diff --git a/gitnexus/src/core/ingestion/pipeline-phases/parse-impl.ts b/gitnexus/src/core/ingestion/pipeline-phases/parse-impl.ts
index 00390d183..99ef89ec1 100644
--- a/gitnexus/src/core/ingestion/pipeline-phases/parse-impl.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/src/core/ingestion/pipeline-phases/parse-impl.ts
@@ -338,6 +338,34 @@ export async function runChunkedParseAndResolve(
   let chunkCacheMisses = 0;
 
   try {
+    // U1 — bounded chunk concurrency (B1 from PR #1693 review): pre-fetch
+    // chunk file contents up to `parseChunkConcurrency` chunks ahead of the
+    // dispatch cursor so file I/O overlaps with worker compute. Worker
+    // dispatch itself stays serial because `WorkerPool.dispatch` is not
+    // reentrant (concurrent calls would race on the shared per-slot
+    // busy/in-flight state). With concurrency=1 behavior is identical to
+    // the pure-serial loop. F4: deferred-state aggregation still happens
+    // in chunkIdx order (the for-loop below iterates sequentially), so
+    // cross-chunk processors see deterministic input regardless of
+    // file-read completion order. Honors options.parseChunkConcurrency
+    // (threaded from the CLI), then GITNEXUS_PARSE_CHUNK_CONCURRENCY env
+    // (default 2 — matches the help text the CLI advertises).
+    const parseChunkConcurrency = ((): number => {
+      const opt = options?.parseChunkConcurrency;
+      if (typeof opt === 'number' && Number.isInteger(opt) && opt >= 1) return opt;
+      const env = Number(process.env.GITNEXUS_PARSE_CHUNK_CONCURRENCY);
+      if (Number.isInteger(env) && env >= 1) return env;
+      return 2;
+    })();
+    const chunkContentPromises = new Array<Promise<Map<string, string>> | undefined>(numChunks);
+    const startChunkPrefetch = (i: number): void => {
+      if (i >= numChunks || chunkContentPromises[i] !== undefined) return;
+      chunkContentPromises[i] = readFileContents(repoPath, chunks[i]);
+    };
+    for (let i = 0; i < Math.min(parseChunkConcurrency, numChunks); i++) {
+      startChunkPrefetch(i);
+    }
+
     for (let chunkIdx = 0; chunkIdx < numChunks; chunkIdx++) {
       const chunkPaths = chunks[chunkIdx];
       // Start wall-clock for the per-chunk throughput log emitted at end
@@ -350,7 +378,9 @@ export async function runChunkedParseAndResolve(
       const verboseThroughputLog = isDev || isVerboseIngestionEnabled();
       const chunkStartMs: number | null = verboseThroughputLog ? Date.now() : null;
 
-      const chunkContents = await readFileContents(repoPath, chunkPaths);
+      const chunkContents = await chunkContentPromises[chunkIdx]!;
+      chunkContentPromises[chunkIdx] = undefined; // release the in-memory copy
+      startChunkPrefetch(chunkIdx + parseChunkConcurrency);
       const chunkFiles = chunkPaths
         .filter((p) => chunkContents.has(p))
         .map((p) => ({ path: p, content: chunkContents.get(p)! }));
diff --git a/gitnexus/src/core/ingestion/pipeline.ts b/gitnexus/src/core/ingestion/pipeline.ts
index 65ef049f5..eefbd87db 100644
--- a/gitnexus/src/core/ingestion/pipeline.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/src/core/ingestion/pipeline.ts
@@ -81,6 +81,20 @@ export interface PipelineOptions {
    * `process.env` state across analyze invocations.
    */
   workerPoolSize?: number;
+  /**
+   * Number of chunks whose file contents may be read into memory in
+   * parallel while the worker pool is busy dispatching the current
+   * chunk. Pre-fetching overlaps disk I/O for chunk N+1..N+K with the
+   * worker compute on chunk N — modest but real wall-clock win on
+   * repos large enough to chunk. Worker dispatch itself remains serial
+   * because `WorkerPool.dispatch` is not reentrant (concurrent calls
+   * would race on the shared per-slot busy/in-flight state).
+   *
+   * `1` matches today's pure-serial behavior; `2` is the documented
+   * default (`GITNEXUS_PARSE_CHUNK_CONCURRENCY`). Falls back to the
+   * env var when undefined; defaults to 2 when neither is set.
+   */
+  parseChunkConcurrency?: number;
 }
 
 // ── Phase registry ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
diff --git a/gitnexus/test/unit/parse-impl-chunk-concurrency.test.ts b/gitnexus/test/unit/parse-impl-chunk-concurrency.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..22223e544
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gitnexus/test/unit/parse-impl-chunk-concurrency.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,131 @@
+/**
+ * U1 — Bounded chunk concurrency (B1 from PR #1693 review).
+ *
+ * Verifies that the new `parseChunkConcurrency` PipelineOption (and the
+ * paired `GITNEXUS_PARSE_CHUNK_CONCURRENCY` env-var fallback) flow through
+ * `runChunkedParseAndResolve` without changing graph output. Pre-fetching
+ * chunk file contents up to N chunks ahead of the worker-dispatch cursor
+ * is a wall-clock optimization (file I/O overlaps with worker compute),
+ * not a graph-semantics change — the deferred-state aggregation still
+ * runs in `chunkIdx` order so cross-chunk processors see deterministic
+ * input regardless of file-read completion order.
+ */
+import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach, afterEach } from 'vitest';
+import fs from 'node:fs';
+import os from 'node:os';
+import path from 'node:path';
+
+import { runChunkedParseAndResolve } from '../../src/core/ingestion/pipeline-phases/parse-impl.js';
+import { createKnowledgeGraph } from '../../src/core/graph/graph.js';
+
+function scanned(repo: string, files: string[]) {
+  return files.map((rel) => ({
+    path: rel,
+    size: fs.statSync(path.join(repo, rel)).size,
+  }));
+}
+
+describe('parse-impl chunk concurrency (U1)', () => {
+  let repoPath = '';
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    repoPath = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'parse-impl-chunk-concurrency-'));
+    fs.writeFileSync(path.join(repoPath, 'a.ts'), 'export function foo() { return 1; }\n');
+    fs.writeFileSync(
+      path.join(repoPath, 'b.ts'),
+      'import { foo } from "./a";\nexport function bar() { return foo(); }\n',
+    );
+    fs.writeFileSync(
+      path.join(repoPath, 'c.ts'),
+      'import { bar } from "./b";\nexport class Baz { run() { return bar(); } }\n',
+    );
+  });
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    if (repoPath && fs.existsSync(repoPath)) {
+      fs.rmSync(repoPath, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+
+  it('produces identical graph output across parseChunkConcurrency values', async () => {
+    const files = ['a.ts', 'b.ts', 'c.ts'];
+    const scan = scanned(repoPath, files);
+
+    const g1 = createKnowledgeGraph();
+    await runChunkedParseAndResolve(g1, scan, files, files.length, repoPath, Date.now(), () => {}, {
+      skipWorkers: true,
+      parseChunkConcurrency: 1,
+    });
+
+    const g2 = createKnowledgeGraph();
+    await runChunkedParseAndResolve(g2, scan, files, files.length, repoPath, Date.now(), () => {}, {
+      skipWorkers: true,
+      parseChunkConcurrency: 2,
+    });
+
+    // Same fixture under different concurrency values must produce the
+    // same graph — F4 (wildcard-synthesis ordering): per-chunk results
+    // merge in chunkIdx order regardless of file-read completion order,
+    // so cross-chunk processors see deterministic input.
+    expect(g2.nodeCount).toBe(g1.nodeCount);
+    expect(g2.relationshipCount).toBe(g1.relationshipCount);
+  });
+
+  it('accepts parseChunkConcurrency=1 (serial-equivalent) and produces the expected fixture symbols', async () => {
+    const files = ['a.ts', 'b.ts', 'c.ts'];
+    const graph = createKnowledgeGraph();
+    await runChunkedParseAndResolve(
+      graph,
+      scanned(repoPath, files),
+      files,
+      files.length,
+      repoPath,
+      Date.now(),
+      () => {},
+      { skipWorkers: true, parseChunkConcurrency: 1 },
+    );
+    // Exact assertions per DoD §2.7: pin specific symbols from the fixture
+    // so a regression in either the chunk loop or the resolver surfaces
+    // here instead of being masked by a bounds-only nodeCount check.
+    const symbolNames = Array.from(graph.nodes.values()).map(
+      (n) => (n.properties as { name?: string } | undefined)?.name,
+    );
+    expect(symbolNames.includes('foo')).toBe(true);
+    expect(symbolNames.includes('bar')).toBe(true);
+    expect(symbolNames.includes('Baz')).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('falls back to GITNEXUS_PARSE_CHUNK_CONCURRENCY env when option is undefined', async () => {
+    const original = process.env.GITNEXUS_PARSE_CHUNK_CONCURRENCY;
+    process.env.GITNEXUS_PARSE_CHUNK_CONCURRENCY = '3';
+    try {
+      const files = ['a.ts', 'b.ts', 'c.ts'];
+      const graph = createKnowledgeGraph();
+      await runChunkedParseAndResolve(
+        graph,
+        scanned(repoPath, files),
+        files,
+        files.length,
+        repoPath,
+        Date.now(),
+        () => {},
+        { skipWorkers: true },
+      );
+      // Resolver reads the env when options.parseChunkConcurrency is
+      // undefined. The env value (3) must produce the same fixture
+      // symbols on this fixture as the other concurrency values do.
+      const symbolNames = Array.from(graph.nodes.values()).map(
+        (n) => (n.properties as { name?: string } | undefined)?.name,
+      );
+      expect(symbolNames.includes('foo')).toBe(true);
+      expect(symbolNames.includes('bar')).toBe(true);
+      expect(symbolNames.includes('Baz')).toBe(true);
+    } finally {
+      if (original === undefined) {
+        delete process.env.GITNEXUS_PARSE_CHUNK_CONCURRENCY;
+      } else {
+        process.env.GITNEXUS_PARSE_CHUNK_CONCURRENCY = original;
+      }
+    }
+  });
+});