The Queen's Indian is a dynamic and flexible way to meet 1 d4. Using Nimzowitsch's principles, Black adopts the hypermodern plan of controlling the centre with pieces rather than the traditional idea of pawn occupation, and this approach often leads to complex and intricate positions rich in ideas both sides. Such is the high regard for the Queen's Indian that virtually all the world's top players have utilized it at one time or another.

In this book Andrew Greet presents a complete repertoire for Black in the Queen's Indian. He reveals his secrets from years of experience in the opening, offers answers for Black against all of White's tries for an advantage, and highlights the principal tactical and positional plans for both White and Black. This book tells you everything you need to know to play the Queen's Indian with confidence in your own games.

• Coverage of a popular opening
• Written by a well-known Queen's Indian expert
• Contains deep explanations and original analysis

Andrew Greet is an International Master, a former British Junior Champion, and is one of the UK's most rapidly improving players. In 2005 he scored a perfect 11/11 in the British National League, the first time any player had achieved this remarkable feat. His first book for Everyman Chess, Play the Ruy Lopez , has been widely praised for its depth and original analysis.

Preface

Greetings, dear reader, and thank you for taking the time to read this book. The aim of this brief introduction is to set the scene for the remainder of the work by providing some relevant background information to our subject, as well explain­ing the ethos behind the proposed repertoire.

Whilst I hope and, indeed, expect this book to prove useful for players of a wide range of abilities, I would expect most readers to possess some basic knowl­edge of the fundamental principles underlying this opening. Therefore I have no intention to waste time by expounding such concepts as 'controlling the central squares with pieces rather than pawns', and so on. Countless other authors have elucidated the principles and historical development of hypermodern chess the­ory and I will say no more about the subject here.

As is customary for the 'Play the ...' series, the primary aim of the present book is to provide a complete repertoire that will enable the reader to employ the Queen's Indian Defence with confidence. It is common knowledge that, along with its close relative the Nimzo-Indian, the Queen's Indian enjoys a reputation as one of Black's most dependable answers to 1 d4. His pieces can quickly emerge on to active squares, and his pawn structure is both unblemished and extremely flexible in the early stages of the game.

Despite its ongoing popularity amongst players of varying abilities, there are many who regard one of this opening's foremost strengths - its extreme solidity - as something of a drawback. Simply put, there are several major lines in which it can prove difficult for Black to generate realistic winning chances. This may not represent a problem at the lofty heights of Wijk aan Zee or Linares, but there is no doubting the fact that most of us would prefer to combine solidity with genuine prospects to play for a full point with the black pieces. Therefore one of my primary goals in writing this book was to present a repertoire which would enable Black to unbalance the game in order to play for a win, without compromising on soundness.

Overall, I believe that I have succeeded in finding a suitable balance, although ultimately this is something that the reader will have to judge for himself. On that note, let me once again thank you for reading. I sincerely hope that you will enjoy this book, and that the ideas contained herewith will play a role in improving your understanding, enjoyment and - most importantly of all - your results when playing the Queen's Indian.

Andrew Greet

Edinburgh

January 2009

Content:
004 Bibliography

005 Preface

007 Early Bishop Developments

019 The Straightforward 4.e3

036 The Hybrid System: 4.Nf3 Bb4

049 The Hybrid System: 5.e3

058 The Hybrid System: 5.Qb3!?

079 The Hybrid System: 5.Bg5

090 The Main Line Hybrid: 5.Bg5 with 9.e3

112 The Petrosian Variation: 4.a3 Ba6

120 The Petrosian Variation: 5.e3

129 The Petrosian Variation: 5.Qc2

147 The Petrosian Main Line: 10.Bf4 & 10.Bg5

169 The Fianchetto Variation: 4.g3 Ba6

185 The Fianchetto Variation: 5.Qa4

206 The Fianchetto Variation: 5.Qc2!?

227 The Fianchetto Variation: 5.b3

232 The Fianchetto Variation: 5.b3 b5!? 6.cxb5

250 Index of Variations