Bogo-Indian Defense: Retreat Variation (4. Bd2 Be7)

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Be7

The Bogo-Indian Defense: Retreat Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E11, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Be7. It is a line of the Bogo-Indian Defense. White is to move.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 234 times by this move order. White won 49%, 4% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 5. Nc3 (47% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.27 (Stockfish, depth 48; best line 5. Nc3 d5 6. Bf4 b6 7. Qa4+ Bd7)

ECO: E11
Moves: 8 plies
FEN: rnbqk2r/ppppbppp/4pn2/8/2PP4/5N2/PP1BPPPP/RN1QKB1R w KQkq - 4 5
PGN: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Be7

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

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
0-1499	14	14%86%
1500-1999	109	46%50%
2000+	111	57%38%
All	234	49%47%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
5. Nc3	111 (47%)	53%42%
5. g3	85 (36%)	46%49%
5. e3	17 (7%)	24%71%
5. a3	5 (2%)	40%60%
5. Bg5	4 (2%)	75%25%
5. Qc2	4 (2%)	75%25%
5. e4	2 (1%)	50%50%
5. h3	1 (0%)	100%

Master games

451 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 45%, draw 19%, Black 36%). The strongest:

GM Sam Shankland (2731) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2828) 1/2-1/2 · 63rd ch-USA 2019 · 2019-03-31
GM Anish Giri (2764) – GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2777) 0-1 · GCT Super Blitz Croatia · 2026-07-04
GM Evgeny Tomashevsky (2681) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2757) 1/2-1/2 · Karpov Cup - 50 years · 2025-05-21
GM Nikolas Theodorou (2634) – GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2777) 1-0 · 3rd UzChess Cup Masters · 2026-06-14
GM Igor Lysyj (2686) – GM Alexander Morozevich (2724) 1-0 · 67th ch-RUS 2014 · 2014-12-01

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

Highest-rated Lichess games

GM sillyMASTER (2832) – barteljaap-jan (2917) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
NM Andrey11976 (2789) – CM EmirSharshenbek (2729) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
econpower (2606) – Ishmael67 (2524) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s

Comes from

Bogo-Indian Defense 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+

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.