Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian Variation, Classical Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. a3 Bb7 5. Nc3 d5 6. cxd5 exd5
The Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian Variation, Classical Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E12, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. a3 Bb7 5. Nc3 d5 6. cxd5 exd5. 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 32 times by this move order. White won 50%, 3% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 7. Bg5 (44% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.32 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 7. Qc2 c5 8. g3 Be7 9. Bg2 O-O)
- ECO
- E12
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
rn1qkb1r/pbp2ppp/1p3n2/3p4/3P4/P1N2N2/1P2PPPP/R1BQKB1R w KQkq - 0 7- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. a3 Bb7 5. Nc3 d5 6. cxd5 exd5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 4 | |
| 2000+ | 28 | |
| All | 32 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. Bg5 | 14 (44%) | |
| 7. Bf4 | 7 (22%) | |
| 7. g3 | 5 (16%) | |
| 7. Qc2 | 3 (9%) | |
| 7. Qa4+ | 2 (6%) | |
| 7. e3 | 1 (3%) |
Master games
303 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 45%, draw 26%, Black 29%). The strongest:
- GM Alexander Riazantsev (2708) – GM Dmitry Andreikin (2713) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE World Blitz 2013 · 2013-06-09
- GM Abhijeet Gupta (2625) – GM Etienne Bacrot (2712) 1/2-1/2 · Nakhchivan Open 2015 · 2015-05-05
- GM Quang Liem Le (2709) – GM Vladislav Kovalev (2623) 0-1 · Chess.com Rapid Wk3 Swiss · 2022-02-27
- GM Li Chao2 (2699) – GM Haik M. Martirosyan (2616) 1-0 · PRO League KO Stage 2019 · 2019-05-05
- GM Abhijeet Gupta (2609) – GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2691) 0-1 · FIDE Grand Swiss 2023 · 2023-10-25
Highest-rated Lichess games
- QVC64 (2524) – FM Mind_Soul (2594) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 2s
- Pushka (2505) – FM DanPach (2480) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
- unglaublichesache (2495) – BasilioPandanJr (2399) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian Variation, Main Line 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. a3 Bb7 5. Nc3 d5
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, Hedgehog Variation E12
- Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian Variation, Kasparov Attack 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
- Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian Variation, Polovodin Gambit E12
- Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian Variation, Rashkovsky 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.