Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Bernstein Defense (10… Qc7 11. Qc2)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 dxc4 8. Bxc4 c5 9. Nf3 Nc6 10. O-O Qc7 11. Qc2
The Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Bernstein Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO E59, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 dxc4 8. Bxc4 c5 9. Nf3 Nc6 10. O-O Qc7 11. Qc2. It is a line of the Nimzo-Indian Defense. Black is to move.
This exact move order didn't appear in our sample of 12.6 million Lichess games: it's a rare line.
Engine evaluation: +0.19 (Stockfish, depth 32; best line 11… Na5 12. Bd3 b6 13. Re1 Bb7 14. e4)
- ECO
- E59
- Moves
- 21 plies
- FEN
r1b2rk1/ppq2ppp/2n1pn2/2p5/2BP4/P1P1PN2/2Q2PPP/R1B2RK1 b - - 5 11- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 dxc4 8. Bxc4 c5 9. Nf3 Nc6 10. O-O Qc7 11. Qc2
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Master games
1 over-the-board game is classified under this line (White 0%, draw 0%, Black 100%). The strongest:
- IM Mark Van der Werf (2387) – GM Jeffery Xiong (2687) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 30th Nov · 2021-11-30
Comes from
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Botvinnik System 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3
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.