Nimzowitsch Defense: Kennedy Variation, Herford Gambit
1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 e5 3. dxe5 Qh4
The Nimzowitsch Defense: Kennedy Variation, Herford Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO B00, reached after 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 e5 3. dxe5 Qh4. 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 1 times by this move order. White won 100%, 0% were drawn and Black won 0%. The most popular continuation is 4. Nc3 (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: +1.22 (Stockfish, depth 30; best line 4. Nf3 Qxe4+ 5. Be2 d5 6. O-O Bf5)
- ECO
- B00
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
r1b1kbnr/pppp1ppp/2n5/4P3/4P2q/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 1 4- PGN
1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 e5 3. dxe5 Qh4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| All | 1 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. Nc3 | 1 (100%) |
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Yassinepasha (1172) – Yneva (1174) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
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.