Caissa Codex
E12

Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian Variation, Main Line

Chess diagram: Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian Variation, Main Line after 5…d5

Type a move and press Enter: e4, Nf3, O-O, or from and to squares like g1f3 (e7e8q to promote). The board is also played with the mouse.

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Statistics from Lichess

133,100 games: White 48.1% / Draw 7.5% / Black 44.4%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
54,31054K
43,01143K
15,93416K
8,2398,239
4,2714,271
2,5212,521
1,4951,495
970970

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 2, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.12 The position is about equal

Best play: 6. Bg5 Be7 7. e3 O-O 8. Rc1 c5 9. dxc5 bxc5 10. cxd5 exd5

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

Overview

Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian Variation, Main Line (ECO E12, Indian Defenses) is a variation of the Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian Variation, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. a3 Bb7 5. Nc3 d5 (5 moves).

In 133,100 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 48.1%, Black 44.4% and 7.5% were drawn. White's most played move here is 6. cxd5, in 41% of those games.

It branches into 2 named variations; the most played are Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian Variation, Modern Variation and Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian Variation, Classical Variation. In all, 6 named lines continue from it.

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How to play against the Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian Variation, Main Line

6. Bf4 scores best for White: 54.1%, with White winning 50.4% and Black 42.3% of 8,239 games. The most played, 6. cxd5, scores 52.7% in 54K games, and 6. e3 scores lowest: 47.4%. Stockfish's first choice is 6. Bg5.

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

Variations (2)

Other lines from the same position

Instead of 5…d5, the position after Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian Variation also goes on to:

All 6 named lines that continue from here

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian Variation, Main Line (E12)”. Lichess data as of 2 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/queens-indian-defense-kasparov-petrosian-variation-main-line

https://chesscodex.org/openings/queens-indian-defense-kasparov-petrosian-variation-main-line