Queen's Indian Defense: Petrosian Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. a3
The Queen's Indian Defense: Petrosian Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E12, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. a3. It is a line of the Queen's Indian Defense. Black is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 543 times by this move order. White won 46%, 6% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 4… Bb7 (80% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.18 (Stockfish, depth 52; best line 4… Bb7 5. Nc3 d5 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. e3)
- ECO
- E12
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/p1pp1ppp/1p2pn2/8/2PP4/P4N2/1P2PPPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. a3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 4 | |
| 1500-1999 | 100 | |
| 2000+ | 439 | |
| All | 543 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… Bb7 | 433 (80%) | |
| 4… Ba6 | 44 (8%) | |
| 4… c5 | 24 (4%) | |
| 4… d5 | 24 (4%) | |
| 4… a5 | 9 (2%) | |
| 4… Be7 | 5 (1%) | |
| 4… Ne4 | 2 (0%) | |
| 4… Bd6 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
1,120 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 43%, draw 25%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- LCZero 0.31-dag-5107404-T2-5230000 (3633) – Stockfish dev-20230903-b25d68f6 (3666) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 25 Premier 2023 · 2023-09-06
- Stockfish dev-20230903-b25d68f6 (3666) – LCZero 0.31-dag-5107404-T2-5230000 (3633) 1-0 · TCEC 25 Premier 2023 · 2023-09-06
- LCZero 0.30-dag-a9b25c2b-BT2-3 (3598) – Stockfish dev-20230409-b36d39d (3639) 1-0 · TCEC 24 Superfinal 2023 · 2023-04-17
- Stockfish dev-20230409-b36d39d (3639) – LCZero 0.30-dag-a9b25c2b-BT2-3 (3598) 1-0 · TCEC 24 Superfinal 2023 · 2023-04-17
- Stockfish 20210113 (3601) – LCZero 0.27.0d-Tilps-dje-magic_JH.94-100 (3586) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 20 Superfinal 2020 · 2021-01-24
Search all games of the Queen's Indian Defense: Petrosian Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- vistagusta (2825) – GM cutemouse83 (2940) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- NM Andrey11976 (2798) – winx_m (2952) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- NM Andrey11976 (2796) – winx_m (2939) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Queen's Indian Defense 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6
Continuations
- Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian Variation E12 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. a3 Bb7 5. Nc3
- Queen's Indian Defense: Petrosian Variation, Farago Defense E12 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. a3 Ba6 5. Qc2 Bb7
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, 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
- 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.