E14

Queen's Indian Defense, with e3 6…Bb7 7. e3

Chess diagram: Queen's Indian Defense, with e3 after 7. e3

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.

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

Statistics from Lichess

7,652 games: White 50.3% / Draw 8.5% / Black 41.3%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
3,4283,428
1,8391,839
1,5641,564
394394
130130
126126
7575
4949

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 27, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.31 White is slightly better

Best play: 7... O-O 8. Be2 d5 9. O-O dxc4 10. Bxc4 Nbd7 11. b4 a5 12. b5

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

Overview

Queen's Indian Defense, with e3 (ECO E14, Indian Defenses) is a variation of the Bogo-Indian Defense: Grünfeld Variation, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Nbd2 b6 5. a3 Bxd2+ 6. Qxd2 Bb7 7. e3 (7 moves).

In 7,652 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 50.3%, Black 41.3% and 8.5% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 7…O-O, in 45% of those games.

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?

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

How to answer 7. e3

7…d6 scores best for Black: 46.8%, with Black winning 42.3% and White 48.7% of 1,839 games. The most played, 7…O-O, scores 45.1% in 3,428 games, and 7…a5 scores lowest: 44.7%. Stockfish's first choice is 7…O-O.

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

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Queen's Indian Defense, with e3 (E14)”. Lichess data as of 27 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/queens-indian-defense-with-e3-9