Nimzowitsch Defense: Pseudo-Spanish Variation
1. e4 Nc6 2. Bb5
The Nimzowitsch Defense: Pseudo-Spanish Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B00, reached after 1. e4 Nc6 2. Bb5. It is a line of the Nimzowitsch Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 2,857 times by this move order. White won 49%, 5% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 2… e5 (30% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 49; best line 2… a6 3. Bxc6 dxc6 4. Nf3 e5 5. O-O)
- ECO
- B00
- Moves
- 3 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pppppppp/2n5/1B6/4P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQK1NR b KQkq - 2 2- PGN
1. e4 Nc6 2. Bb5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1,746 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,028 | |
| 2000+ | 83 | |
| All | 2,857 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2… e5 | 847 (30%) | |
| 2… Nd4 | 485 (17%) | |
| 2… a6 | 441 (15%) | |
| 2… Nf6 | 313 (11%) | |
| 2… d5 | 170 (6%) | |
| 2… Ne5 | 163 (6%) | |
| 2… d6 | 115 (4%) | |
| 2… e6 | 113 (4%) |
Master games
92 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 43%, draw 22%, Black 35%). The strongest:
- GM David Anton Guijarro (2673) – GM Praggnanandhaa R (2608) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 16th Mar · 2021-03-16
- GM Alberto David (2553) – GM Maxime Lagarde (2599) 1/2-1/2 · ch-FRA Blitz 2019 · 2019-06-01
- GM Aleksander Mista (2543) – GM Roeland Pruijssers (2519) 1-0 · Bundesliga 2012-13 · 2012-10-20
- GM Gil Popilski (2445) – GM Aram Hakobyan (2616) 0-1 · Titled Tue 3rd Oct Late · 2023-10-03
- IM Kazybek Nogerbek (2489) – GM Andrew Hong (2542) 0-1 · Titled Tue 9th Apr Late · 2024-04-09
Search all games of the Nimzowitsch Defense: Pseudo-Spanish Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- IM dozer01 (2561) – kintoho (2490) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- DragonRU1 (2453) – nobody12 (2584) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Sanjay_Noob (2429) – diego_corrales (2549) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Nimzowitsch Defense (1. e4 Nc6) 1. e4 Nc6
More Nimzowitsch Defense lines (all)
- 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
- Nimzowitsch Defense: Hornung Gambit 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.