Nimzo-Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Keres Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. dxc5
The Nimzo-Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Keres Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E25, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. dxc5. 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 20 times by this move order. White won 35%, 20% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 8… Qa5 (60% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.13 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 8… Qa5 9. e4 Ne7 10. Be3 O-O 11. Qb3)
- ECO
- E25
- Moves
- 15 plies
- FEN
rnbqk2r/pp3ppp/4p3/2Pn4/8/P1P2P2/4P1PP/R1BQKBNR b KQkq - 0 8- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. dxc5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2000+ | 20 | |
| All | 20 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8… Qa5 | 12 (60%) | |
| 8… f5 Sämisch Variation, Romanovsky Variation | 7 (35%) | |
| 8… O-O | 1 (5%) |
Master games
423 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 40%, draw 32%, Black 28%). The strongest:
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2835) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2863) 0-1 · Chessable Masters Final 8 · 2020-06-27
- GM Erigaisi Arjun (2801) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2833) 1/2-1/2 · Chessable Masters Winners · 2025-02-19
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2794) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2830) 1/2-1/2 · 12th Norway Chess 2024 · 2024-06-03
- GM Vincent Keymer (2733) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2831) 1/2-1/2 · CCT Final RR 2024 · 2024-12-17
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2784) – GM Teimour Radjabov (2765) 1/2-1/2 · Airthings Masters KO 2020 · 2020-12-30
Highest-rated Lichess games
- tractorchampion001 (2747) – Fettywapest (2726) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Lucky-Luke-Skywalker (2452) – Rain_5 (2488) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- krama2026 (2436) – sai_zelda (2412) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation (6… c5 7. cxd5) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7. cxd5
Continuations
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Romanovsky Variation E25 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. dxc5 f5
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.