Nimzo-Indian Defense: Romanishin Variation, English Hybrid
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 c5 5. g3 cxd4 6. Nxd4 O-O 7. Bg2 d5 8. cxd5 Nxd5
The Nimzo-Indian Defense: Romanishin Variation, English Hybrid is a chess opening classified as ECO E20, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 c5 5. g3 cxd4 6. Nxd4 O-O 7. Bg2 d5 8. cxd5 Nxd5. It is a line of the Nimzo-Indian Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1 times by this move order. White won 100%, 0% were drawn and Black won 0%. The most popular continuation is 9. Qb3 (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.26 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 9. Qb3 Bc5 10. Nf3 Nc6 11. O-O Qb6)
- ECO
- E20
- Moves
- 16 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/pp3ppp/4p3/3n4/1b1N4/2N3P1/PP2PPBP/R1BQK2R w KQ - 0 9- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 c5 5. g3 cxd4 6. Nxd4 O-O 7. Bg2 d5 8. cxd5 Nxd5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 1 | |
| All | 1 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 9. Qb3 | 1 (100%) |
Master games
72 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 32%, draw 49%, Black 19%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2870) – GM So, W. (2760) 1/2-1/2 · Tata Steel India Blitz · 2019-11-25
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2789) – GM Levon Aronian (2764) 1/2-1/2 · 6th Norway Chess 2018 · 2018-06-02
- GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2767) – GM So, W. (2767) 1/2-1/2 · chess.com Speed 2019 · 2019-10-02
- GM Jeffery Xiong (2687) – GM So, W. (2772) 1/2-1/2 · chess.com Speed 2021 · 2021-11-15
- GM Yangyi Yu (2751) – GM Arkadij Naiditsch (2705) 1-0 · World Blitz 2017 · 2017-12-29
Highest-rated Lichess games
- AIIuring (1980) – Atharv_Ahuja7OG (1826) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 600 + 0s
Comes from
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Three Knights Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3
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: 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
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Spielmann Variation, Carlsbad Variation E23
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Spielmann Variation, Romanovsky Gambit E23
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.