Nimzo-Indian Defense: Romanishin Variation (3… Bb4 4. g3)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. g3
The Nimzo-Indian Defense: Romanishin Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E20, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. g3. It is a line of the Nimzo-Indian Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 276 times by this move order. White won 49%, 7% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 4… O-O (31% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 57; best line 4… O-O 5. Bg2 d5 6. Nf3 dxc4 7. a3)
- ECO
- E20
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqk2r/pppp1ppp/4pn2/8/1bPP4/2N3P1/PP2PP1P/R1BQKBNR b KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. g3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 13 | |
| 1500-1999 | 126 | |
| 2000+ | 137 | |
| All | 276 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… O-O | 85 (31%) | |
| 4… c5 | 60 (22%) | |
| 4… d5 | 54 (20%) | |
| 4… Bxc3+ | 37 (13%) | |
| 4… Ne4 | 18 (7%) | |
| 4… b6 | 7 (3%) | |
| 4… Nc6 | 5 (2%) | |
| 4… c6 | 3 (1%) |
Master games
1,450 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 29%, Black 30%). The strongest:
- Stoofvlees II a19 (3509) – Igel 3.0.10 (3495) 1-0 · TCEC 22 Premier 2022 · 2022-03-28
- Igel 3.0.10 (3495) – Stoofvlees II a19 (3509) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 22 Premier 2022 · 2022-03-25
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2840) – GM Vincent Keymer (2762) 1-0 · Chess.com Open Playoffs · 2026-04-23
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2822) – GM So, W. (2780) 1-0 · Sinquefield GCT TB 2018 · 2018-08-28
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2822) – GM Sergey Karjakin (2773) 1-0 · 6th Sinquefield Cup 2018 · 2018-08-24
Search all games of the Nimzo-Indian Defense: Romanishin Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Superstitions_Guy (2862) – Chess1Love0 (2779) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- GM enmQ (2808) – GM Sigma_Tauri (2827) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- GM cutemouse83 (2922) – RiseP (2710) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Nimzo-Indian Defense (3. Nc3 Bb4) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4
More Nimzo-Indian Defense lines (all)
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Dilworth Gambit E20
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Kmoch Variation E20
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Mikenas Attack 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
- 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.