Pseudo Queen's Indian Defense (2. Nf3 b6)

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 b6

The Pseudo Queen's Indian Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO A47, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 b6. White is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 2,192 times by this move order. White won 49%, 6% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 3. Bf4 (23% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.27 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 3. g3 e6 4. Bg2 Bb7 5. c4 Be7)

ECO: A47
Moves: 4 plies
FEN: rnbqkb1r/p1pppppp/1p3n2/8/3P4/5N2/PPP1PPPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 3
PGN: 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 b6

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

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
0-1499	251	51%48%
1500-1999	960	50%46%
2000+	981	48%44%
All	2,192	49%45%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
3. Bf4	498 (23%)	50%44%
3. e3	432 (20%)	51%45%
3. c4	408 (19%)	44%49%
3. g3	348 (16%)	53%39%
3. Bg5	228 (10%)	47%48%
3. Nc3	118 (5%)	48%47%
3. c3	53 (2%)	43%53%
3. Nbd2	38 (2%)	53%42%

Master games

4,759 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 36%, draw 21%, Black 43%). The strongest:

GM Levon Aronian (2805) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2877) 0-1 · 2nd Sinquefield Cup 2014 · 2014-08-31
GM Erigaisi Arjun (2782) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2837) 1-0 · Titled Tue 20th May Late · 2025-05-20
GM Fabiano Caruana (2811) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2781) 0-1 · PRO League Group Stage · 2018-02-03
GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2777) – GM Erigaisi Arjun (2799) 0-1 · Tata Steel India Blitz · 2024-11-17
GM Quang Liem Le (2731) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2840) 0-1 · Titled Tue 13th Jan 2026 · 2026-01-13

Search all games of the Pseudo Queen's Indian Defense and its sub-variations

Highest-rated Lichess games

GM Fabsid (2818) – KnightCheckShadow (2997) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Americanchampion (2839) – GM Dr_Tiger (2942) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
canc3111 (2758) – IM Kostik_Mostik (2917) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s

Comes from

Indian Defense: Knights Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3

Continuations

Indian Defense: Schnepper Gambit A47 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 b6 3. c3 e5
Marienbad System A47 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 b6 3. g3 Bb7 4. Bg2 c5
Pseudo Queen's Indian Defense (6. b3 Be7) A47 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 b6 3. e3 Bb7 4. Bd3 e6 5. Nbd2 c5 6. b3 Be7

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.