Sicilian Defense: Nimzowitsch Variation, Closed Variation
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3
The Sicilian Defense: Nimzowitsch Variation, Closed Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B29, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3. It is a line of the Sicilian Defense. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 2,051 times by this move order. White won 49%, 6% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 3… d5 (26% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.33 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 3… d6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 a6 6. Be3)
- ECO
- B29
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pp1ppppp/5n2/2p5/4P3/2N2N2/PPPP1PPP/R1BQKB1R b KQkq - 3 3- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 789 | |
| 1500-1999 | 771 | |
| 2000+ | 491 | |
| All | 2,051 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… d5 | 532 (26%) | |
| 3… Nc6 | 515 (25%) | |
| 3… d6 | 443 (22%) | |
| 3… e6 | 286 (14%) | |
| 3… g6 | 124 (6%) | |
| 3… e5 | 49 (2%) | |
| 3… a6 | 37 (2%) | |
| 3… b6 | 26 (1%) |
Master games
2,029 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 34%, draw 20%, Black 46%). The strongest:
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2816) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2808) 1/2-1/2 · GCT Blitz YourNextMove · 2018-06-15
- GM Viswanathan Anand (2759) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2808) 1/2-1/2 · GCT Blitz YourNextMove · 2018-06-15
- GM Viswanathan Anand (2759) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2808) 0-1 · GCT Rapid YourNextMove · 2018-06-12
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2804) – GM Boris Grachev (2654) 1-0 · FIDE World Cup 2017 · 2017-09-06
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2788) – GM Nils Grandelius (2649) 1-0 · 4th Norway Blitz 2016 · 2016-04-18
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Kruciatos (2722) – FM Squoznyak (2862) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Kruciatos (2726) – FM Squoznyak (2854) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Kruciatos (2744) – FM Squoznyak (2811) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Sicilian Defense: Nimzowitsch Variation 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6
Continuations
- Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, Opocensky Variation (7… Be6 8. Be3) B92 · 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 d6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 a6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. Be3
More Sicilian Defense lines (all)
- Sicilian Defense (1. e4 c5) B20
- Sicilian Defense: Amazon Attack B20
- Sicilian Defense: Big Clamp Formation B20
- Sicilian Defense: Bowdler Attack B20
- Sicilian Defense: Brick Variation B20
- Sicilian Defense: Czerniak Attack B20
- Sicilian Defense: Czerniak Attack, Queen Fianchetto Variation B20
- Sicilian Defense: Euwe Attack, Prins Gambit B20
- Sicilian Defense: Gloria Variation B20
- Sicilian Defense: Grob Variation B20
- Sicilian Defense: Keres Variation B20
- Sicilian Defense: King David's Opening B20
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.