Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Noa Variation (4. Qc2 d5)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5
The Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Noa Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E34, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5. It is a line of the Nimzo-Indian Defense. White is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 966 times by this move order. White won 51%, 6% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 5. cxd5 (31% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.07 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6)
- ECO
- E34
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
rnbqk2r/ppp2ppp/4pn2/3p4/1bPP4/2N5/PPQ1PPPP/R1B1KBNR w KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 34 | |
| 1500-1999 | 408 | |
| 2000+ | 524 | |
| All | 966 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. cxd5 | 302 (31%) | |
| 5. e3 | 194 (20%) | |
| 5. Bg5 | 155 (16%) | |
| 5. a3 Classical Variation, Noa Variation (4… d5 5. a3) | 146 (15%) | |
| 5. Nf3 | 109 (11%) | |
| 5. c5 | 33 (3%) | |
| 5. Bf4 | 11 (1%) | |
| 5. f3 | 5 (1%) |
Master games
1,246 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 35%, draw 29%, Black 36%). The strongest:
- GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2760) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2881) 0-1 · Vugar Gashimov Mem 2014 · 2014-04-26
- GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2804) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2834) 1/2-1/2 · 80th Tata Steel GpA · 2018-01-26
- GM So, W. (2754) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2875) 1/2-1/2 · Croatia GCT 2019 · 2019-07-06
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2835) – GM Leinier Dominguez Perez (2758) 1/2-1/2 · Clutch Chess Showdown Int · 2020-06-07
- GM Garry Kasparov (2812) – GM Sergey Karjakin (2773) 1/2-1/2 · Saint Louis Rapid 2017 · 2017-08-14
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FM Crew12 (2721) – GM Super_FanZhendong (2887) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- FM Crew12 (2708) – Fide_MaSk (2730) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- spartak20 (2715) – ZARIMA1 (2724) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2
Continuations
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Noa Variation (4… d5 5. a3) E36 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. a3
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Noa Variation (5. cxd5 exd5) E35 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. cxd5 exd5
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Belyavsky Gambit E34 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. cxd5 Qxd5 6. Nf3 Qf5 7. Qd1 e5
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.