Nimzowitsch Defense: Kennedy Variation, Bielefelder Gambit
1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 e5 3. dxe5 Bc5
The Nimzowitsch Defense: Kennedy Variation, Bielefelder Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO B00, reached after 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 e5 3. dxe5 Bc5. 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 3 times by this move order. White won 33%, 0% were drawn and Black won 67%. The most popular continuation is 4. Bc4 (33% of games).
Engine evaluation: +1.04 (Stockfish, depth 32; best line 4. Nf3 d6 5. exd6 cxd6 6. Nc3 Nf6)
- ECO
- B00
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
r1bqk1nr/pppp1ppp/2n5/2b1P3/4P3/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 1 4- PGN
1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 e5 3. dxe5 Bc5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1 | |
| All | 3 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. Bc4 | 1 (33%) | |
| 4. Nc3 | 1 (33%) | |
| 4. Nf3 | 1 (33%) |
Master games
1 over-the-board game is classified under this line (White 0%, draw 0%, Black 100%). The strongest:
- CM Andrey Tkachuk (2193) – FM Svyatoslav Lisenkov (2343) 0-1 · Titled Tue 2nd Sep 2025 · 2025-09-02
Highest-rated Lichess games
- dontwanttoplay (1704) – shanell1 (1670) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- chiara-0 (1377) – Mcrae254 (1437) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 600 + 0s
- Alejandrose98 (1145) – OWEN3662 (1225) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 300 + 0s
Comes from
Nimzowitsch Defense: Kennedy Variation 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 e5
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 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: Franco-Nimzowitsch Variation B00
- Nimzowitsch Defense: French Connection 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.