Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Noa Variation, Main Line
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 Ne4
The Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Noa Variation, Main Line is a chess opening classified as ECO E36, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 Ne4. It is a line of the Nimzo-Indian Defense. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 23 times by this move order. White won 48%, 4% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 7. Qc2 (91% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.36 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 7. Qc2 c5 8. dxc5 Nc6 9. Nf3 Qa5+)
- ECO
- E36
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
rnbqk2r/ppp2ppp/4p3/3p4/2PPn3/P1Q5/1P2PPPP/R1B1KBNR w KQkq - 1 7- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 Ne4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2 | |
| 1500-1999 | 11 | |
| 2000+ | 10 | |
| All | 23 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. Qc2 Classical Variation, Noa Variation (6… Ne4 7. Qc2) | 21 (91%) | |
| 7. Qd3 | 1 (4%) | |
| 7. Qf3 | 1 (4%) |
Master games
2 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 0%, draw 100%, Black 0%). The strongest:
- FM Mieszko Mis (2347) – GM Wojciech Moranda (2622) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-POL Ekstraliga 2021 · 2021-10-10
- FM Frank, Dr. Belke (2235) – IM Harald Schneider-Zinner (2327) 1/2-1/2 · 13th Int Senioren-Cup · 2025-04-05
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FM sergeikim2003 (2534) – bvv15 (2479) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- thekinglear (2348) – chiko2025 (2426) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 2s
- vadana67 (2255) – craigmaster (2424) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
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
Continuations
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Noa Variation (6… Ne4 7. Qc2) E37 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 Ne4 7. 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.