Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation (6… O-O 7. O-O)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Bd3 Bb7 6. Nf3 O-O 7. 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. e3 b6 5. Bd3 Bb7 6. Nf3 O-O 7. O-O. It is a line of the Nimzo-Indian Defense. Black is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 44 times by this move order. White won 48%, 2% were drawn and Black won 50%. The most popular continuation is 7… Bxc3 (43% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.21 (Stockfish, depth 41; best line 7… d5 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Qc2 a6 10. e4)
- ECO
- E43
- Moves
- 13 plies
- FEN
rn1q1rk1/pbpp1ppp/1p2pn2/8/1bPP4/2NBPN2/PP3PPP/R1BQ1RK1 b - - 5 7- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Bd3 Bb7 6. Nf3 O-O 7. O-O
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 15 | |
| 2000+ | 28 | |
| All | 44 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7… Bxc3 | 19 (43%) | |
| 7… d5 Normal Variation, Schlechter Defense (7. O-O d5) | 12 (27%) | |
| 7… c5 St. Petersburg Variation (7. O-O c5) | 7 (16%) | |
| 7… d6 | 4 (9%) | |
| 7… h6 | 1 (2%) | |
| 7… Nc6 | 1 (2%) |
Master games
123 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 37%, draw 22%, Black 41%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2837) – GM Adam Kozak (2598) 1-0 · Titled Tue 8th Apr Late · 2025-04-08
- GM Alexey Sarana (2693) – GM Nihal Sarin (2694) 0-1 · chess.com SpeedChess 2023 · 2023-09-06
- GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2658) – GM Alexander Moiseenko (2692) 1-0 · World Rapid 2015 · 2015-10-11
- GM Aleksandr Rakhmanov (2653) – GM Yue Wang (2690) 1-0 · World Rapid 2017 · 2017-12-28
- GM Murtas Kazhgaleyev (2582) – GM Alexander Grischuk (2747) 1-0 · Eurasian Blitz Chess Cup · 2016-06-18
Search all games of the Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FM Squoznyak (2881) – IM Hripach007 (2710) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- MIGV (2612) – quantumcorrection (2633) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- uhumbuheev (2512) – Knightrider6767 (2725) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation (6. Nf3 O-O) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Bd3 Bb7 6. Nf3 O-O
Continuations
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Schlechter Defense (7. O-O d5) E52 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Bd3 Bb7 6. Nf3 O-O 7. O-O d5
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation (7. O-O c5) E43 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Bd3 Bb7 6. Nf3 O-O 7. O-O c5
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.