Nimzowitsch Defense: Williams Variation
1. e4 Nc6 2. Nf3 d6
The Nimzowitsch Defense: Williams Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B00, reached after 1. e4 Nc6 2. Nf3 d6. 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 5,261 times by this move order. White won 51%, 4% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 3. d4 (47% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.64 (Stockfish, depth 46; best line 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bd3 Be7)
- ECO
- B00
- Moves
- 4 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/ppp1pppp/2np4/8/4P3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. e4 Nc6 2. Nf3 d6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2,170 | |
| 1500-1999 | 2,269 | |
| 2000+ | 822 | |
| All | 5,261 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3. d4 | 2,465 (47%) | |
| 3. Bc4 | 1,151 (22%) | |
| 3. Bb5 | 632 (12%) | |
| 3. Nc3 | 551 (10%) | |
| 3. h3 | 150 (3%) | |
| 3. c3 | 131 (2%) | |
| 3. d3 | 66 (1%) | |
| 3. b3 | 17 (0%) |
Master games
3,506 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 40%, draw 19%, Black 41%). The strongest:
- Stockfish dev-20241122-b7f17346 (3677) – KomodoDragon 3.3 (3583) 1-0 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-12-13
- KomodoDragon 3.3 (3583) – Stockfish dev-20241122-b7f17346 (3677) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-12-10
- Stockfish dev-20230903-b25d68f6 (3666) – KomodoDragon 3.2 (3587) 1-0 · TCEC 25 Premier P/O 2023 · 2023-10-04
- KomodoDragon 3.2 (3587) – Stockfish dev-20230903-b25d68f6 (3666) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 25 Premier P/O 2023 · 2023-10-04
- RubiChess 20230823 (3508) – LCZero 0.31-dag-5107404-T2-5230000 (3633) 1-0 · TCEC 25 Premier P/O 2023 · 2023-10-04
Search all games of the Nimzowitsch Defense: Williams Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Tempstream (2742) – IM Kostik_Mostik (2904) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- FleakyGorgoz (2871) – IM Jamorris94 (2773) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- johnsam1 (2736) – IM Jamorris94 (2762) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Nimzowitsch Defense: Declined Variation 1. e4 Nc6 2. Nf3
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: 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.