Queen's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Nimzowitsch Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6
The Queen's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Nimzowitsch Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E15, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6. It is a line of the Queen's Indian Defense. 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 466 times by this move order. White won 53%, 6% were drawn and Black won 41%. The most popular continuation is 5. b3 (37% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.17 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 5. b3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Be7 7. Bg2 d5)
- ECO
- E15
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
rn1qkb1r/p1pp1ppp/bp2pn2/8/2PP4/5NP1/PP2PP1P/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 1 5- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 3 | |
| 1500-1999 | 80 | |
| 2000+ | 383 | |
| All | 466 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. b3 Fianchetto Variation, Nimzowitsch Variation, Quiet Line | 172 (37%) | |
| 5. Qc2 | 129 (28%) | |
| 5. Bg2 | 65 (14%) | |
| 5. Nbd2 | 52 (11%) | |
| 5. Qa4 Fianchetto Variation, Nimzowitsch Variation, Nimzowitsch Attack | 37 (8%) | |
| 5. e3 | 5 (1%) | |
| 5. Qb3 Fianchetto Variation, Nimzowitsch Variation, Timman's Line | 5 (1%) | |
| 5. Nfd2 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
2,735 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 40%, draw 25%, Black 35%). The strongest:
- LCZero 0.31-dag-c93c6a8-BT4-61 (3652) – Stockfish dev-20250118-8e3e22b (3683) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Theory Bonus · 2025-01-24
- LCZero 0.31-dag-4167c1e-BT4-6147500-it332 (3648) – KomodoDragon 3.3 (3583) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-12-05
- KomodoDragon 3.3 (3583) – LCZero 0.31-dag-4167c1e-BT4-6147500-it332 (3648) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-12-02
- Stoofvlees II b4 (3499) – Berserk 20230311 (3476) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 24 Premier 2023 · 2023-03-25
- Berserk 20230311 (3476) – Stoofvlees II b4 (3499) 1-0 · TCEC 24 Premier 2023 · 2023-03-22
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 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3
Continuations
- Queen's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Nimzowitsch Variation, Nimzowitsch Attack E15 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. Qa4
- Queen's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Nimzowitsch Variation, Quiet Line E15 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3
- Queen's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Nimzowitsch Variation, Timman's Line E15 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. Qb3
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.