Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Ragozin Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Nf3 d5
The Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Ragozin Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E51, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Nf3 d5. It is a line of the Nimzo-Indian Defense. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 61 times by this move order. White won 34%, 4% were drawn and Black won 62%. The most popular continuation is 6. Bd3 (57% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.13 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 6. Bd2 Nbd7 7. a3 Be7 8. cxd5 exd5)
- ECO
- E51
- Moves
- 10 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/ppp2ppp/4pn2/3p4/1bPP4/2N1PN2/PP3PPP/R1BQKB1R w KQ - 0 6- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Nf3 d5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 4 | |
| 1500-1999 | 24 | |
| 2000+ | 33 | |
| All | 61 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6. Bd3 | 35 (57%) | |
| 6. cxd5 | 11 (18%) | |
| 6. a3 Normal Variation, Sämisch Deferred | 8 (13%) | |
| 6. Bd2 | 4 (7%) | |
| 6. Be2 | 2 (3%) | |
| 6. c5 | 1 (2%) |
Master games
396 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 32%, draw 30%, Black 38%). The strongest:
- GM Sergey Karjakin (2763) – GM So, W. (2799) 1-0 · FIDE Candidates 2018 · 2018-03-18
- GM So, W. (2778) – GM Sergey Karjakin (2782) 1/2-1/2 · GCT Blitz YourNextMove · 2018-06-15
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2771) – GM Erigaisi Arjun (2712) 1-0 · chess.com SpeedChess 2023 · 2023-09-14
- GM So, W. (2772) – GM Quang Liem Le (2709) 1/2-1/2 · San Fermin Masters Final · 2021-07-10
- GM Anton Korobov (2692) – GM Viswanathan Anand (2779) 1/2-1/2 · World Blitz 2016 · 2016-12-29
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GeForceExperience (2604) – Natah_Flo (2679) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- GM AtalikS (2679) – Partake (2554) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- puretraining (2605) – SonofAtlantis (2606) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Nimzo-Indian Defense (4… O-O 5. Nf3) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Nf3
Continuations
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Sämisch Deferred E51 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Nf3 d5 6. a3
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.