Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Gligoric System, Exchange Variation (8… cxd4 9. exd4)
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 cxd4 9. exd4
The Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Gligoric System, Exchange Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E54, 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 cxd4 9. exd4. It is a line of the Nimzo-Indian Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 2 times by this move order. White won 50%, 50% were drawn and Black won 0%. The most popular continuation is 9… Bxc3 (50% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 9… b6 10. Bg5 Bb7 11. Qe2 Nbd7 12. Rac1)
- ECO
- E54
- Moves
- 17 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/pp3ppp/4pn2/8/1bBP4/2N2N2/PP3PPP/R1BQ1RK1 b - - 0 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 cxd4 9. exd4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2000+ | 2 | |
| All | 2 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 9… Bxc3 | 1 (50%) | |
| 9… Nc6 | 1 (50%) |
Master games
100 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 35%, draw 44%, Black 21%). The strongest:
- GM Loek Van Wely (2693) – GM Michael Adams (2753) 1/2-1/2 · 17th Unive Crown · 2013-10-22
- GM Anton Korobov (2670) – GM Sergey Karjakin (2754) 1/2-1/2 · Superbet Blitz 2019 · 2019-11-09
- GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2736) – GM Yifan Hou (2671) 1-0 · FIDE World Cup 2015 · 2015-09-16
- GM Xiangzhi Bu (2689) – GM Hao Wang (2702) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-CHN DivA Standard · 2024-07-08
- GM A.R. Saleh Salem (2640) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2742) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 · 2025-09-06
Highest-rated Lichess games
- ANDINOSKY (2200) – Lohmenz_300808 (2138) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- Patricck (2158) – Garmonia1971 (2110) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
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.