Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation (4. e3 O-O)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O
The Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E46, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O. 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 1,443 times by this move order. White won 48%, 6% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 5. Bd3 (52% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.09 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 5. Bd2 b6 6. Nf3 d5 7. Rc1 Bb7)
- ECO
- E46
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/pppp1ppp/4pn2/8/1bPP4/2N1P3/PP3PPP/R1BQKBNR w KQ - 1 5- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 45 | |
| 1500-1999 | 364 | |
| 2000+ | 1,034 | |
| All | 1,443 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. Bd3 Normal Variation (4… O-O 5. Bd3) | 753 (52%) | |
| 5. Ne2 Reshevsky Variation | 278 (19%) | |
| 5. Nf3 Nimzo-Indian Defense (4… O-O 5. Nf3) | 155 (11%) | |
| 5. Bd2 | 113 (8%) | |
| 5. a3 | 102 (7%) | |
| 5. Qc2 | 18 (1%) | |
| 5. Qb3 | 9 (1%) | |
| 5. Be2 | 5 (0%) |
Master games
3,593 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 30%, Black 29%). The strongest:
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2835) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2863) 1/2-1/2 · Chessable Masters Final 8 · 2020-06-27
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2853) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2775) 1/2-1/2 · Chessable Masters Div 1 L · 2023-04-06
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2820) – GM Levon Aronian (2781) 1/2-1/2 · GCT Blitz Paris 2021 · 2021-06-22
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2859) – GM Gukesh D (2725) 1-0 · chess.com SpeedChess 2022 · 2022-12-06
- GM Liren Ding (2788) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2795) 1/2-1/2 · WCh 2023 · 2023-04-29
Search all games of the Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GM cutemouse83 (2968) – tsunami10 (2810) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- GM cutemouse83 (2944) – feeblad (2830) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- GM cutemouse83 (2958) – NameTheGame (2701) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Rubinstein System (3… Bb4 4. e3) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3
Continuations
- Nimzo-Indian Defense (4… O-O 5. Nf3) E50 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Nf3
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation (4… O-O 5. Bd3) E47 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Reshevsky Variation E46 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Ne2
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation (5… Bxc3+ 6. bxc3) E28 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3
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.