Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation, with Ne4
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Bd3 Bb7 6. Nf3 Ne4
The Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation, with Ne4 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 Ne4. 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 28 times by this move order. White won 43%, 0% were drawn and Black won 57%. The most popular continuation is 7. Qc2 (64% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.36 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 7. O-O f5 8. Ne2 Bd6 9. a3 c5)
- ECO
- E43
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
rn1qk2r/pbpp1ppp/1p2p3/8/1bPPn3/2NBPN2/PP3PPP/R1BQK2R w KQkq - 4 7- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Bd3 Bb7 6. Nf3 Ne4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 11 | |
| 2000+ | 17 | |
| All | 28 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. Qc2 | 18 (64%) | |
| 7. Bd2 | 5 (18%) | |
| 7. O-O | 3 (11%) | |
| 7. Bxe4 | 2 (7%) |
Master games
196 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 35%, draw 31%, Black 34%). The strongest:
- GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac (2650) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2788) 1/2-1/2 · GCT Super ROM Classic · 2026-05-18
- GM Hao Wang (2729) – GM Bassem Amin (2635) 1-0 · FIDE World Rapid 2014 · 2014-06-16
- GM Matthias Bluebaum (2698) – GM Dimitris Alexakis (2541) 1-0 · Titled Tue 17th Mar 2026 · 2026-03-17
- GM Matthias Bluebaum (2650) – GM Evgeny Postny (2572) 0-1 · Titled Tue 10th Dec Late · 2024-12-10
- GM Alexey Sarana (2693) – GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (2523) 1-0 · Titled Tue 5th Sep Early · 2023-09-05
Highest-rated Lichess games
- reimaginado (2464) – Ouakam (2497) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- joeALT30 (2411) – legionnaire15 (2392) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- keb2 (2340) – FM DanPach (2452) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation (5… Bb7 6. Nf3) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Bd3 Bb7 6. 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 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.