Zukertort Opening: Nimzo-Larsen Variation

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. b3

The Zukertort Opening: Nimzo-Larsen Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A05, reached after 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. b3. It is a line of the Zukertort Opening. Black is to move.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 2,859 times by this move order. White won 50%, 7% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 2… g6 (43% of games).

Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 2… c5 3. c4 Nc6 4. Bb2 d5 5. cxd5)

ECO: A05
Moves: 3 plies
FEN: rnbqkb1r/pppppppp/5n2/8/8/1P3N2/P1PPPPPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 0 2
PGN: 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. b3

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

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
0-1499	267	55%41%
1500-1999	1,073	49%45%
2000+	1,519	49%42%
All	2,859	50%43%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
2… g6	1,223 (43%)	48%44%
2… d5	548 (19%)	49%43%
2… e6	320 (11%)	54%41%
2… d6	245 (9%)	51%43%
2… Nc6	172 (6%)	56%38%
2… b6	134 (5%)	50%40%
2… c5	97 (3%)	45%48%
2… c6	40 (1%)	45%50%

Master games

11,835 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 47%, draw 20%, Black 33%). The strongest:

LCZero0.31-dag-5350a2e-BT4-6147500 (3634) – Stockfishdev-20240513-e608eab8 (3662) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Superfinal 2024 · 2024-05-25
Stockfishdev-20240513-e608eab8 (3662) – LCZero0.31-dag-5350a2e-BT4-6147500 (3634) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Superfinal 2024 · 2024-05-25
GM So, W. (2815) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2832) 1/2-1/2 · chess.com Speed 5m+2spm 2017 · 2017-11-18
GM So, W. (2815) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2832) 0-1 · chess.com Speed 3m+2spm 2017 · 2017-11-18
GM Hikaru Nakamura (2787) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2835) 1/2-1/2 · Bullet Chess Winners 2023 · 2023-07-21

Search all games of the Zukertort Opening: Nimzo-Larsen Variation and its sub-variations

Highest-rated Lichess games

IM Kostik_Mostik (2902) – Nana_jede_cevape (2898) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
CM Romaa2011 (2784) – Jiordani_Jovanovich (2830) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
IM Kostik_Mostik (2905) – Johnizard (2707) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s

Comes from

Zukertort Opening (1. Nf3 Nf6) 1. Nf3 Nf6

More Zukertort Opening 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.