Queen's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Check Variation, Intermezzo Line
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Be7
The Queen's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Check Variation, Intermezzo Line is a chess opening classified as ECO E15, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Be7. It is a line of the Queen's Indian Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 98 times by this move order. White won 57%, 8% were drawn and Black won 35%. The most popular continuation is 7. Bg2 (76% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.17 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 7. Nc3 d5 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Bg2 O-O)
- ECO
- E15
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
rn1qk2r/p1ppbppp/bp2pn2/8/2PP4/1P3NP1/P2BPP1P/RN1QKB1R w KQkq - 3 7- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Be7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 11 | |
| 2000+ | 86 | |
| All | 98 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. Bg2 | 74 (76%) | |
| 7. Nc3 | 22 (22%) | |
| 7. Bc3 | 2 (2%) |
Master games
2,059 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 33%, draw 33%, Black 34%). The strongest:
- GM Levon Aronian (2816) – GM Sergey Karjakin (2778) 1-0 · 5th Final Masters · 2012-09-24
- GM Levon Aronian (2815) – GM Sergey Karjakin (2771) 1-0 · 2nd Norway Chess 2014 · 2014-06-04
- GM Levon Aronian (2813) – GM Sergey Karjakin (2767) 0-1 · Supreme Masters 2013 · 2013-05-12
- GM Levon Aronian (2812) – GM Sergey Karjakin (2759) 1-0 · 76th Tata Steel Masters · 2014-01-23
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2785) – GM Sergey Karjakin (2781) 1/2-1/2 · GCT Rapid Paris 2017 · 2017-06-21
Highest-rated Lichess games
- LuckyStar2011 (2816) – Nana_jede_cevape (2799) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- July16Q (2670) – Nana_jede_cevape (2908) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- ScaryIndianJunior (2818) – Tempstream (2742) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Queen's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Check Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 Bb4+
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.