Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation (4… b6 5. Ne2)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Ne2
The Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E44, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Ne2. It is a line of the Nimzo-Indian Defense. Black is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 212 times by this move order. White won 51%, 8% were drawn and Black won 41%. The most popular continuation is 5… Bb7 (59% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.21 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 5… Ba6 6. Ng3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 d5 8. Qf3)
- ECO
- E44
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
rnbqk2r/p1pp1ppp/1p2pn2/8/1bPP4/2N1P3/PP2NPPP/R1BQKB1R b KQkq - 1 5- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Ne2
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 29 | |
| 2000+ | 183 | |
| All | 212 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Bb7 | 126 (59%) | |
| 5… Ba6 St. Petersburg Variation, Fischer Variation | 47 (22%) | |
| 5… Ne4 St. Petersburg Variation, American Variation | 20 (9%) | |
| 5… c5 | 9 (4%) | |
| 5… O-O | 9 (4%) | |
| 5… Nc6 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
865 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 53%, draw 20%, Black 27%). The strongest:
- PlentyChess 7.0.55 (3693) – LCZero 0.33-dev-f6ec55c-BT4-6147500-it332 (3749) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Premier 2026 · 2026-03-21
- LCZero 0.33-dev-f6ec55c-BT4-6147500-it332 (3749) – PlentyChess 7.0.55 (3693) 1-0 · TCEC 29 Premier 2026 · 2026-03-18
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2764) – GM Dmitry Andreikin (2729) 1-0 · Titled Tue 2nd May Early · 2023-05-02
- GM Praggnanandhaa R (2761) – GM Richard Rapport (2726) 1/2-1/2 · 46th Olympiad 2026 · 2026-09-27
- GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (2747) – GM Baadur Jobava (2702) 1/2-1/2 · World Blitz 2016 · 2016-12-30
Search all games of the Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- anhbutk (2678) – Jakebr8 (2860) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- Minarque (2688) – doyoulikedonuts (2650) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- messi_is_goat (2621) – Towser1 (2698) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation (4. e3 b6) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6
Continuations
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation, American Variation E44 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Ne2 Ne4
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation, Fischer Variation E45 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Ne2 Ba6
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation, Romanishin-Psakhis Variation E44 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Ne2 c5 6. a3 Ba5
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.