Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation (7… O-O 8. O-O)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 b6 6. e3 Bb7 7. Bd3 O-O 8. 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. Nf3 Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 b6 6. e3 Bb7 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O. It is a line of the Nimzo-Indian Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 5 times by this move order. White won 60%, 0% were drawn and Black won 40%. The most popular continuation is 8… d6 (80% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.43 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 8… d6 9. Nd2 e5 10. e4 Nc6 11. Bb2)
- ECO
- E43
- Moves
- 15 plies
- FEN
rn1q1rk1/pbpp1ppp/1p2pn2/8/2PP4/2PBPN2/P4PPP/R1BQ1RK1 b - - 4 8- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 b6 6. e3 Bb7 7. Bd3 O-O 8. 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 | 1 | |
| 2000+ | 3 | |
| All | 5 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8… d6 | 4 (80%) | |
| 8… Re8 | 1 (20%) |
Master games
1 over-the-board game is classified under this line (White 100%, draw 0%, Black 0%). The strongest:
- GM Daniel Sadzikowski (2584) – GM Tomasz Markowski (2558) 1-0 · XXXVI Zamenhofa Mem · 2017-12-30
Search all games of the Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- wanderameise (2353) – Kopengagen2016 (2461) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 300 + 0s
- wanderameise (2317) – Kopengagen2016 (2431) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 300 + 0s
- Doublebroth (2302) – DARK_CHESS13 (2239) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 600 + 0s
Comes from
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Three Knights Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3
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, 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
- Nimzo-Indian Defense: Spielmann Variation, Carlsbad Variation E23
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.