Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation (8… f5 9. O-O)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 b6 5. e3 Ne4 6. Qc2 Bb7 7. Bd3 Bxc3+ 8. bxc3 f5 9. O-O
The Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E43, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 b6 5. e3 Ne4 6. Qc2 Bb7 7. Bd3 Bxc3+ 8. bxc3 f5 9. O-O. It is a line of the Nimzo-Indian Defense. Black is to move.
This exact move order didn't appear in our sample of 12.6 million Lichess games: it's a rare line.
Engine evaluation: +0.20 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 9… O-O 10. Nd2 Qh4 11. f3 Nxd2 12. Bxd2)
- ECO
- E43
- Moves
- 17 plies
- FEN
rn1qk2r/pbpp2pp/1p2p3/5p2/2PPn3/2PBPN2/P1Q2PPP/R1B2RK1 b kq - 1 9- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 b6 5. e3 Ne4 6. Qc2 Bb7 7. Bd3 Bxc3+ 8. bxc3 f5 9. O-O
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Master games
12 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 50%, draw 33%, Black 17%). The strongest:
- GM Li Chao2 (2746) – GM Viswanathan Anand (2776) 1/2-1/2 · 10th Tal Mem 2016 · 2016-09-29
- GM Denis Khismatullin (2651) – GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek (2734) 0-1 · World Blitz 2015 · 2015-10-13
- GM Bukavshin, I. (2622) – GM Francisco Vallejo Pons (2706) 1-0 · 16th ch-EUR Indiv 2015 · 2015-03-02
- GM Bukavshin, I. (2622) – GM Francisco Vallejo Pons (2706) 1-0 · 16th ch-EUR Indiv 2015 · 2015-03-02
- GM Luca Jr Moroni (2552) – GM Sanan Sjugirov (2663) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tuesday 9th Mar · 2021-03-09
Search all games of the Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation and its sub-variations
Comes from
Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation (5… Ne4 6. Qc2) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 b6 5. e3 Ne4 6. Qc2
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.