Nimzowitsch Defense: El Columpio Defense, Exchange Variation
1. e4 Nc6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e5 Ng4 4. d4 d6 5. h3 Nh6 6. exd6
The Nimzowitsch Defense: El Columpio Defense, Exchange Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B00, reached after 1. e4 Nc6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e5 Ng4 4. d4 d6 5. h3 Nh6 6. exd6. It is a line of the Nimzowitsch 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 6… Qxd6 (40% of games).
Engine evaluation: +1.41 (Stockfish, depth 30; best line 6… exd6 7. Nc3 Nf5 8. Bc4 Be7 9. O-O)
- ECO
- B00
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/ppp1pppp/2nP3n/8/3P4/5N1P/PPP2PP1/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 0 6- PGN
1. e4 Nc6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e5 Ng4 4. d4 d6 5. h3 Nh6 6. exd6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 3 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1 | |
| 2000+ | 1 | |
| All | 5 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… Qxd6 | 2 (40%) | |
| 6… cxd6 | 2 (40%) | |
| 6… exd6 | 1 (20%) |
Master games
17 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 82%, draw 12%, Black 6%). The strongest:
- IM David Larino Nieto (2487) – IM Angel Arribas Lopez (2467) 1-0 · 3rd Oliver Gonzalez Mem Open A · 2012-09-06
- GM Evgeny Alekseev (2623) – Nuno Guerreiro (2086) 1-0 · Portugal Open Rapid 2020 · 2020-02-02
- GM Evgeny Alekseev (2620) – Nuno Guerreiro (2083) 1-0 · 2nd Ferreira do Alentejo · 2019-12-17
- IM Rikard Winsnes (2408) – Linus Johansson (2287) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-SWE Elite 2012-13 · 2013-02-03
- Leandro Fabricio Campelo (2154) – FM Martynas Limontas (2311) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 24th Nov · 2020-11-24
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Nayem1990 (2001) – horacio-cadu (2004) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 300 + 0s
- Closed_victory (1913) – odoacre72 (1934) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 300 + 0s
- RasselSarker (1429) – chodsam (1412) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 300 + 0s
Comes from
Nimzowitsch Defense: El Columpio Defense 1. e4 Nc6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e5 Ng4
More Nimzowitsch Defense lines (all)
- Nimzowitsch Defense (1. e4 Nc6) B00
- Nimzowitsch Defense (1… Nc6 2. d4) B00
- Nimzowitsch Defense: Breyer Variation B00
- Nimzowitsch Defense: Colorado Countergambit B00
- Nimzowitsch Defense: Colorado Countergambit Accepted B00
- Nimzowitsch Defense: Declined Variation B00
- Nimzowitsch Defense: El Columpio Defense, El Columpio Gambit B00
- Nimzowitsch Defense: El Columpio Defense, Pin Variation B00
- Nimzowitsch Defense: Franco-Nimzowitsch Variation B00
- Nimzowitsch Defense: French Connection B00
- Nimzowitsch Defense: Hornung Gambit B00
- Nimzowitsch Defense: Kennedy Variation B00
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.