Queen's Indian Defense: Miles Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. Bf4
The Queen's Indian Defense: Miles Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E12, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. Bf4. 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 72 times by this move order. White won 40%, 11% were drawn and Black won 49%. The most popular continuation is 4… Bb7 (83% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.05 (Stockfish, depth 43; best line 4… Bb4+ 5. Nbd2 Bb7 6. e3 Be7 7. h3)
- ECO
- E12
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/p1pp1ppp/1p2pn2/8/2PP1B2/5N2/PP2PPPP/RN1QKB1R b KQkq - 1 4- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. Bf4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 5 | |
| 1500-1999 | 36 | |
| 2000+ | 31 | |
| All | 72 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… Bb7 | 60 (83%) | |
| 4… Bb4+ | 11 (15%) | |
| 4… Be7 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
599 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 42%, draw 25%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- GM Levon Aronian (2815) – GM Peter Leko (2732) 1/2-1/2 · SportAccord Blindfold Men 2012 · 2012-12-19
- GM David Navara (2734) – GM Sergey Karjakin (2762) 1-0 · World Blitz 2015 · 2015-10-14
- GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2729) – GM Richard Rapport (2763) 1-0 · Shenzhen Evening Blitz · 2021-05-01
- GM Laurent Fressinet (2708) – GM Alexander Grischuk (2785) 1-0 · FIDE GP Paris · 2013-09-23
- GM Boris Gelfand (2743) – GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek (2744) 0-1 · SportAccord Blitz 2014 · 2014-12-13
Search all games of the Queen's Indian Defense: Miles Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- NM Andrey11976 (2782) – winx_m (2952) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- Shuvalov (2571) – madcap_tr (2636) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- IM Banzeus (2522) – Aymen2026 (2510) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Queen's Indian Defense 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6
More Queen's Indian Defense lines (all)
- 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
- Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian Variation, Polovodin Gambit 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.