves from a full middlegame, and Black has conceded nothing: no weaknesses, no locked pawns, and the e4 square still under surveillance.
• 7. Nc3 — Only now does the knight come to c3, threatening to play e4 at last.
• 7... Ne4 — The classical equalizer — take the square before White can. The knight is untouchable in the best sense: supported by the b7 bishop, it offers a trade on c3 that costs White either the queen recapture (a tempo) or doubled pawns. Nine times out of ten a pair of knights leaves the board and Black's position breathes.
• 8. Qc2 — White challenges the intruder immediately.
• 8... Nxc3 — Take, don't retreat. The knight has done its job: it cost White a queen move and now removes the c3 knight — the one piece that could ever have supported e4-e5 expansion. Retreating instead would hand back everything Ne4 earned.
• 9. Qxc3 — The queen recaptures, keeping the pawns intact.
• 9... c5 — The thematic strike. Hit d4 before White's rooks are ready to support it, open the c-file for your own, and give the queen a home on c7 or the bishop a future on f6. Black's whole setup unfolds from this break.
• 10. Rd1 — White puts the rook behind the d-pawn.
• 10... d6 — A small move with a big job: it covers e5 so no white knight or pawn ever lands there, and it frees d7 for the knight. Black's structure is now a compact wall — c5, d6, e6, b6 — with not one weakness for White to aim at.
• 11. b3 — White prepares Bb2 to reinforce d4 and oppose you on the dark diagonal too.
• 11... Bf6 — Redeploy to the long diagonal. On f6 the bishop hits d4 a second time and stares down the incoming Bb2 — the dark-squared duel mirrors the light-squared one. Notice how every Black piece improves while White only maintains.
• 12. Bb2 — White completes development and props up d4.
• 12... Qe7 — Connect the rooks and keep everything flexible: ...Nc6 or ...Nd7 next, a rook to d8 or c8 depending on where White commits. The engine calls this dead level — and Black is the one with the clearer plan against the d4 pawn.

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