Indian Defense: Accelerated London System: what should Black play?

In the Indian Defense: Accelerated London System, Black's most critical decision revolves around how to handle White's bishop on g3. The overwhelming master and engine recommendation is Nxg3, which is played in 88.7% of games (55K recorded) and holds an engine evaluation of -0.30. By eliminating the active minor piece immediately, Black secures the bishop pair before White can complete development or redeploy the piece.

Exchanging on g3

The primary logic behind Nxg3 is to deprive White of an important central and kingside asset. While recapturing allows White to open the h-file toward Black's kingside, Black easily compensates with solid development. The engine's illustrative continuation follows Nxg3 hxg3 g6 Nc3 Bg7 Qd2, showing how Black prepares a fianchetto to counter White's central posture. From this position, White scores 51.2% in practice across the database.

Alternative continuations

If Black elects not to capture immediately, other moves maintain tension but offer slightly less pressure against White's setup. The move g6 appears in 5.5% of games (3.4K recorded) with an evaluation of -0.01, allowing White to preserve the piece with g6 Bh4 c5 c3 Qb6 Qb3, where White scores 46.0%. Black can also contest the center directly using d5 (evaluated at -0.02, played in 4.3% of games, White scores 52.1%) or the counter-striking c5 (eval -0.04, 744 recorded games, White scores 42.6%).

Structural consequences

Delaying the capture with a passive option like c6 represents the rarest try at just 0.3% of games (194 recorded), leading to c6 Bh4 Qb6 b3 g6 e3 with an evaluation of +0.09 and a 59.3% score for White. Because retreating moves grant White tempo and spatial control, resolving the tension immediately via Nxg3 remains Black's cleanest path to comfortable equality.