Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation, Romanishin-Psakhis Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Ne2 c5 6. a3 Ba5
The Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation, Romanishin-Psakhis Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E44, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Ne2 c5 6. a3 Ba5. 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 8 times by this move order. White won 50%, 12% were drawn and Black won 38%. The most popular continuation is 7. Rb1 (50% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.41 (Stockfish, depth 36; best line 7. Rb1 Na6 8. Ng3 Bb7 9. f3 O-O)
- ECO
- E44
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
rnbqk2r/p2p1ppp/1p2pn2/b1p5/2PP4/P1N1P3/1P2NPPP/R1BQKB1R w KQkq - 1 7- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Ne2 c5 6. a3 Ba5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2000+ | 8 | |
| All | 8 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. Rb1 | 4 (50%) | |
| 7. Bd2 | 2 (25%) | |
| 7. dxc5 | 1 (13%) | |
| 7. d5 | 1 (13%) |
Master games
397 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 37%, draw 32%, Black 31%). The strongest:
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2810) – GM Praggnanandhaa R (2741) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE Candidates 2026 · 2026-04-04
- GM So, W. (2747) – GM Erigaisi Arjun (2799) 1-0 · Tata Steel India Blitz · 2024-11-16
- GM Evgeny Tomashevsky (2728) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2787) 1-0 · 78th Tata Steel GpA · 2016-01-31
- GM Alexey Sarana (2713) – GM Alexander Donchenko (2638) 1-0 · Julius Baer Gen Cup Pl/In · 2024-09-25
- GM Alexey Sarana (2675) – GM Erigaisi Arjun (2675) 0-1 · Chess.com RCC Wk14 Swiss · 2022-05-14
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FM TorVik-2 (2468) – FM ItRelates (2530) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- afrik58 (2459) – BapakBabul (2374) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
- DrMaque (2303) – FM anto3 (2394) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
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.