E12Opening
Queen's Indian Defense
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6
White to move
- Legal moves
- 32
- Games in the next 4 moves
- 869,797
- Different positions among them
- 288,126
- Named lines from here
- 57
Black fianchettoes the queen’s bishop to control e4 from a distance — a solid, strategic defence.
It is reached after 6 moves: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6.
White is to move and has 32 legal moves. Over the next four moves — two for each side — the game can branch into 869,797 different games. Those games reach 288,126 different positions: most positions can be reached in more than one way, 3 on average.
The Lichess opening list names 57 further lines after this position, such as Fianchetto Variation (4. g3) and Petrosian Variation (4. a3).
The same moves can be played in 36 different legal orders that all reach this position. For example 1. c4 Nf6 2. d4 e6 3. Nf3 b6, which starts as the English Opening.

Move by move
- 1. d4Queen's Pawn Game
- 1... Nf6Indian Defense
- 2. c4Indian Defense: Normal Variation
- 2... e6—
- 3. Nf3Indian Defense: Anti-Nimzo-Indian
- 3... b6Queen's Indian Defense
Named lines from here
- Fianchetto VariationE154. g3
- Petrosian VariationE124. a3
- Spassky SystemE144. e3
- Kasparov VariationE124. Nc3
- Miles VariationE124. Bf4
Famous games through this position
Related openings
- Indian DefenseA451. d4 Nf6
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Exchange VariationD351. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Ragozin DefenseD381. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Semi-Tarrasch DefenseD401. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c5
- Nimzo-Indian DefenseE201. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4
- Bogo-Indian DefenseE111. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+
- Catalan OpeningE001. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3
- King's Indian DefenseE611. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3
- King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto VariationE601. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3
- Benoni DefenseA561. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5
FEN
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