1.4K games from Lichess · Updated January 2026
At all ratings, the Queen's Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Taimanov Gambit has a 56.9% expected score for White (we're 90% confident it's between 54.8% and 59.1%), based on 1.4K Lichess games.
Deep-dive datasets for this opening
Stable across ratings (~56%)
Best in Rapid (56%), worst in Classical (14%)
Click any cell to filter. Green = above 50%, Red = below 50%.
| Rating | UB | Bulle | Blitz | Rapid | Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0-999 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1000-1199 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1200-1399 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1400-1599 | — | — | |||
| 1600-1799 | — | — | |||
| 1800-1999 | — | — | |||
| 2000-2199 | — | ||||
| 2200-2499 | — | — | |||
| 2500+ | — | — |
Expected score matrix by rating bracket and time control
The Queen's Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Taimanov Gambit has a 54.4% (90% CI: 52.3%-56.6%) win rate for white, based on 1.4K rated games from Lichess.
The Queen's Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Taimanov Gambit performs best at 2500+ Elo with a 55.0% win rate for white (627 games). Win rate tends to decline at higher ratings as opponents know the theory better.
Blitz (54.8%) outperforms Bullet (54.2%) by 0.6%. Choose your time control wisely.
The Queen's Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Taimanov Gambit has a sharpness score of 95.1 (very decisive), meaning 95.1% of games end decisively. Average game length is 39 moves.
At 2000-2199 Elo, the Queen's Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Taimanov Gambit has a 56.6% (90% CI: 50.9%-62.1%) win rate for white, based on 208 Lichess games. Average game length is 36 moves with a 2.6% draw rate.
At 2200-2499 Elo, the Queen's Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Taimanov Gambit has a 52.7% (90% CI: 49.3%-56.1%) win rate for white, based on 580 Lichess games. Average game length is 38 moves with a 6.6% draw rate.
At 2500+ Elo, the Queen's Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Taimanov Gambit has a 55.0% (90% CI: 51.7%-58.2%) win rate for white, based on 627 Lichess games. Average game length is 41 moves with a 4.2% draw rate.
In Bullet games, the Queen's Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Taimanov Gambit has a 54.2% (90% CI: 51.3%-57.2%) win rate for white (781 Lichess games). Draw rate is 4.0%.
In Blitz games, the Queen's Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Taimanov Gambit has a 54.8% (90% CI: 51.5%-58.0%) win rate for white (622 Lichess games). Draw rate is 6.0%.
The Queen's Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Taimanov Gambit is statistically favors white with a 54.4% (90% CI: 52.3%-56.6%) win rate across all ratings. It performs best at 2500+ Elo. Your results depend on your rating, time control, and how well you know the typical plans.