Nimzowitsch Defense (1. e4 Nc6)

1. e4 Nc6

The Nimzowitsch Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO B00, reached after 1. e4 Nc6. White is to move. 7 named lines continue from this position.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 114,820 times by this move order. White won 50%, 4% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 2. Nf3 (40% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.44 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. c3 e6)

ECO: B00
Moves: 2 plies
FEN: r1bqkbnr/pppppppp/2n5/8/4P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 1 2
PGN: 1. e4 Nc6

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
0-1499	51,932	52%44%
1500-1999	49,738	49%47%
2000+	13,150	48%47%
All	114,820	50%46%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
2. Nf3 Declined Variation	45,478 (40%)	51%45%
2. d4 Nimzowitsch Defense (1… Nc6 2. d4)	32,698 (28%)	49%47%
2. Bc4	10,299 (9%)	51%45%
2. Nc3	9,721 (8%)	51%45%
2. f4	4,300 (4%)	50%47%
2. d3	3,051 (3%)	47%48%
2. Bb5 Pseudo-Spanish Variation	2,857 (2%)	49%46%
2. c3	1,905 (2%)	49%47%

Master games

1,542 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 43%, draw 13%, Black 44%). The strongest:

LCZero 0.30-dag-a9b25c2b-BT2-3 (3598) – Stockfish dev-20230409-b36d39d (3639) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 24 Superfinal 2023 · 2023-04-15
Stockfish dev-20230409-b36d39d (3639) – LCZero 0.30-dag-a9b25c2b-BT2-3 (3598) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 24 Superfinal 2023 · 2023-04-15
GM Jorden Van Foreest (2690) – GM Daniil Dubov (2708) 1/2-1/2 · MrDodgy Inv 3 GpA · 2022-11-25
GM Vugar Rasulov (2539) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2832) 0-1 · Titled Tue 30th Jul Late · 2024-07-30
GM Vladislav Kovalev (2648) – GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2678) 0-1 · PNWCC Blitz Championship · 2020-08-02

Search all games of the Nimzowitsch Defense and its sub-variations

Highest-rated Lichess games

Nana_jede_cevape (2900) – GM gmbrewchess (2963) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
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

Comes from

King's Pawn Game (1. e4) 1. e4

Continuations

Nimzowitsch Defense (1… Nc6 2. d4) B00 · 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4
Nimzowitsch Defense: Declined Variation B00 · 1. e4 Nc6 2. Nf3
Nimzowitsch Defense: Pseudo-Spanish Variation B00 · 1. e4 Nc6 2. Bb5
Nimzowitsch Defense: Wheeler Gambit B00 · 1. e4 Nc6 2. b4
Nimzowitsch Defense: French Connection B00 · 1. e4 Nc6 2. Nc3 e6
Nimzowitsch Defense: Pirc Connection B00 · 1. e4 Nc6 2. Nc3 g6
Nimzowitsch Defense: Breyer Variation B00 · 1. e4 Nc6 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. d4 e5

More Nimzowitsch Defense lines (all)

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.