Queen's Indian Defense: Spassky System (3… b6 4. e3)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. e3
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. It is a line of the Queen's Indian Defense. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 191 times by this move order. White won 45%, 7% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 4… Bb7 (88% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.06 (Stockfish, depth 38; best line 4… d5 5. Bd3 Bb7 6. O-O Bd6 7. b3)
- ECO
- E14
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/p1pp1ppp/1p2pn2/8/2PP4/4PN2/PP3PPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. e3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 15 | |
| 1500-1999 | 76 | |
| 2000+ | 100 | |
| All | 191 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… Bb7 Spassky System (4. e3 Bb7) | 168 (88%) | |
| 4… Ba6 | 7 (4%) | |
| 4… Bb4+ | 7 (4%) | |
| 4… c5 | 3 (2%) | |
| 4… Ne4 | 3 (2%) | |
| 4… Nc6 | 1 (1%) | |
| 4… d5 | 1 (1%) | |
| 4… Be7 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
52 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 40%, draw 29%, Black 31%). The strongest:
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2804) – GM Liren Ding (2734) 1/2-1/2 · Chess.com Classic Winners · 2025-05-20
- GM Ruslan Ponomariov (2723) – GM Jun Zhao (2603) 1/2-1/2 · 5th Hainan Danzhou 2014 · 2014-07-04
- GM Boris Grachev (2676) – GM Predrag Nikolic (2619) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-SRB 1st League 2013 · 2013-08-26
- GM Valentin Dragnev (2483) – GM Marin Bosiocic (2599) 1-0 · European Blitz 2018 · 2018-12-06
- GM Lutsko, I. (2343) – GM Andrey Zhigalko (2619) 1-0 · 80th ch-BLR 2014 · 2014-01-07
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 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6
Continuations
- Queen's Indian Defense: Spassky System (4. e3 Bb7) E14 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. e3 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 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.