Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Keres Defense
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 b6
The Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Keres Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO E32, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 b6. It is a line of the Nimzo-Indian Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 60 times by this move order. White won 57%, 5% were drawn and Black won 38%. The most popular continuation is 7. Bg5 (48% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.12 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 7. Bg5 Bb7 8. e3 h6 9. Bh4 d5)
- ECO
- E32
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/p1pp1ppp/1p2pn2/8/2PP4/P1Q5/1P2PPPP/R1B1KBNR w KQ - 0 7- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 b6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 4 | |
| 1500-1999 | 17 | |
| 2000+ | 39 | |
| All | 60 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. Bg5 | 29 (48%) | |
| 7. Nf3 | 12 (20%) | |
| 7. f3 | 11 (18%) | |
| 7. e3 | 4 (7%) | |
| 7. Qc2 | 1 (2%) | |
| 7. Bf4 | 1 (2%) | |
| 7. b4 | 1 (2%) | |
| 7. g3 | 1 (2%) |
Master games
1,558 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 33%, draw 34%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2780) – GM Veselin Topalov (2749) 1-0 · Champions Showdown G20 · 2017-11-10
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2789) – GM Arkadij Naiditsch (2718) 1-0 · 76th Tata Steel Masters · 2014-01-11
- GM So, W. (2760) – GM Levon Aronian (2745) 1/2-1/2 · Superbet Rapid 2023 · 2023-05-23
- GM So, W. (2751) – GM Praggnanandhaa R (2749) 1/2-1/2 · Saint Louis Rapid 2024 · 2024-08-13
- GM Hao Wang (2763) – GM Veselin Topalov (2735) 1-0 · 11th Hainan Danzhou GM · 2020-12-04
Highest-rated Lichess games
- anhbutk (2687) – kuhmft (2856) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- GM novik70 (2539) – Juan_Delasala (2732) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- GM novik70 (2570) – Podgotovka_Debutov (2657) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2
More Nimzo-Indian Defense lines (all)
- Nimzo-Indian Defense (3. Nc3 Bb4) E20
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Dilworth Gambit E20
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Kmoch Variation E20
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Mikenas Attack E20
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Romanishin Variation (3… Bb4 4. g3) E20
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Romanishin Variation (5… O-O 6. Bg2) E20
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Romanishin Variation, English Hybrid E20
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Three Knights Variation E21
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Three Knights Variation, Euwe Variation E21
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Three Knights Variation, Korchnoi Variation E21
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Three Knights Variation, Shocron Gambit E21
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Spielmann Variation E22
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.