Queen's Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Traditional Variation
Queen's Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Traditional Variation is a chess opening with the ECO code E18, part of the Queen's Indian Defense family. It goes 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Nc3. White opens with 1. d4 (the queen's pawn) and Black answers 1... Nf6. After 13 moves it is Black to move. The lesson on the board explains every move of the line and lets you play it yourself; it is free.
The moves
1. d4 – White plays the pawn to d4
1... Nf6 – Black plays the knight to f6
2. c4 – White plays the pawn to c4
2... e6 – Black plays the pawn to e6
3. Nf3 – White plays the knight to f3
3... b6 – Black plays the pawn to b6
4. g3 – White plays the pawn to g3
4... Bb7 – Black plays the bishop to b7
5. Bg2 – White plays the bishop to g2
5... Be7 – Black plays the bishop to e7
6. O-O – White castles kingside
6... O-O – Black castles kingside
The line goes on for 1 more moves; the lesson shows them all.
About the Queen's Indian Defense
After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3, Black plays 3...b6 and ...Bb7 to control e4 and the light squares. It is calm and solid.
The bishop on b7 fights for e4 along the long diagonal.
White often plays g3 and Bg2 to fight that diagonal.
Black frees the game with ...c5 or ...d5 at the right moment.
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