Nimzowitsch Defense: Franco-Nimzowitsch Variation
1. e4 Nc6 2. Nf3 e6
The Nimzowitsch Defense: Franco-Nimzowitsch Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B00, reached after 1. e4 Nc6 2. Nf3 e6. It is a line of the Nimzowitsch Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 2,764 times by this move order. White won 51%, 4% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 3. d4 (47% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.72 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 3. d4 d5 4. e5 f6 5. c3 fxe5)
- ECO
- B00
- Moves
- 4 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pppp1ppp/2n1p3/8/4P3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. e4 Nc6 2. Nf3 e6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1,362 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,233 | |
| 2000+ | 169 | |
| All | 2,764 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3. d4 | 1,290 (47%) | |
| 3. Bc4 | 478 (17%) | |
| 3. Nc3 | 332 (12%) | |
| 3. Bb5 | 324 (12%) | |
| 3. c3 | 96 (3%) | |
| 3. e5 | 83 (3%) | |
| 3. d3 | 57 (2%) | |
| 3. Be2 | 19 (1%) |
Master games
230 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 50%, draw 20%, Black 30%). The strongest:
- Stoofvlees II a14 (3730) – Stockfish 202005232210 (3796) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 18 Premier 2020 · 2020-05-31
- Stockfish 202005232210 (3796) – Stoofvlees II a14 (3730) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 18 Premier 2020 · 2020-05-28
- AllieStein v0.8-120f959_net-15.0 (3536) – Fire 8_beta (3457) 1-0 · TCEC 19 Premier 2020 · 2020-09-10
- Fire 8_beta (3457) – AllieStein v0.8-120f959_net-15.0 (3536) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 19 Premier 2020 · 2020-09-06
- Fire 8_beta (3457) – Stoofvlees II a14 (3504) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 19 Premier 2020 · 2020-09-24
Search all games of the Nimzowitsch Defense: Franco-Nimzowitsch Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Johnizard (2644) – kasparik_garik (2641) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- KhatanbaatarGM (2722) – great_nezhmetdinov2 (2528) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- CM angelmarqz (2572) – GM Tayka (2672) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Nimzowitsch Defense: Declined Variation 1. e4 Nc6 2. Nf3
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: El Columpio Defense B00
- Nimzowitsch Defense: El Columpio Defense, El Columpio Gambit B00
- Nimzowitsch Defense: El Columpio Defense, Exchange Variation B00
- Nimzowitsch Defense: El Columpio Defense, Pin 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.