Queen's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Nimzowitsch Variation, Nimzowitsch Attack
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. Qa4
The Queen's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Nimzowitsch Variation, Nimzowitsch Attack is a chess opening classified as ECO E15, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. Qa4. 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 37 times by this move order. White won 65%, 8% were drawn and Black won 27%. The most popular continuation is 5… Bb7 (46% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.14 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 5… Bb7 6. Nc3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. Bg2)
- ECO
- E15
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
rn1qkb1r/p1pp1ppp/bp2pn2/8/Q1PP4/5NP1/PP2PP1P/RNB1KB1R b KQkq - 2 5- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. Qa4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 4 | |
| 2000+ | 33 | |
| All | 37 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Bb7 | 17 (46%) | |
| 5… c5 | 8 (22%) | |
| 5… c6 | 6 (16%) | |
| 5… Be7 | 6 (16%) |
Master games
917 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 33%, draw 35%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- Reckless 0.10.0-dev-b5462f11 (3763) – Stockfish dev-20260318-d173a06 (3807) 1-0 · TCEC 29 Superfinal 2026 · 2026-04-11
- Stockfish dev-20260318-d173a06 (3807) – Reckless 0.10.0-dev-b5462f11 (3763) 1-0 · TCEC 29 Superfinal 2026 · 2026-04-11
- Stockfish dev-20250118-8e3e22b (3683) – LCZero 0.31-dag-c93c6a8-BT4-61 (3652) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Theory Bonus · 2025-01-24
- LCZero 0.31-dag-f7fb268-BT4-61 (3652) – Stockfish dev-20241208-cf10644 (3683) 1-0 · TCEC 27 Superfinal 2024 · 2024-12-19
- Stockfish dev-20241208-cf10644 (3683) – LCZero 0.31-dag-f7fb268-BT4-61 (3652) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Superfinal 2024 · 2024-12-19
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Justiniano (2602) – ruguokeyi (2598) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- DrOldSchmetterhand (2517) – secret_mikalsen (2651) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- Justiniano (2593) – qls_andriy (2550) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Queen's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Nimzowitsch Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6
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.