Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation (9. a3 Be7)
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
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 8. Na4 cxd4 9. a3 Be7. It is a line of the Nimzo-Indian Defense. White 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: +0.07 (Stockfish, depth 36; best line 10. exd4 Bxf3 11. Qxf3 Nc6 12. Be3 e5)
- ECO
- E43
- Moves
- 18 plies
- FEN
rn1q1rk1/pb1pbppp/1p2pn2/8/N1Pp4/P2BPN2/1P3PPP/R1BQ1RK1 w - - 1 10- PGN
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
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Master games
13 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 15%, draw 70%, Black 15%). The strongest:
- GM Alexey Sarana (2717) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2796) 1/2-1/2 · chess.com SpeedChess 2024 · 2024-07-31
- GM Alexey Sarana (2679) – GM Erigaisi Arjun (2799) 0-1 · Chennai GM 2024 · 2024-11-07
- GM Alexey Sarana (2686) – GM Alexander Grischuk (2682) 1/2-1/2 · Grand Prix PlusCity Rapid · 2025-05-30
- GM Baris Esen (2567) – GM Ivan Salgado Lopez (2615) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-TUR Super League 2015 · 2015-08-14
- FM Lachezar Yordanov (2318) – GM Alexander Moiseenko (2602) 0-1 · 22nd ch-EUR Indiv 2022 · 2022-03-27
Search all games of the Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation and its sub-variations
Comes from
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
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.