with e3

This line combines the Queen's Indian fianchetto with an early ...d5, so the position resembles a Queen's Gambit Declined in which Black has played ...b6 and ...Bb7 instead of ...Be7 and ...O-O. White's 4. e3, the quiet setup that the parent entry calls the Spassky System and that Tigran Petrosian also favored, delays the queen's bishop behind the pawn chain and aims for straightforward development and kingside castling. Black's d5-pawn holds e4 directly, while the bishop on b7 adds pressure along the long diagonal and supports a later ...c5 or ...Ne4.

White has three main choices at move six. The most common is 6. cxd5, which clarifies the center at once. The alternatives, 6. Be2 and 6. Bd3, keep the tension and continue developing. The game is positional and only lightly theoretical. The engine rates the position as balanced, and results in the database are almost even, with few draws. A related branch, the Bb4+ Line, arises from 3...Bb4+ 4. Nbd2 b6 5. e3 Bb7, where the check is used to put White's knight on d2.