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
The Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Gligoric System is a chess opening classified as ECO E53, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 c5. It is a line of the Nimzo-Indian Defense. White is to move. 4 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 29 times by this move order. White won 41%, 11% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 7. O-O (86% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.12 (Stockfish, depth 65; best line 7. cxd5 cxd4 8. exd4 exd5 9. O-O Bg4)
- ECO
- E53
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/pp3ppp/4pn2/2pp4/1bPP4/2NBPN2/PP3PPP/R1BQK2R w KQ - 0 7- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 c5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 7 | |
| 2000+ | 21 | |
| All | 29 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. O-O | 25 (86%) | |
| 7. cxd5 | 3 (10%) | |
| 7. a3 | 1 (3%) |
Master games
672 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 33%, draw 36%, Black 31%). The strongest:
- GM Veselin Topalov (2793) – GM Levon Aronian (2813) 1/2-1/2 · Supreme Masters 2013 · 2013-05-17
- GM Pentala Harikrishna (2726) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2828) 0-1 · Champions Showdown Blitz · 2019-02-24
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2792) – GM Kirill Alekseenko (2702) 1-0 · Chess.com Rapid Wk1 KO · 2022-02-13
- GM Hao Wang (2742) – GM Peter Leko (2737) 1/2-1/2 · 1st FIDE GP London 2012 · 2012-10-01
- GM Quang Liem Le (2697) – GM So, W. (2773) 0-1 · FIDE World Cup 2015 · 2015-09-19
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GeForceExperience (2617) – slouuurps (2724) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Kcarv (2558) – Konsolidasyon (2638) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 2s
- bompipi95 (2341) – Zohaib_Gillani (2510) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
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, Gligoric System (7. O-O Nbd7) E53 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 c5 7. O-O Nbd7
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Gligoric System, Bernstein Defense (7. O-O Nc6) E56 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 c5 7. O-O Nc6
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Gligoric System, Keres Variation E53 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 c5 7. O-O b6
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Gligoric System, Exchange Variation (7… dxc4 8. Bxc4) 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
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.