Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation (7. O-O c5)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Bd3 Bb7 6. Nf3 O-O 7. O-O c5
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 c5. It is a line of the Nimzo-Indian Defense. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 7 times by this move order. White won 57%, 0% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 8. a3 (43% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.19 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 8. Na4 cxd4 9. exd4 Re8 10. a3 Bf8)
- ECO
- E43
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
rn1q1rk1/pb1p1ppp/1p2pn2/2p5/1bPP4/2NBPN2/PP3PPP/R1BQ1RK1 w - - 0 8- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Bd3 Bb7 6. Nf3 O-O 7. O-O c5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 2 | |
| 2000+ | 5 | |
| All | 7 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8. a3 | 3 (43%) | |
| 8. Na4 | 3 (43%) | |
| 8. dxc5 | 1 (14%) |
Master games
91 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 27%, draw 33%, Black 40%). The strongest:
- GM Alexey Sarana (2712) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2805) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 25th Jun Early · 2024-06-25
- GM Gareev, T. (2570) – GM Levon Aronian (2723) 1/2-1/2 · World Blitz 2023 · 2023-12-29
- GM Savva Vetokhin (2558) – GM Parham Maghsoodloo (2706) 1-0 · 8th Sharjah Masters 2025 · 2025-05-23
- GM Ray Robson (2650) – GM Elham Amar (2592) 0-1 · World Blitz 2025 · 2025-12-30
- GM Ruslan Ponomariov (2654) – GM Rinat Jumabayev (2565) 1/2-1/2 · CrunchLabs Masters PlayIn · 2024-07-17
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
- tantgreta (2559) – CM LunarPulse (2442) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
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
Continuations
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation (9. a3 Be7) E43 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Bd3 Bb7 6. Nf3 O-O 7. O-O c5 8. Na4 cxd4 9. a3 Be7
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.