4.g3 (
ECO E15–E19) has long been White's most popular line against the Queen's Indian. It contests the by preparing to fianchetto the light-squared bishop. The standard response for Black through the 1970s was 4...Bb7, but 4...Ba6 has since become the topical line. A rarer third option is 4...Bb4+, which aims to exchange the less useful dark-squared bishop, though this line tends to leave Black with a slightly passive position.
Modern main line: 4...Ba6 White can defend the pawn at c4 with a piece by playing 5.Nbd2, 5.Qa4, 5.Qc2, or 5.Qb3, but these moves all diminish control of d4, making c7–c5 an effective reply for Black; therefore 5.b3 is White's most common response. This move slightly weakens the dark squares, however, which Black can take advantage of by playing 5...Bb4+. Now 6.Nbd2 loses material after 6...Bc3 7.Rb1 Bb7 threatening 8...Be4, an opening trap which has ensnared players such as
Kamran Shirazi. White's best move is therefore 6.Bd2. After 6...Be7 7.Bg2 c6, however, Black is ready to play d7–d5, again attacking the c-pawn. If White plays cxd5 then ...cxd5 is considered to for Black. Thus White usually plays 8.Bc3 to clear the d2-square, and after 8...d5 White can play in two ways. After 9.Nbd2 Nbd7 10.0-0 0-0 11.Re1 c5 Black has achieved his thematic before White and the resulting position after 12.e4 dxe4 13.Nxe4 is equal. Therefore, the main line continues 9.Ne5 and since Black does not want White to maintain this knight on a strong central outpost, play continues 9...Nfd7 10.Nxd7 Nxd7 11.Nd2 0-0 12.0-0 Rc8 13.e4. By diverting the black knight on move 9 it is now White who has achieved his central pawn break first. The effect of Black's check 5...Bb4+ has been to lure White's bishop to c3 where it blocks the c-file. This, the current main line of the Queen's Indian, is considered equal by
theory and became a frequent guest in grandmaster praxis in the 1980s. After 5.b3, Black also has several playable alternatives to 5...Bb4+, the most common of which is 5...Bb7 6.Bg2 Bb4+ 7.Bd2 a5. When White plays Nc3, Black will exchange bishop for knight in order to enhance his control over the central light squares, and play on the with moves such as a5–a4 and b6–b5. Other possibilities for Black include 5...d5 and 5...b5. More recently, several grandmasters, including
Alexander Beliavsky,
Ni Hua,
Veselin Topalov, and
Magnus Carlsen have played 5.Qc2. The idea is to allow Black's counterthrust ...c5, the main line running 5...Bb7 6.Bg2 c5. The fashion is for White to sacrifice a pawn with 7.d5, gaining active play. This idea has scored well for White, and new ideas have been cropping up since 2008. The 5.Qc2 lines had previously scored poorly for White according to Emms.
Old main line: 4...Bb7 The classical main line of the Queen's Indian, the most frequently played line from the 1950s until 4...Ba6 became popular in the 1980s, usually continues: 5.Bg2 Be7 6.0-0 0-0 7.Nc3 Ne4 8.Qc2 Nxc3 9.Qxc3. White has a , but Black has no weaknesses and can choose from a variety of ways to create counterplay, such as 9...c5, 9...f5 or 9...Be4. These lines are well known for their
drawish tendencies and 4...Bb7 is nowadays often employed by Black as a drawing weapon. White has tried various deviations from the main line in an attempt to unbalance the play. These include: • 8.Bd2, which defends the knight on c3 and threatens a d4–d5 push. • 7.d5, introduced by
Arturo Pomar, and rejuvenated by
Lev Polugaevsky's continuation 7...exd5 8.Nh4 threatening to regain the pawn on d5 or to play Nf5. • 6.Nc3, which postpones castling in favor of preparing action in the center with the d4–d5 and e2–e4 thrusts. ==Other lines==