Playing against the Queen's Indian as White

But doesn't Nimzo score best against D4? Apart from Slav, maybe. And, as I understand, QID is the favourite plan B for master player.

Apologies I know this was originally a 'from white' perspective, but if I want to vary from QID against 3. Nf3 then I enjoy the Blumenfeld gambit rather than a pure-Benoni approach. Partly because the idea is completely different to the Indian defences - occupy the centre as black rather than control from afar. This can throw white, especially if they know you are usually an Indian player!

So what you suggest is like a fake Nimzo? And go for either D5 or QIndian. But don't those get boring? Nimzo is more excitement, yes?

Well, the Blumenfeld has been mostly refuted, and if White knows the complications, Black can't hope for more than equality. But the thing is, the gambit is pretty rare, so chances are White doesn't know what's going on.

Well, against 3. Nf3 I'd say Black's best chances to win are to go into the Bogo with 3... Bb4 or transpose into a Semi-Slav with 3... d5 and an eventual ...c6. Queen's Indian is a solid choice, acceptable if you want a draw.

But if you were playing aggressively for a win, you wouldn't go for the Nimzo, because you'd know of the options with 3.Nf3? You'd play the Grunfeld or King's Indian, wouldn't you?

I'd describe the Nimzo-Indian as a method for Black to play for a win without taking excessive risks, unlike the Indian defenses with 2.. g6 (Grunfeld or King's Indian).

 At the very mediocre level I play at in willing to back on them not knowing the sharpest lines as white 😆! Doesn't Caruana still employ it on occasion though?

What is Blumenfeld gambit anyway? 

Stop laughing @pushwood. And what's wrong with equality? 

So let us show?

Just to be clear I was quoting someone else who claimed the Blumenfeld had been refuted (having stated that I play it myself). But the quoting is so terrible through the mobile app that I won't attempt to do that again...

So QueensIndian then... bishop to a6 or b7?

So good, thanks for that. Game will be draw, yes?

@pfren - for the final time I will state that I am NOT claiming the Blumenfeld has been refuted and that I play it. It was simply a tech fault with the quoting. I have now edited my above posts (now I'm on an actual computer) to make that clearer.

And yes, let's get back to the Queen's Indian as requested by @SpiderUnicorn ...

@Slav2Luv - I think Bb7 or Ba6 comes down to two key factors. 1) What white does on move 4. As per the thread above, there are certain responses (e.g. Nc3) where Ba6 just doesn't make any sense and 2) What black is trying to achieve from the game. Ba6 is certainly more attacking, so if black is going for a win with QID then more likely to go for this. I personally prefer this line as black against 4. g3, as despite its reputation I don't play the QID with a view of wanting to draw.

That's not really main line though, it's an interesting variation however

and I feel like it's not justified to call 4.g3 a part of the moves necessary to initiate the Queen's Indian. I think that 4.a3 is a popular, good, and important enough move to be considered a contestant to 4.g3

the QID is defined by 3. Nf3 b6, not 4.g3!!!

If you come across a QID black auto-loses. Just keep your cool. Much like stuff like Caro–Kann Defence or something.

What about BogoIndian? Any good?

Bogo is underrated, yes?