E15

Queen's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Traditional Line

Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.

Statistics from Lichess

755,727 games: White 50.7% / Draw 7.3% / Black 42.0%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	750,555751K
	2,6412,641
	1,1171,117
	506506
	217217
	118118
	118118
	113113

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 24, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.32 White is slightly better

Best play: 5. Bg2 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Re1 d5 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Nc3 Ne4

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 44% under 1400, 46% at 2200 and up and 43% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	11K
1400–1799	99K
1800–2199	431K
2200 and up	253K
Masters, over the board	12K

Master games

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: Fianchetto Variation, Traditional Line (ECO E15, Indian Defenses) is a variation of the Queen's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 (4 moves).

In 755,727 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 50.7%, Black 42.0% and 7.3% were drawn. White's most played move here is 5. Bg2, in 99% of those games.

It branches into 3 named variations; the most played are Queen's Indian Defense: Traditional Variation and Queen's Indian Defense: Capablanca Variation. In all, 18 named lines continue from it.

Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.

Write a description or report a mistake

What would you like to send? A description of this line A mistake on this page (moves, name, statistics…)

Markdown supported (headings ###, bold, lists, links). Submissions are reviewed before publishing.

Your name (optional) Your email (optional, not published)

Description

Popularity by year

The Queen's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Traditional Line peaked in 2018 at 0.04% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.03% in 2025.

0.027%0.03%0.04%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.027%	9,771
2017	0.034%	18,495
2018	0.04%	31,175
2019	0.035%	43,445
2020	0.031%	90,317
2021	0.025%	97,000
2022	0.027%	101,149
2023	0.029%	107,576
2024	0.029%	103,436
2025	0.03%	105,417
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.032%	34,655

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)

All 18 named lines that continue from here

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Queen's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Traditional Line (E15)”. Lichess data as of 24 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/queens-indian-defense-fianchetto-variation-traditional-line