Bogo-Indian Defense: Vitolins Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 c5
The Bogo-Indian Defense: Vitolins Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E11, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 c5. 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 155 times by this move order. White won 52%, 5% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 5. Bxb4 (45% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.37 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 5. Bxb4 cxb4 6. g3 b6 7. Bg2 Bb7)
- ECO
- E11
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
rnbqk2r/pp1p1ppp/4pn2/2p5/1bPP4/5N2/PP1BPPPP/RN1QKB1R w KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 c5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 5 | |
| 1500-1999 | 36 | |
| 2000+ | 114 | |
| All | 155 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. Bxb4 | 69 (45%) | |
| 5. e3 | 30 (19%) | |
| 5. a3 | 22 (14%) | |
| 5. g3 | 22 (14%) | |
| 5. dxc5 | 7 (5%) | |
| 5. Nc3 | 4 (3%) | |
| 5. e4 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
1,381 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 33%, draw 31%, Black 36%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2852) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2768) 1/2-1/2 · Airthings Masters Div 1 W · 2023-02-08
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2795) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2810) 1-0 · 1st 3-0 Thu 19th Feb 2026 · 2026-02-19
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2764) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2775) 1-0 · Titled Tue 18th Apr Late · 2023-04-18
- GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2738) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2775) 0-1 · 11th Norway Blitz 2023 · 2023-05-29
- GM Anish Giri (2764) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2740) 1/2-1/2 · World Blitz 2022 · 2022-12-29
Search all games of the Bogo-Indian Defense: Vitolins Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- NM Andrey11976 (2789) – winx_m (2946) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- AnibalBarca7 (2700) – BILLYS10 (2760) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- GM DmitryKryakvin (2656) – zeta_5 (2633) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 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: Nimzowitsch 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
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.