Queen's Indian Defense: Spassky System (4. e3 Bb7)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. e3 Bb7
The Queen's Indian Defense: Spassky System is a chess opening classified as ECO E14, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. e3 Bb7. It is a line of the Queen's Indian Defense. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 168 times by this move order. White won 46%, 6% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 5. Be2 (44% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.11 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 5. Bd3 d5 6. O-O Bd6 7. b3 O-O)
- ECO
- E14
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
rn1qkb1r/pbpp1ppp/1p2pn2/8/2PP4/4PN2/PP3PPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 1 5- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. e3 Bb7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 13 | |
| 1500-1999 | 64 | |
| 2000+ | 91 | |
| All | 168 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. Be2 | 74 (44%) | |
| 5. Bd3 Spassky System (4… Bb7 5. Bd3) | 49 (29%) | |
| 5. Nc3 | 26 (15%) | |
| 5. Nbd2 | 6 (4%) | |
| 5. a3 | 6 (4%) | |
| 5. g3 | 3 (2%) | |
| 5. Bd2 | 1 (1%) | |
| 5. b3 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
180 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 32%, draw 29%, Black 39%). The strongest:
- GM Erigaisi Arjun (2782) – GM Levon Aronian (2742) 1-0 · FIDE World Bl Team Final · 2025-06-15
- GM Santosh Gujrathi Vidit (2644) – GM Dmitry Jakovenko (2737) 1/2-1/2 · Qatar Masters Open 2015 · 2015-12-29
- GM Pavel Eljanov (2681) – GM Yuriy Kryvoruchko (2679) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-ISL 2012-13 · 2012-10-05
- GM Santosh Gujrathi Vidit (2651) – GM Zoltan Almasi (2689) 1-0 · World Rapid 2015 · 2015-10-12
- GM Constantin Lupulescu (2620) – GM Peter Leko (2679) 1/2-1/2 · 21st European Teams · 2017-10-29
Search all games of the Queen's Indian Defense: Spassky System and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Akula_Krakula (2639) – land12345 (2589) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 2s
- Akula_Krakula (2612) – dolynachess (2513) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
- Grone2024 (2515) – IM Arrowlimit (2517) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Queen's Indian Defense: Spassky System (3… b6 4. e3) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. e3
Continuations
- Queen's Indian Defense: Spassky System (4… Bb7 5. Bd3) E14 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. e3 Bb7 5. Bd3
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.