Bogo-Indian Defense: Retreat Variation (8… c6 9. b3)

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 9. b3

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 9. b3 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 9. b3. It is a line of the Bogo-Indian Defense. Black is to move.

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

Engine evaluation: +0.06 (Stockfish, depth 34; best line 9… b6 10. Rd1 Re8 11. Nc3 Ba6 12. Bg5)

ECO
E11
Moves
17 plies
FEN
r1bq1rk1/pp1nbppp/2p1pn2/3p4/2PP4/1P3NP1/P1QBPPBP/RN3RK1 b - - 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 9. b3

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

Master games

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

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

Comes from

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

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.