Queen's Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Traditional Variation
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Statistics from Lichess
416,345 games: White 48.7% / Draw 8.0% / Black 43.3%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 152,181152K | ||
| Nimzowitsch Line | 103,452103K | |
| 80,95581K | ||
| 39,28039K | ||
| 8,6138,613 | ||
| Queen's Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Tiviakov Defense | 7,3237,323 | |
| 5,8155,815 | ||
| 5,7395,739 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 2, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.22 The position is about equal
Best play: 7... Ne4 8. Bd2 d5 9. Qc2 Nd7 10. Rfd1 Nxc3 11. Bxc3 a5 12. e3
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
Rating changes little here: White scores 55% under 1400, 53% at 2200 and up and 55% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 2,536 | |
| 1400–1799 | 37K | |
| 1800–2199 | 228K | |
| 2200 and up | 160K | |
| Masters, over the board | 6,314 |
Master games
- Aronian, L. – Carlsen, M.
- Anand, V. – Carlsen, M.
- Aronian, L. – Grischuk, A.
- Mamedyarov, S. – Ding Liren
- Nepomniachtchi, I. – Radjabov, T.
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 Defense: Classical Variation, Traditional Variation (ECO E18, Indian Defenses) is a variation of the Queen's Indian Defense: Classical Variation, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Nc3 (7 moves).
In 416,345 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 48.7%, Black 43.3% and 8.0% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 7…Ne4, in 37% of those games.
It branches into 3 named variations; the most played are Queen's Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Traditional Variation, Nimzowitsch Line and Queen's Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Traditional Variation, Main Line.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
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How to play against the Queen's Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Traditional Variation
The most played answer, 7…Ne4, also scores best for Black: 49.7%, with Black winning 44.9% and White 45.5% of 152K games. Of the main answers, 7…c5 scores lowest: 43.6%. Stockfish's first choice is also 7…Ne4.
Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: Black'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 Defense: Classical Variation, Traditional Variation peaked in 2018 at 0.022% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.016% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.015% | 5,463 |
| 2017 | 0.019% | 10,471 |
| 2018 | 0.022% | 16,955 |
| 2019 | 0.02% | 24,605 |
| 2020 | 0.019% | 55,336 |
| 2021 | 0.015% | 57,389 |
| 2022 | 0.015% | 55,755 |
| 2023 | 0.015% | 57,395 |
| 2024 | 0.015% | 54,658 |
| 2025 | 0.016% | 54,085 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.016% | 17,397 |
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
Variations (3)
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Queen's Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Traditional Variation (E18)”. Lichess data as of 2 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/queens-indian-defense-classical-variation-traditional-variation