Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Noa Variation (4… d5 5. a3)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. a3
The Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Noa Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E36, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. a3. It is a line of the Nimzo-Indian Defense. Black is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 146 times by this move order. White won 47%, 5% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 5… Bxc3+ (86% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.05 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 5… Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 O-O 7. Nf3 b6 8. Bg5)
- ECO
- E36
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
rnbqk2r/ppp2ppp/4pn2/3p4/1bPP4/P1N5/1PQ1PPPP/R1B1KBNR b KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. a3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 8 | |
| 1500-1999 | 60 | |
| 2000+ | 78 | |
| All | 146 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Bxc3+ | 125 (86%) | |
| 5… Be7 | 18 (12%) | |
| 5… Bd6 | 3 (2%) |
Master games
1,199 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 34%, draw 36%, Black 30%). The strongest:
- GM So, W. (2770) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2862) 1/2-1/2 · Skilling Open Prelim · 2020-11-24
- GM Yangyi Yu (2763) – GM Liren Ding (2811) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE World Cup 2019 · 2019-09-27
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2816) – GM Gukesh D (2752) 1/2-1/2 · Clutch Chess: Champions · 2025-10-29
- GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2808) – GM Viswanathan Anand (2759) 1/2-1/2 · GCT Blitz YourNextMove · 2018-06-16
- GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2767) – GM Gukesh D (2776) 0-1 · SuperUnited CRO Rapid 2025 · 2025-07-03
Highest-rated Lichess games
- SU-1704 (2647) – GM AtalikS (2678) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
- Soup_Maktavish_t (2665) – July16Q (2647) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- Your_Waterloo (2682) – chesslove11111 (2583) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Noa Variation (4. Qc2 d5) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5
Continuations
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Noa Variation, Botvinnik Variation E36 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 Nc6
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Noa Variation, Main Line E36 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 Ne4
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Romanishin Gambit E36 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 c5
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.