Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation (8. Na4 Qe7)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 c5 6. Nf3 b6 7. O-O Bb7 8. Na4 Qe7
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 O-O 5. Bd3 c5 6. Nf3 b6 7. O-O Bb7 8. Na4 Qe7. 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: +0.25 (Stockfish, depth 30; best line 9. a3 Ba5 10. Rb1 Ne4 11. b3 f5)
- ECO
- E43
- Moves
- 16 plies
- FEN
rn3rk1/pb1pqppp/1p2pn2/2p5/NbPP4/3BPN2/PP3PPP/R1BQ1RK1 w - - 4 9- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 c5 6. Nf3 b6 7. O-O Bb7 8. Na4 Qe7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Master games
3 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 67%, draw 0%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- GM Maxim Matlakov (2674) – GM Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara (2598) 1-0 · Chess.com RCC Wk12 Swiss · 2022-04-30
- FM Igor Neyman (2289) – IM Tobias Hirneise (2459) 1-0 · 18th Neckar Open 2014 · 2014-04-18
- CM Mostafa Sakhayi (2166) – CM Vladimir Mikhailovsky (2215) 0-1 · Titled Tue 16th Dec 2025 · 2025-12-16
Search all games of the Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation and its sub-variations
Comes from
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation (4… O-O 5. Bd3) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3
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.