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
The Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Botvinnik System is a chess opening classified as ECO E49, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3. It is a line of the Nimzo-Indian Defense. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 86 times by this move order. White won 52%, 5% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 7… dxc4 (62% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.11 (Stockfish, depth 48; best line 7… dxc4 8. Bxc4 c5 9. Nf3 Qc7 10. Be2)
- ECO
- E49
- Moves
- 13 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/ppp2ppp/4pn2/3p4/2PP4/P1PBP3/5PPP/R1BQK1NR b KQ - 0 7- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 6 | |
| 2000+ | 80 | |
| All | 86 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7… dxc4 | 53 (62%) | |
| 7… c5 | 23 (27%) | |
| 7… b6 | 5 (6%) | |
| 7… c6 | 2 (2%) | |
| 7… Re8 | 1 (1%) | |
| 7… e5 | 1 (1%) | |
| 7… Nbd7 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
2,238 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 43%, draw 29%, Black 28%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2832) – GM Levon Aronian (2793) 1-0 · GCT Rapid YourNextMove · 2017-06-28
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2837) – GM Viswanathan Anand (2782) 0-1 · World Rapid 2017 · 2017-12-27
- GM Liren Ding (2774) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2837) 0-1 · Carlsen-Ding Showdown G20 · 2017-11-12
- GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2743) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2823) 1-0 · chess.com Speed 2020 · 2020-11-15
- GM So, W. (2770) – GM Levon Aronian (2781) 1/2-1/2 · GCT Rapid Paris 2021 · 2021-06-19
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GeForceExperience (2623) – Kingkennytv (2669) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- pandastique (2765) – baril1 (2521) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Labourdonais (2516) – FM condansator3 (2720) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Classical Defense 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5
Continuations
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Bernstein Defense (10… Qc7 11. Qc2) E59 · 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
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.