Bogo-Indian Defense: Nimzowitsch Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Qe7
The Bogo-Indian Defense: Nimzowitsch Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E11, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Qe7. It is a line of the Bogo-Indian Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 652 times by this move order. White won 46%, 6% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 5. g3 (41% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.33 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 5. g3 Bxd2+ 6. Qxd2 Nc6 7. Nc3 d5)
- ECO
- E11
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
rnb1k2r/ppppqppp/4pn2/8/1bPP4/5N2/PP1BPPPP/RN1QKB1R w KQkq - 4 5- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Qe7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 11 | |
| 1500-1999 | 163 | |
| 2000+ | 478 | |
| All | 652 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. g3 | 268 (41%) | |
| 5. a3 | 168 (26%) | |
| 5. Nc3 | 91 (14%) | |
| 5. e3 | 82 (13%) | |
| 5. Qc2 | 17 (3%) | |
| 5. Bxb4 | 13 (2%) | |
| 5. c5 | 4 (1%) | |
| 5. Qb3 | 3 (0%) |
Master games
4,425 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 39%, draw 28%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- GM Anish Giri (2779) – GM Viswanathan Anand (2764) 0-1 · GCT Rapid Paris 2019 · 2019-07-27
- GM Quang Liem Le (2739) – GM Viswanathan Anand (2783) 1/2-1/2 · Saint Louis Rapid 2017 · 2017-08-16
- GM Anish Giri (2764) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2744) 1/2-1/2 · GCT Super Blitz Croatia · 2026-07-04
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2762) – GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2732) 0-1 · World Blitz 2025 · 2025-12-29
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2850) – GM Ioannis Papaioannou (2638) 1/2-1/2 · 20th European Teams · 2015-11-20
Search all games of the Bogo-Indian Defense: Nimzowitsch Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- NM Andrey11976 (2799) – winx_m (2951) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- oprahwindfury81 (2798) – uSeRnAmEnOtAvAiL (2734) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- NM Andrey11976 (2778) – GM Amirreza_p (2745) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Bogo-Indian Defense 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+
More Bogo-Indian Defense lines (all)
- Bogo-Indian Defense: Exchange Variation E11
- Bogo-Indian Defense: Grünfeld Variation E11
- Bogo-Indian Defense: Haiti Variation E11
- Bogo-Indian Defense: Monticelli Trap E11
- Bogo-Indian Defense: New England Variation E11
- Bogo-Indian Defense: Retreat Variation (4. Bd2 Be7) E11
- Bogo-Indian Defense: Retreat Variation (5… d5 6. Nf3) E11
- Bogo-Indian Defense: Retreat Variation (6. Nf3 O-O) E11
- Bogo-Indian Defense: Retreat Variation (6… O-O 7. O-O) E11
- Bogo-Indian Defense: Retreat Variation (7… c6 8. O-O) E11
- Bogo-Indian Defense: Retreat Variation (8. Qc2 c6) E11
- Bogo-Indian Defense: Retreat Variation (8… c6 9. b3) E11
Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.