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Nimzo-Indian Defense

Moves

Black scores

48.1%

About even
Loses moreEvenWins more

45.7% won4.8% drawn49.5% lost

Theory 47.6% · Stockfish +0.3

Every level and clock · 7.8M games

1
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4
5
6
7
h8
g
f
e
d
c
b
a
3...Bb4
Analyze this line

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<100010001200140016001800200022002500+

Win rate by rating

Black’s score falls away as the rating rises.

RatingScore against evenScoreWonGames
48.6%47.5%34K
47.8%46.6%134K
47.3%45.9%378K
47.8%46.1%821K
48.4%46.4%1.4M
48.8%46.5%1.9M
48.8%46.1%1.7M
47.1%43.9%1.2M
44.5%38.7%288K

Every clock · Tap a row to set your level.

What does White play next?

White's most played reply is 4.Nf3, the Three Knights Variation.

Is the Nimzo-Indian Defense good?

Even for Black, across every level and clock.

Everyone48.1
Stockfish47.6

Stockfish at depth 22 · +0.3 for White

Floor 48.1 is the worst score you would still get, 90% confident.

Among the families

33rd of 65 families Black can choose

Where it wins · rating × clock

<100010001200140016001800200022002500+Every levelUltraBulletBulletBlitzRapidClassical
Best 52.9% · 1400–1599 ultrabulletWorst 42.4% · 2500+ rapid

Faint, hatched: few games, never the best or worst. –: too few to score. Tap a cell to set your level and clock.

Average game length

How do you score in your own openings?

Leaks reads your recent games and lists the openings you score worst in.

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More Nimzo-Indian Defense lines

Most played first; each line counts its own games.

All 65 Nimzo-Indian Defense lines, ranked

65 variations · ranked by floor

Floor — the worst score you would still get, 90% confident.

1
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Noa Variation, Main Line951 games
56.1%Floor 53.5%
2
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Rubinstein System, Hübner Variation14K games
53.6%Floor 52.9%
3
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Dilworth Gambit140K games
51.1%Floor 50.9%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Vitolins-Adorjan Gambit2.4K games
52.1%Floor 50.5%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Gligoric System, Exchange Variation28K games
50.8%Floor 50.4%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Botvinnik Variation2.2K games
52.0%Floor 50.3%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Milner-Barry Variation22K games
50.7%Floor 50.1%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Mikenas Attack19K games
50.5%Floor 49.9%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Gligoric System, Keres Variation2.9K games
51.2%Floor 49.8%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Romanovsky Variation1.0K games
52.1%Floor 49.6%
Nimzo-Indian Defense1.2M games
49.4%Floor 49.3%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Gligoric System, Bronstein Variation3.0K games
50.6%Floor 49.1%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Spielmann Variation, Carlsbad Variation2.1K games
50.8%Floor 49.1%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Simagin Variation5.9K games
50.1%Floor 49.0%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Leningrad Variation968K games
48.9%Floor 48.8%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Keres Defense23K games
49.4%Floor 48.8%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation263K games
48.9%Floor 48.8%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Spielmann Variation230K games
49.0%Floor 48.8%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Berlin Variation, Pirc Variation18K games
49.3%Floor 48.7%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation680K games
48.7%Floor 48.6%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Capablanca Variation999 games
51.1%Floor 48.5%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Berlin Variation268K games
48.5%Floor 48.4%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, O'Kelly Variation7.3K games
49.3%Floor 48.4%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Three Knights Variation, Shocron Gambit1.5K games
50.5%Floor 48.4%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Spielmann Variation, Romanovsky Gambit8.6K games
49.1%Floor 48.2%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation, Fischer Variation7.0K games
49.1%Floor 48.1%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Schlechter Defense33K games
48.5%Floor 48.1%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Three Knights Variation1.2M games
48.1%Floor 48.0%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Modern Variation1.8K games
49.8%Floor 47.8%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Romanishin Gambit2.0K games
49.6%Floor 47.8%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation, with Ne416K games
48.4%Floor 47.7%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Gligoric System45K games
48.0%Floor 47.6%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Reshevsky Variation72K games
47.9%Floor 47.6%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Berlin Variation, Steiner Variation1.0K games
50.0%Floor 47.5%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Three Knights Variation, Korchnoi Variation39K games
47.8%Floor 47.3%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Zurich Variation35K games
47.7%Floor 47.3%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Bernstein Defense9.5K games
48.0%Floor 47.2%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Bernstein Defense, Exchange Line9.1K games
48.0%Floor 47.2%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Rubinstein System, Rubinstein Variation, Main Line6.0K games
48.3%Floor 47.2%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation, American Variation4.7K games
48.4%Floor 47.2%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Gligoric System, Bernstein Defense12K games
47.8%Floor 47.1%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Classical Defense89K games
47.2%Floor 47.0%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Rubinstein System410K games
46.8%Floor 46.7%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation128K games
47.0%Floor 46.7%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation609K games
46.7%Floor 46.6%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Romanishin Variation105K games
46.8%Floor 46.5%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Keres Variation5.1K games
47.6%Floor 46.5%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Leningrad Variation, Benoni Defense3.5K games
47.7%Floor 46.3%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Noa Variation271K games
46.4%Floor 46.2%
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Noa Variation, Botvinnik Variation2.7K games
47.7%Floor 46.1%
Every Nimzo-Indian Defense variation, by name65
Analyze the Nimzo-Indian DefenseSee which move scores best at your level, one move at a time

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Methodology

Across every level and clock, the Nimzo-Indian Defense family scores 48.1% for Black, from 7.8M rated Lichess games across 65 variations, and the low and high ends of its range both round to that same figure at this precision. Win rate, draw rate and loss rate come from games played September 2023 to August 2026.

How the figures are made
Whose games these are
7.8M rated games played on Lichess (2023-09 to 2026-08). The games are Lichess’s and free for anyone to use. What is ours is the reading of them. Last rebuilt September 2026.
Which games we count
  • Rated games only — nothing casual.
  • Both players within 200 rating points of each other. A mismatch tells you about the gap, not about the opening.
  • At least 2 moves played.
  • A game is filed under White’s rating.
Why every number comes with a range
A number off a few hundred games is a guess. The same number off millions is a fact. The range is what tells them apart, and it is what the lists rank on — so an opening cannot reach the top on a lucky run of forty games. The more games behind a figure, the narrower its range.
What the Floor and Edge at worst are
The Floor is the worst score you would still get, 90% confident: the low end of a figure’s range, not its average. Edge at worst is how far wins run ahead of losses, 90% confident, so above zero, that side wins more than it loses even on a bad day. Each is stated for the rating and clock shown, over the games that reached the position. They are on different scales: a score sits at 50 when the sides are level, an edge at zero.
How much we need before we say anything
An opening page needs 100 games. A figure on it needs 100 games at its rating and clock: short of that the answer reads a wider scope and says so, a table row shows only its count, and a map cell shows a dash. Under 1.0K games a figure is drawn faint, and never leads a list or counts as the best or worst place the line wins. The chaos and trap lists need 500 games overall and 250 games at one rating or clock.