Nimzowitsch Defense: Kennedy Variation, Riemann Defense
1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 e5 3. dxe5 Nxe5 4. f4 Nc6
The Nimzowitsch Defense: Kennedy Variation, Riemann Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO B00, reached after 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 e5 3. dxe5 Nxe5 4. f4 Nc6. 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 159 times by this move order. White won 52%, 4% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 5. Nf3 (66% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.49 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 5. Nf3 Bb4+ 6. Nc3 Qe7 7. Bd3 d5)
- ECO
- B00
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pppp1ppp/2n5/8/4PP2/8/PPP3PP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 1 5- PGN
1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 e5 3. dxe5 Nxe5 4. f4 Nc6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 17 | |
| 1500-1999 | 43 | |
| 2000+ | 99 | |
| All | 159 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. Nf3 | 105 (66%) | |
| 5. Be3 | 21 (13%) | |
| 5. Bc4 | 19 (12%) | |
| 5. Nc3 | 10 (6%) | |
| 5. Bd3 | 2 (1%) | |
| 5. e5 | 1 (1%) | |
| 5. c4 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
49 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 51%, draw 14%, Black 35%). The strongest:
- GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2693) – GM Pranesh M (2673) 0-1 · 1st 3-0 Thu 6th Aug 2026 · 2026-08-06
- GM David Paravyan (2597) – GM Pranesh M (2673) 1/2-1/2 · 2nd 3-0 Thu 13th Aug 2026 · 2026-08-13
- GM Maxime Lagarde (2615) – GM Christian Bauer (2644) 1-0 · 5th ch-Francophonie Rapid · 2018-07-15
- GM Alexei Shirov (2647) – GM Axel Bachmann (2599) 0-1 · Iberoamericano Chess24 · 2020-06-20
- GM Maxime Lagarde (2615) – GM Alexander Zubov (2597) 1/2-1/2 · Corsican Circuit Final · 2018-10-22
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Supertimurchess (2486) – Rookz77 (2642) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- dfsocial (2589) – iCe_eNerGyTeaM (2520) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 480 + 0s
- NimzoStrikesAgain (2564) – Zohaib_Gillani (2528) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 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.