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Queen's Indian Defense
The Queen's Indian Defense (QID) is a chess opening defined by the moves:
The opening is a solid defense to the Queen's Pawn Game. 3...b6 increases Black's control over the central light squares e4 and d5 by preparing to fianchetto the queen's bishop, with the opening deriving its name from this maneuver. As in the other Indian defenses, Black attempts to control the center with pieces in hypermodern style, instead of occupying it with pawns in classical style.
By playing 3.Nf3, White sidesteps the Nimzo-Indian Defense that arises after 3.Nc3 Bb4. The Queen's Indian is regarded as the sister opening of the Nimzo-Indian, since both openings aim to impede White's efforts to gain full control of the center by playing e2–e4 without directly putting a pawn in the centre. Together, they are a well-respected response to 1.d4.
4.g3 (ECO E15–E19) has long been White's most popular line against the Queen's Indian. It contests the long diagonal by preparing to fianchetto the light-squared bishop. The standard response for Black through the 1970s was 4...Bb7, but 4...Ba6 has since become the topical line. A rarer third option is 4...Bb4+, which aims to exchange the less useful dark-squared bishop, though this line tends to leave Black with a slightly passive position.
White can defend the pawn at c4 with a piece by playing 5.Nbd2, 5.Qa4, 5.Qc2, or 5.Qb3, but these moves all diminish control of d4, making c7–c5 an effective reply for Black; therefore 5.b3 is White's most common response. This move slightly weakens the dark squares, however, which Black can take advantage of by playing 5...Bb4+. Now 6.Nbd2? loses material after 6...Bc3 7.Rb1 Bb7 threatening 8...Be4, an opening trap which has ensnared players such as Kamran Shirazi. White's best move is therefore 6.Bd2. After 6...Be7 7.Bg2 c6, however, Black is ready to play d7–d5, again attacking the c-pawn. If White plays cxd5 then ...cxd5 is considered to equalize for Black. Thus White usually plays 8.Bc3 to clear the d2-square, and after 8...d5 White can play in two ways. After 9.Nbd2 Nbd7 10.0-0 0-0 11.Re1 c5 Black has achieved his thematic pawn break before White and the resulting position after 12.e4 dxe4 13.Nxe4 is equal. Therefore, the main line continues 9.Ne5 and since Black does not want White to maintain this knight on a strong central outpost, play continues 9...Nfd7 10.Nxd7 Nxd7 11.Nd2 0-0 12.0-0 Rc8 13.e4. By diverting the black knight on move 9 it is now White who has achieved his central pawn break first. The effect of Black's check 5...Bb4+ has been to lure White's bishop to c3 where it blocks the c-file. This, the current main line of the Queen's Indian, is considered equal by theory and became a frequent guest in grandmaster praxis in the 1980s.
After 5.b3, Black also has several playable alternatives to 5...Bb4+, the most common of which is 5...Bb7 6.Bg2 Bb4+ 7.Bd2 a5. When White plays Nc3, Black will exchange bishop for knight in order to enhance his control over the central light squares, and play on the queenside with moves such as a5–a4 and b6–b5. Other possibilities for Black include 5...d5 and 5...b5.
More recently, several grandmasters, including Alexander Beliavsky, Ni Hua, Veselin Topalov, and Magnus Carlsen have played 5.Qc2. The idea is to allow Black's counterthrust ...c5, the main line running 5...Bb7 6.Bg2 c5. The fashion is for White to sacrifice a pawn with 7.d5, gaining active play. This idea has scored well for White, and new ideas have been cropping up since 2008. The 5.Qc2 lines had previously scored poorly for White according to Emms.
The classical main line of the Queen's Indian, the most frequently played line from the 1950s until 4...Ba6 became popular in the 1980s, usually continues: 5.Bg2 Be7 6.0-0 0-0 7.Nc3 Ne4 8.Qc2 Nxc3 9.Qxc3. White has a spatial advantage, but Black has no weaknesses and can choose from a variety of ways to create counterplay, such as 9...c5, 9...f5 or 9...Be4. These lines are well known for their drawish tendencies and 4...Bb7 is nowadays often employed by Black as a drawing weapon. White has tried various deviations from the main line in an attempt to unbalance the play. These include:
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Queen's Indian Defense
The Queen's Indian Defense (QID) is a chess opening defined by the moves:
The opening is a solid defense to the Queen's Pawn Game. 3...b6 increases Black's control over the central light squares e4 and d5 by preparing to fianchetto the queen's bishop, with the opening deriving its name from this maneuver. As in the other Indian defenses, Black attempts to control the center with pieces in hypermodern style, instead of occupying it with pawns in classical style.
By playing 3.Nf3, White sidesteps the Nimzo-Indian Defense that arises after 3.Nc3 Bb4. The Queen's Indian is regarded as the sister opening of the Nimzo-Indian, since both openings aim to impede White's efforts to gain full control of the center by playing e2–e4 without directly putting a pawn in the centre. Together, they are a well-respected response to 1.d4.
4.g3 (ECO E15–E19) has long been White's most popular line against the Queen's Indian. It contests the long diagonal by preparing to fianchetto the light-squared bishop. The standard response for Black through the 1970s was 4...Bb7, but 4...Ba6 has since become the topical line. A rarer third option is 4...Bb4+, which aims to exchange the less useful dark-squared bishop, though this line tends to leave Black with a slightly passive position.
White can defend the pawn at c4 with a piece by playing 5.Nbd2, 5.Qa4, 5.Qc2, or 5.Qb3, but these moves all diminish control of d4, making c7–c5 an effective reply for Black; therefore 5.b3 is White's most common response. This move slightly weakens the dark squares, however, which Black can take advantage of by playing 5...Bb4+. Now 6.Nbd2? loses material after 6...Bc3 7.Rb1 Bb7 threatening 8...Be4, an opening trap which has ensnared players such as Kamran Shirazi. White's best move is therefore 6.Bd2. After 6...Be7 7.Bg2 c6, however, Black is ready to play d7–d5, again attacking the c-pawn. If White plays cxd5 then ...cxd5 is considered to equalize for Black. Thus White usually plays 8.Bc3 to clear the d2-square, and after 8...d5 White can play in two ways. After 9.Nbd2 Nbd7 10.0-0 0-0 11.Re1 c5 Black has achieved his thematic pawn break before White and the resulting position after 12.e4 dxe4 13.Nxe4 is equal. Therefore, the main line continues 9.Ne5 and since Black does not want White to maintain this knight on a strong central outpost, play continues 9...Nfd7 10.Nxd7 Nxd7 11.Nd2 0-0 12.0-0 Rc8 13.e4. By diverting the black knight on move 9 it is now White who has achieved his central pawn break first. The effect of Black's check 5...Bb4+ has been to lure White's bishop to c3 where it blocks the c-file. This, the current main line of the Queen's Indian, is considered equal by theory and became a frequent guest in grandmaster praxis in the 1980s.
After 5.b3, Black also has several playable alternatives to 5...Bb4+, the most common of which is 5...Bb7 6.Bg2 Bb4+ 7.Bd2 a5. When White plays Nc3, Black will exchange bishop for knight in order to enhance his control over the central light squares, and play on the queenside with moves such as a5–a4 and b6–b5. Other possibilities for Black include 5...d5 and 5...b5.
More recently, several grandmasters, including Alexander Beliavsky, Ni Hua, Veselin Topalov, and Magnus Carlsen have played 5.Qc2. The idea is to allow Black's counterthrust ...c5, the main line running 5...Bb7 6.Bg2 c5. The fashion is for White to sacrifice a pawn with 7.d5, gaining active play. This idea has scored well for White, and new ideas have been cropping up since 2008. The 5.Qc2 lines had previously scored poorly for White according to Emms.
The classical main line of the Queen's Indian, the most frequently played line from the 1950s until 4...Ba6 became popular in the 1980s, usually continues: 5.Bg2 Be7 6.0-0 0-0 7.Nc3 Ne4 8.Qc2 Nxc3 9.Qxc3. White has a spatial advantage, but Black has no weaknesses and can choose from a variety of ways to create counterplay, such as 9...c5, 9...f5 or 9...Be4. These lines are well known for their drawish tendencies and 4...Bb7 is nowadays often employed by Black as a drawing weapon. White has tried various deviations from the main line in an attempt to unbalance the play. These include: