Queen's Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Taimanov Gambit
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. d5 exd5 8. Nd4
The Queen's Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Taimanov Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO E17, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. d5 exd5 8. Nd4. It is a line of the Queen's Indian Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1 times by this move order. White won 100%, 0% were drawn and Black won 0%. The most popular continuation is 8… Nc6 (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 8… Bc6 9. Nxc6 dxc6 10. Qc2 Qd7 11. a3)
- ECO
- E17
- Moves
- 15 plies
- FEN
rn1q1rk1/pbppbppp/1p3n2/3p4/2PN4/6P1/PP2PPBP/RNBQ1RK1 b - - 1 8- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. d5 exd5 8. Nd4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2000+ | 1 | |
| All | 1 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8… Nc6 | 1 (100%) |
Master games
16 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 63%, draw 6%, Black 31%). The strongest:
- GM Daniil Dubov (2702) – GM Vasif Durarbayli (2638) 1-0 · Titled Tue 14th Jun Early · 2022-06-14
- GM Daniil Dubov (2693) – GM Maksim Chigaev (2624) 1-0 · Titled Tue 17th Sep Late · 2024-09-17
- IM Platon Galperin (2461) – GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2678) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 8th Sept · 2020-09-08
- GM Daniil Dubov (2710) – CM Vadym Petrovskiy (2150) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 11th May · 2021-05-11
- GM Markus Ragger (2569) – FM Felix Kuznetsov (2171) 1-0 · Titled Tue 19th Aug Late · 2025-08-19
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Cesia53 (2213) – NM BennyBear (2284) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Queen's Indian Defense: Classical Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6. O-O
More Queen's Indian Defense lines (all)
- Queen's Indian Defense E12
- Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov Variation (3… b6 4. Nc3) E12
- Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov Variation, Botvinnik Attack E12
- Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian Variation E12
- Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian Variation, Andersson Variation E12
- Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian Variation, Classical Variation E12
- Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian Variation, Hedgehog Variation E12
- Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian Variation, Kasparov Attack E12
- Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian Variation, Main Line E12
- Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian Variation, Marco Defense E12
- Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian Variation, Modern Variation E12
- Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian Variation, Petrosian Attack E12
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.