The Queen's Indian - Yrjola

The Queen's Indian is one of the most important modern chess openings. It was one of the key battlegrounds of the Kasparov vs. Karpov world championship matches. It is renowned for its resilience, but is nevertheless a good choice for those seeking to win with either color. Both White and Black have plenty of ways to complicate, and there are few lines where either side is forced to exchange pieces off into a dull endgame. The Queen's Indian is the 'companion' opening of the Nimzo-Indian, and was also a brainchild of the great chess thinker Aron Nimzowitsch. Black establishes his light-squared bishop on the long diagonal, and if White is not careful, this can form the basis of a devastating attack. In the critical lines, White contests this diagonal, either by trying to block it with a pawn advance, or by opposing Black's bishop with a fianchetto of his own.