Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation, Fischer Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Ne2 Ba6
The Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation, Fischer Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E45, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Ne2 Ba6. It is a line of the Nimzo-Indian Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 47 times by this move order. White won 45%, 10% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 6. a3 (72% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.30 (Stockfish, depth 38; best line 6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. Nxc3 d5 8. Qa4+ c6)
- ECO
- E45
- Moves
- 10 plies
- FEN
rn1qk2r/p1pp1ppp/bp2pn2/8/1bPP4/2N1P3/PP2NPPP/R1BQKB1R w KQkq - 2 6- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Ne2 Ba6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2000+ | 47 | |
| All | 47 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6. a3 | 34 (72%) | |
| 6. Ng3 | 8 (17%) | |
| 6. Qa4 | 3 (6%) | |
| 6. b3 | 1 (2%) | |
| 6. Qb3 | 1 (2%) |
Master games
830 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 38%, draw 29%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- LCZero 0.31-dag-c93c6a8-BT4-61 (3652) – Stockfish dev-20250118-8e3e22b (3683) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Theory Bonus · 2025-01-24
- KomodoDragon 2894.00 (3600) – Stockfish dev15_20220401 (3617) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 22 Superfinal 2022 · 2022-04-19
- Stockfish dev15_20220401 (3617) – KomodoDragon 2894.00 (3600) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 22 Superfinal 2022 · 2022-04-19
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2794) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2805) 1/2-1/2 · 12th Norway Chess 2024 · 2024-06-02
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2794) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2805) 0-1 · 12th Norway Armageddon · 2024-06-02
Highest-rated Lichess games
- anhbutk (2678) – Jakebr8 (2860) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- Minarque (2688) – doyoulikedonuts (2650) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- messi_is_goat (2621) – Towser1 (2698) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation (4… b6 5. Ne2) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Ne2
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.