Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian Variation, Main Line
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. a3 Bb7 5. Nc3 d5
The Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian Variation, Main Line 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. It is a line of the Queen's Indian Defense. White is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 142 times by this move order. White won 39%, 7% were drawn and Black won 54%. The most popular continuation is 6. cxd5 (52% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.10 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 6. Bf4 Bd6 7. Bg5 Be7 8. Rc1 dxc4)
- ECO
- E12
- Moves
- 10 plies
- FEN
rn1qkb1r/pbp2ppp/1p2pn2/3p4/2PP4/P1N2N2/1P2PPPP/R1BQKB1R w KQkq - 0 6- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. a3 Bb7 5. Nc3 d5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 16 | |
| 2000+ | 126 | |
| All | 142 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6. cxd5 | 74 (52%) | |
| 6. Bg5 | 42 (30%) | |
| 6. e3 | 11 (8%) | |
| 6. Qc2 | 7 (5%) | |
| 6. Bf4 | 3 (2%) | |
| 6. g3 | 2 (1%) | |
| 6. Qa4+ | 2 (1%) | |
| 6. Ne5 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
863 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 44%, draw 29%, Black 27%). The strongest:
- GM Viswanathan Anand (2772) – GM Sergey Karjakin (2780) 1/2-1/2 · 75th Tata Steel GpA · 2013-01-23
- GM Gata Kamsky (2762) – GM Sergey Karjakin (2775) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE GP Tashkent · 2012-11-23
- GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2817) – GM Anton Korobov (2698) 1-0 · World Blitz 2018 · 2018-12-29
- GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2729) – GM Sergey Karjakin (2785) 1/2-1/2 · 40th Olympiad Open · 2012-09-04
- GM Anton Korobov (2715) – GM Sergey Karjakin (2782) 0-1 · Sberbank GM Rapid · 2013-06-05
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Hryundel (2576) – Meatloaf927 (2706) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- rustevs (2536) – Meatloaf927 (2713) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- kentou_kanami (2616) – VoinTeka (2580) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. a3 Bb7 5. Nc3
Continuations
- Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian Variation, Classical Variation E12 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. a3 Bb7 5. Nc3 d5 6. cxd5 exd5
- Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian Variation, Modern Variation E12 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. a3 Bb7 5. Nc3 d5 6. cxd5 Nxd5
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, 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, Petrosian Attack E12
- Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian Variation, Polovodin Gambit E12
- Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian Variation, Rashkovsky Attack E12
- Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian Variation, Romanishin Attack E12
- Queen's Indian Defense: Miles Variation 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.