Bogo-Indian Defense: Retreat Variation (8. Qc2 c6)

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Be7 5. Bg2 d5 6. Nf3 Nbd7 7. O-O O-O 8. Qc2 c6

Bogo-Indian Defense: Retreat Variation after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Be7 5. Bg2 d5 6. Nf3 Nbd7 7. O-O O-O 8. Qc2 c6 87654321abcdefgh

The Bogo-Indian Defense: Retreat Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E11, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Be7 5. Bg2 d5 6. Nf3 Nbd7 7. O-O O-O 8. Qc2 c6. It is a line of the Bogo-Indian Defense. White is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.

This exact move order didn't appear in our sample of 12.6 million Lichess games: it's a rare line.

Engine evaluation: +0.09 (Stockfish, depth 54; best line 9. Rd1 b6 10. b3 a5 11. Bc3 Bb7)

ECO
E11
Moves
16 plies
FEN
r1bq1rk1/pp1nbppp/2p1pn2/3p4/2PP4/5NP1/PPQBPPBP/RN3RK1 w - - 0 9
PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Be7 5. Bg2 d5 6. Nf3 Nbd7 7. O-O O-O 8. Qc2 c6

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

Master games

1 over-the-board game is classified under this line (White 0%, draw 0%, Black 100%). The strongest:

Search all games of the Bogo-Indian Defense: Retreat Variation and its sub-variations

Comes from

Bogo-Indian Defense: Retreat Variation (5… d5 6. Nf3) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Be7 5. Bg2 d5 6. Nf3

Continuations

More Bogo-Indian Defense lines (all)

Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.