Nimzowitsch Defense: Scandinavian Variation, Exchange Variation
1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 Qxd5
The Nimzowitsch Defense: Scandinavian Variation, Exchange Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B00, reached after 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 Qxd5. It is a line of the Nimzowitsch Defense. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 2,975 times by this move order. White won 47%, 5% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 4. Nf3 (61% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.27 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 4. Nf3 e5 5. Nc3 Bb4 6. Bd2 Bxc3)
- ECO
- B00
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
r1b1kbnr/ppp1pppp/2n5/3q4/3P4/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 Qxd5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 762 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,643 | |
| 2000+ | 570 | |
| All | 2,975 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. Nf3 | 1,811 (61%) | |
| 4. Nc3 Scandinavian Variation, Exchange Variation, Marshall Gambit | 487 (16%) | |
| 4. c3 | 304 (10%) | |
| 4. Be3 | 234 (8%) | |
| 4. c4 | 98 (3%) | |
| 4. Ne2 | 12 (0%) | |
| 4. b3 | 8 (0%) | |
| 4. Bd3 | 4 (0%) |
Master games
468 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 35%, draw 13%, Black 52%). The strongest:
- GM Abhimanyu Puranik (2584) – GM Christian Bauer (2623) 1-0 · 1st Abu Dhabi Super Blitz · 2020-04-15
- IM Sergey Sklokin-Bagiyan (2477) – GM V Pranav (2677) 1-0 · 1st 3-0 Thu 17th Sep 2026 · 2026-09-17
- GM Robert Hovhannisyan (2611) – GM Artashes Minasian (2482) 1-0 · 15th ch-EUR Indiv 2014 · 2014-03-08
- CM Dinesh Rajan M (2243) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2831) 0-1 · Titled Tue 24th Dec Early · 2024-12-24
- GM Nigel D Short (2660) – FM David Zakarian (2394) 1-0 · 4NCL 2014-15 · 2015-03-28
Highest-rated Lichess games
- JAGMM (2622) – josedavid321 (2662) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- KM2200 (2552) – IM filolog (2679) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- NimzoStrikesAgain (2603) – IM HelloItsDmitri (2605) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Nimzowitsch Defense: Scandinavian Variation 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 d5
Continuations
- Nimzowitsch Defense: Scandinavian Variation, Exchange Variation, Marshall Gambit B00 · 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 Qxd5 4. Nc3
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.