Nimzo-Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation (5… c5 6. e3)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 c5 6. e3
The Nimzo-Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E26, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 c5 6. e3. It is a line of the Nimzo-Indian Defense. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 151 times by this move order. White won 50%, 8% were drawn and Black won 42%. The most popular continuation is 6… O-O (41% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 6… b6 7. Bd3 Bb7 8. f3 O-O 9. Ne2)
- ECO
- E26
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
rnbqk2r/pp1p1ppp/4pn2/2p5/2PP4/P1P1P3/5PPP/R1BQKBNR b KQkq - 0 6- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 c5 6. e3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 5 | |
| 1500-1999 | 65 | |
| 2000+ | 81 | |
| All | 151 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… O-O | 62 (41%) | |
| 6… Nc6 | 39 (26%) | |
| 6… b6 Sämisch Variation, O'Kelly Variation | 18 (12%) | |
| 6… d6 | 14 (9%) | |
| 6… Qa5 | 9 (6%) | |
| 6… d5 | 4 (3%) | |
| 6… Na6 | 3 (2%) | |
| 6… Ne4 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
483 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 44%, draw 21%, Black 35%). The strongest:
- Reckless 0.10.0-dev-b5462f11 (3763) – Stockfish dev-20260318-d173a06 (3807) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Superfinal 2026 · 2026-04-09
- Stockfish dev-20260318-d173a06 (3807) – Reckless 0.10.0-dev-b5462f11 (3763) 1-0 · TCEC 29 Superfinal 2026 · 2026-04-09
- LCZero 0.31-dag-f7fb268-BT4-61 (3652) – Stockfish dev-20241208-cf10644 (3683) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Superfinal 2024 · 2024-12-27
- Stockfish dev-20241208-cf10644 (3683) – LCZero 0.31-dag-f7fb268-BT4-61 (3652) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Superfinal 2024 · 2024-12-27
- LCZero0.31-dag-5350a2e-BT4-6147500 (3634) – Stockfishdev-20240513-e608eab8 (3662) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Superfinal 2024 · 2024-05-30
Search all games of the Nimzo-Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GM Hamisandwich (2664) – DiabloDiabloDiablo (2654) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Nut5105 (2684) – NimzoStrikesAgain (2600) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- GM rhungaski (2649) – Papa_1960 (2596) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation (3… Bb4 4. a3) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3
Continuations
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, O'Kelly Variation E26 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 c5 6. e3 b6
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.