Introduction to the Queen’s Indian Defense

The Queen’s Indian Defense is an extremely strong opening system for black. It’s versatile, flexible, gives great attacking chances, and it doesn’t create many weaknesses.

👕 New chess merch!: teespring.com/stores/hanging-pawns-chess-merch
😎 Become a Patron (extra daily content): www.patreon.com/hangingpawns
♘ Follow me on lichess (write, ask, challenge): lichess.org/@/hpy
💲 Support the channel: www.paypal.me/HangingPawns

In this introductory video on the Queen’s Indian we are going to be covering the basics of the opening, the plans and ideas for both sides, as well as common theoretical variations you have to be aware of. Each of these will then be covered in a detailed separate video.

The Queen’s Indian starts after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6, but it could be reached by many different move orders, and many openings could transpose into it (the Nimzo, some English variations, the QGD, etc.). It’s an opening system rather than a separate opening. Unlike very theoretically strict openings like the Caro-Kann, the QID is a system because it’s the patterns and ideas that matter much more than the exact move orders.
You can enter the Queen’s Indian and then you play the system. You play the pawn breaks, you play for the known weaknesses and attacking maneuvers.

That is what makes it one of the most versatile and useful chess openings for black. It’s an opening you can play with little previous knowledge, but it can also be studied for years before being mastered. It can serve as a whole repertoire for black against d4.

#chess