Caissa Codex
E14

Queen's Indian Defense: Spassky System 4…Bb7 5. Bd3

Chess diagram: Queen's Indian Defense: Spassky System after 5. Bd3

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Statistics from Lichess

100,934 games: White 47.7% / Draw 5.7% / Black 46.6%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
24,86125K
24,15824K
19,18519K
Queen's Indian Defense: Spassky System3 13,90514K
5,0175,017
4,8934,893
2,3212,321
1,8651,865

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 28, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.02 The position is about equal

Best play: 5... d5 6. O-O Bd6 7. b3 O-O 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Bb2 Nd7 10. Nbd2

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

Overview

Queen's Indian Defense: Spassky System (ECO E14, Indian Defenses) is a variation of the Queen's Indian Defense: Spassky System, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. e3 Bb7 5. Bd3 (5 moves).

In 100,934 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 47.7%, Black 46.6% and 5.7% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 5…Be7, in 25% of those games.

It branches into 2 named variations; the most played is Queen's Indian Defense: Spassky System3. In all, 4 named lines continue from it.

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How to answer 5. Bd3

5…d5 scores best for Black: 50.2%, with Black winning 47.2% and White 46.8% of 19K games. The most played, 5…Be7, scores 49.5% in 25K games, and 5…Bb4+ scores lowest: 49.3%. Stockfish's first choice is also 5…d5.

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

Variations (2)

All 4 named lines that continue from here

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Queen's Indian Defense: Spassky System (E14)”. Lichess data as of 28 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/queens-indian-defense-spassky-system-3

https://chesscodex.org/openings/queens-indian-defense-spassky-system-3