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
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. It is a line of the Nimzo-Indian Defense. Black is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 5 times by this move order. White won 20%, 20% were drawn and Black won 60%. The most popular continuation is 8… cxd4 (60% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 8… cxd4 9. exd4 b6 10. Bg5 Bb7 11. Qe2)
- ECO
- E54
- Moves
- 15 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/pp3ppp/4pn2/2p5/1bBP4/2N1PN2/PP3PPP/R1BQ1RK1 b - - 0 8- 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
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 1 | |
| 2000+ | 4 | |
| All | 5 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8… cxd4 | 3 (60%) | |
| 8… Bxc3 | 1 (20%) | |
| 8… a6 | 1 (20%) |
Master games
189 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 31%, draw 37%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2835) – GM Andrey Esipenko (2682) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 7th July · 2020-07-07
- GM Quang Liem Le (2697) – GM Nikita Vitiugov (2725) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE World Cup 2015 · 2015-09-15
- GM Matthias Bluebaum (2662) – GM Erigaisi Arjun (2759) 1/2-1/2 · 46th Olympiad 2026 · 2026-09-25
- GM Samuel Sevian (2688) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2723) 1-0 · World Rapid 2025 · 2025-12-28
- GM Anton Korobov (2683) – GM Santosh Gujrathi Vidit (2726) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 29th June · 2021-06-29
Highest-rated Lichess games
- bompipi95 (2341) – Zohaib_Gillani (2510) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- best1404 (2323) – dunduks (2356) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- ANDINOSKY (2200) – Lohmenz_300808 (2138) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Gligoric System (6. Nf3 c5) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 c5
Continuations
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Gligoric System, Bronstein Variation E55 · 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
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Gligoric System, Smyslov Variation E54 · 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 Qe7
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Gligoric System, Exchange Variation (8… cxd4 9. exd4) E54 · 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
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.