Petrov's Defense: Nimzowitsch Attack
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3
The Petrov's Defense: Nimzowitsch Attack is a chess opening classified as ECO C42, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3. It is a line of the Petrov's Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1,771 times by this move order. White won 51%, 7% were drawn and Black won 42%. The most popular continuation is 5… Nxc3 (79% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.17 (Stockfish, depth 52; best line 5… Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 O-O 8. Qd2)
- ECO
- C42
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp2ppp/3p4/8/4n3/2N2N2/PPPP1PPP/R1BQKB1R b KQkq - 1 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 174 | |
| 1500-1999 | 777 | |
| 2000+ | 820 | |
| All | 1,771 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Nxc3 | 1,394 (79%) | |
| 5… Nf6 | 217 (12%) | |
| 5… d5 | 105 (6%) | |
| 5… Qe7 | 22 (1%) | |
| 5… Bf5 | 14 (1%) | |
| 5… Nc5 | 8 (0%) | |
| 5… f5 | 6 (0%) | |
| 5… Be7 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
6,060 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 42%, draw 33%, Black 25%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2863) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2835) 1-0 · Clutch Chess Showdown Int · 2020-06-13
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2835) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2832) 1/2-1/2 · WCh 2018 · 2018-11-24
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2842) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2822) 1/2-1/2 · 6th Sinquefield Cup 2018 · 2018-08-25
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2863) – GM Levon Aronian (2773) 1-0 · Lindores Abbey Prelim · 2020-05-19
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2822) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2808) 1/2-1/2 · 6th Norway Chess 2018 · 2018-05-29
Search all games of the Petrov's Defense: Nimzowitsch Attack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- suyijia2004 (2731) – ScaryIndianJunior (2823) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- FM mick_chess (2747) – IM Hripach007 (2691) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
- CM JoeAssaad (2663) – madcap_tr (2640) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Petrov's Defense (4. Nf3 Nxe4) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4
More Petrov's Defense lines (all)
- Petrov's Defense (2. Nf3 Nf6) C42
- Petrov's Defense (2… Nf6 3. Nxe5) C42
- Petrov's Defense (3. Nxe5 d6) C42
- Petrov's Defense (3… d6 4. Nf3) C42
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack C42
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Berger Variation C42
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Chigorin Variation C42
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Chigorin Variation, Browne Attack C42
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Chigorin Variation, Main Line C42
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Closed Variation C42
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Jaenisch Variation C42
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Krause Variation C42
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.