Nimzowitsch Defense: Kennedy Variation, Main Line
1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 e5 3. dxe5 Nxe5 4. f4 Ng6
The Nimzowitsch Defense: Kennedy Variation, Main Line is a chess opening classified as ECO B00, reached after 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 e5 3. dxe5 Nxe5 4. f4 Ng6. 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 208 times by this move order. White won 52%, 5% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 5. Nf3 (63% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.60 (Stockfish, depth 46; best line 5. Nc3 Bb4 6. Ne2 Nf6 7. Qd3 c6)
- ECO
- B00
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pppp1ppp/6n1/8/4PP2/8/PPP3PP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 1 5- PGN
1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 e5 3. dxe5 Nxe5 4. f4 Ng6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 8 | |
| 1500-1999 | 84 | |
| 2000+ | 116 | |
| All | 208 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. Nf3 | 132 (63%) | |
| 5. Be3 | 27 (13%) | |
| 5. Bc4 | 18 (9%) | |
| 5. Nc3 | 16 (8%) | |
| 5. f5 | 6 (3%) | |
| 5. g3 | 4 (2%) | |
| 5. Qf3 | 2 (1%) | |
| 5. Qd4 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
32 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 50%, draw 19%, Black 31%). The strongest:
- IM Karina Ambartsumova (2393) – FM Roman Goldin (2322) 1-0 · Titled Tue 30th May Early · 2023-05-30
- IM Ivan Aldokhin (2413) – FM Roman Goldin (2299) 1-0 · Titled Tue 21st May Early · 2024-05-21
- IM Zurab Javakhadze (2423) – FM Roman Goldin (2278) 1-0 · Titled Tue 7th Apr 2026 · 2026-04-07
- IM Gianmarco Leiva (2344) – FM Roman Goldin (2296) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 10th Feb 2026 · 2026-02-10
- GM Miguel Munoz (2347) – IM Yuri Zhizmer (2289) 1-0 · Titled Tue 2nd Apr Late · 2024-04-02
Search all games of the Nimzowitsch Defense: Kennedy Variation, Main Line and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Alan_Zh (2340) – whaflc-jevtic (2431) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 2s
- sherlock2001holmes (2349) – gholamreza (2359) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- Shustrick (2368) – anas_mjlk (2321) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 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.