Nimzo-Larsen Attack
1. b3
The Nimzo-Larsen Attack is a chess opening classified as ECO A01, reached after 1. b3. Black is to move. 7 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 128,385 times by this move order. White won 50%, 4% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 1… e5 (34% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 1… e5 2. Bb2 Nc6 3. e3 a6 4. c4)
- ECO
- A01
- Moves
- 1 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/1P6/P1PPPPPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 1- PGN
1. b3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 43,757 | |
| 1500-1999 | 65,978 | |
| 2000+ | 18,650 | |
| All | 128,385 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1… e5 Modern Variation (1. b3 e5) | 43,362 (34%) | |
| 1… d5 Classical Variation (1. b3 d5) | 33,808 (26%) | |
| 1… Nf6 Indian Variation | 13,107 (10%) | |
| 1… e6 | 8,495 (7%) | |
| 1… c5 English Variation | 6,846 (5%) | |
| 1… c6 | 4,586 (4%) | |
| 1… g6 | 4,452 (3%) | |
| 1… d6 | 3,969 (3%) |
Master games
3,242 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 50%, draw 13%, Black 37%). The strongest:
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2784) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2863) 1-0 · Saint Louis Blitz 2020 · 2020-09-18
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2802) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2831) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 29th Oct Early · 2024-10-29
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2786) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2832) 1-0 · chess.com Speed 1m+1spm 2017 · 2018-01-03
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2779) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2835) 0-1 · SuperUnited Blitz 2023 · 2023-07-09
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2771) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2839) 0-1 · chess.com SpeedChess 2023 · 2023-09-15
Search all games of the Nimzo-Larsen Attack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- KnightCheckShadow (3001) – spartak20 (2720) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- GM athena-pallada (2921) – johnsam1 (2724) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- GM athena-pallada (2885) – GM JanistanTV (2729) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Continuations
- Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Classical Variation (1. b3 d5) A01 · 1. b3 d5
- Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Dutch Variation A01 · 1. b3 f5
- Nimzo-Larsen Attack: English Variation A01 · 1. b3 c5
- Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Indian Variation A01 · 1. b3 Nf6
- Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Modern Variation (1. b3 e5) A01 · 1. b3 e5
- Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Polish Variation A01 · 1. b3 b5
- Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Symmetrical Variation A01 · 1. b3 b6
More Nimzo-Larsen Attack lines (all)
- Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Graz Attack A01
- Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Modern Variation (2. Bb2 Nc6) A01
- Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Modern Variation (2… Nc6 3. e3) A01
- Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Modern Variation (3. c4 Nf6) A01
- Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Pachman Gambit A01
- Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Ringelbach Gambit A01
- Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Spike Variation A01
- Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Classical Variation (1… d5 2. b3) A06
- Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Norfolk Gambit (2… c5 3. e4) A06
- Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Norfolk Gambit (3… c5 4. e4) A06
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.