A50

Queen's Indian Accelerated

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Statistics from Lichess

733,476 games: White 49.1% / Draw 5.2% / Black 45.7%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	545,797546K
	108,874109K
	19,49119K
	18,97519K
	10,31610K
	9,0639,063
	7,0157,015
	4,9914,991

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 8, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.63 White is slightly better

Best play: 3. Nc3 Bb7 4. Qc2 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 e6

Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.

By rating

Rating changes little here: Black scores 46% under 1400, 48% at 2200 and up and 49% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	98K
1400–1799	317K
1800–2199	424K
2200 and up	116K
Masters, over the board	1,822

Master games

Carlsen, M. – Mamedyarov, S. 1–0, 2019
Caruana, F. – Carlsen, M. 0–1, 2023
Grischuk, A. – Mamedyarov, S. 1–0, 2014
Nakamura, H. – Vachier Lagrave, M. 1–0, 2018
Vidit, S. – Erigaisi, A. ½–½, 2024

Rated blitz, rapid and classical Lichess games by rating band, and over-the-board games of players rated 2200+ from the Lichess masters database, updated Sep 27, 2026

Overview

Queen's Indian Accelerated (ECO A50, Flank Openings) is a variation of the Indian Defense: Normal Variation, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 b6 (2 moves).

In 733,476 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 49.1%, Black 45.7% and 5.2% were drawn. White's most played move here is 3. Nc3, in 74% of those games.

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Description

How to play against the Queen's Indian Accelerated

3. Nf3 scores best for White: 52.2%, with White winning 49.1% and Black 44.7% of 109K games. The most played answer, 3. Nc3, scores lowest: 51.6% in 546K games. Stockfish's first choice is 3. Nc3.

Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: White's wins plus half the draws, in rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500. How to play against other popular openings

Popularity by year

The Queen's Indian Accelerated has stayed between 0.026% and 0.032% of Lichess games a year since 2016 (0.028% in 2025).

0.028%0.028%0.032%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.028%	10,161
2017	0.03%	16,431
2018	0.032%	24,739
2019	0.029%	36,261
2020	0.031%	92,188
2021	0.028%	110,651
2022	0.028%	106,167
2023	0.028%	104,768
2024	0.026%	94,708
2025	0.028%	95,875
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.027%	29,864

Share of rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500 (blitz, rapid and classical) that reach this position, by year; 2026: January to April. Which openings are rising and falling

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Queen's Indian Accelerated (A50)”. Lichess data as of 8 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/queens-indian-accelerated