Nimzo-Indian Defense: Rubinstein System, Hübner Variation (7. bxc3 d6)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 c5 5. Bd3 Nc6 6. Nf3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 d6
The Nimzo-Indian Defense: Rubinstein System, Hübner Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E41, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 c5 5. Bd3 Nc6 6. Nf3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 d6. 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 3 times by this move order. White won 33%, 0% were drawn and Black won 67%. The most popular continuation is 8. O-O (67% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.31 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 8. e4 O-O 9. O-O e5 10. h3 h6)
- ECO
- E41
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/pp3ppp/2nppn2/2p5/2PP4/2PBPN2/P4PPP/R1BQK2R w KQkq - 0 8- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 c5 5. Bd3 Nc6 6. Nf3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 d6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 1 | |
| 2000+ | 2 | |
| All | 3 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8. O-O | 2 (67%) | |
| 8. e4 | 1 (33%) |
Master games
129 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 31%, draw 43%, Black 26%). The strongest:
- LCZero 0.31-dag-c93c6a8-BT4-61 (3652) – Stockfish dev-20250118-8e3e22b (3683) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Theory Bonus · 2025-01-24
- Stockfish dev-20250118-8e3e22b (3683) – LCZero 0.31-dag-c93c6a8-BT4-61 (3652) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Theory Bonus · 2025-01-24
- GM Li Chao2 (2745) – GM Richard Rapport (2675) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE World Cup 2017 · 2017-09-09
- GM Pavel Eljanov (2705) – GM Vincent Keymer (2700) 1-0 · ChessKid Cup Play-In · 2023-05-01
- GM Romain Edouard (2652) – GM Nigel D Short (2698) 1/2-1/2 · 40th Olympiad Open · 2012-08-31
Highest-rated Lichess games
- tantgreta (2555) – FM orlando70 (2416) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
- Maxim2112 (2424) – FM orlando70 (2389) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
- titovsky87 (1900) – dltorre (2025) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Rubinstein System (4. e3 c5) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 c5
Continuations
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Rubinstein System, Hübner Variation (8. O-O O-O) E41 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 c5 5. Bd3 Nc6 6. Nf3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 d6 8. O-O O-O
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.