Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Gligoric System, Bronstein Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 c5 7. O-O dxc4 8. Bxc4 Nbd7
The Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Gligoric System, Bronstein Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E55, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 c5 7. O-O dxc4 8. Bxc4 Nbd7. It is a line of the Nimzo-Indian Defense. White 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: +0.47 (Stockfish, depth 36; best line 9. a3 Ba5 10. Be2 cxd4 11. Qxd4 e5)
- ECO
- E55
- Moves
- 16 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/pp1n1ppp/4pn2/2p5/1bBP4/2N1PN2/PP3PPP/R1BQ1RK1 w - - 1 9- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 c5 7. O-O dxc4 8. Bxc4 Nbd7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Master games
144 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 24%, draw 43%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- GM Gata Kamsky (2762) – GM Peter Leko (2732) 0-1 · FIDE GP Tashkent · 2012-11-30
- GM Matthias Bluebaum (2670) – GM Pentala Harikrishna (2711) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-POL Ekstraliga 2023 · 2023-09-21
- GM Evgeny Tomashevsky (2709) – GM Sergei Zhigalko (2661) 1/2-1/2 · Sberbank GM Rapid · 2013-06-06
- GM A.R. Saleh Salem (2682) – GM Gata Kamsky (2658) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 6th July · 2021-07-06
- GM Alexey Sarana (2688) – GM Gata Kamsky (2634) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 12th Dec Late · 2023-12-12
Comes from
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Gligoric System, Exchange Variation (7… dxc4 8. Bxc4) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 c5 7. O-O dxc4 8. Bxc4
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.