Nimzo-Indian Defense: Ragozin Defense
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. O-O
The Nimzo-Indian Defense: Ragozin Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO E48, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. O-O. It is a line of the Nimzo-Indian Defense. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
This exact move order didn't appear in our sample of 12.6 million Lichess games: it's a rare line.
Engine evaluation: +0.23 (Stockfish, depth 36; best line 7… h6 8. h3 a6 9. Re1 Re8 10. a3)
- ECO
- E48
- Moves
- 13 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/ppp2ppp/2n1pn2/3p4/1bPP4/2NBPN2/PP3PPP/R1BQ1RK1 b - - 3 7- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. O-O
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Master games
13 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 31%, draw 38%, Black 31%). The strongest:
- GM Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu (2656) – GM Nikola Nestorovic (2458) 1-0 · Bundesliga 2019-20 · 2019-12-07
- IM Savva Vetokhin (2388) – IM Thomas Beerdsen (2510) 1/2-1/2 · 23rd ch-EUR Indiv 2023 · 2023-03-12
- IM Gabor Kovacs (2456) – IM Volkmar, Dr. Dinstuhl (2409) 1-0 · Bundesliga 2016-17 · 2017-04-30
- FM Francisco Olivares Canelles (2270) – GM Marc Narciso Dublan (2532) 0-1 · 23rd Montcada Open 2015 · 2015-06-25
- IM Ari Dale (2381) – IM Mark Van der Werf (2413) 1/2-1/2 · 80th Tata Steel TOP · 2018-01-22
Search all games of the Nimzo-Indian Defense: Ragozin Defense and its sub-variations
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: Ragozin Variation E51 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. O-O dxc4
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.