699 games from Lichess · Updated January 2026
At all ratings, the Nimzo-Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Romanovsky Variation has a 51.9% expected score for Black (we're 90% confident it's between 48.8% and 55.0%), based on 699 Lichess games.
Deep-dive datasets for this opening
Improves with rating: 20% → 43%
Best in Bullet (50%), worst in Classical (33%)
Click any cell to filter. Green = above 50%, Red = below 50%.
| Rating | UB | Bulle | Blitz | Rapid | Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0-999 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1000-1199 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1200-1399 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1400-1599 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1600-1799 | — | — | — | ||
| 1800-1999 | — | ||||
| 2000-2199 | — | ||||
| 2200-2499 | — | — | |||
| 2500+ | — | — |
Expected score matrix by rating bracket and time control
The Nimzo-Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Romanovsky Variation has a 44.8% (90% CI: 41.7%-47.9%) win rate for white, based on 699 rated games from Lichess.
The Nimzo-Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Romanovsky Variation performs best at 2500+ Elo with a 48.9% win rate for white (196 games). Win rate tends to decline at higher ratings as opponents know the theory better.
Blitz (45.6%) outperforms Bullet (43.6%) by 2.0%. Choose your time control wisely.
The Nimzo-Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Romanovsky Variation has a sharpness score of 93.2 (decisive), meaning 93.2% of games end decisively. Average game length is 37 moves.
At 2000-2199 Elo, the Nimzo-Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Romanovsky Variation has a 39.5% (90% CI: 31.9%-47.4%) win rate for white, based on 106 Lichess games. Average game length is 31 moves with a 6.0% draw rate.
At 2200-2499 Elo, the Nimzo-Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Romanovsky Variation has a 43.5% (90% CI: 39.3%-47.7%) win rate for white, based on 377 Lichess games. Average game length is 38 moves with a 6.7% draw rate.
At 2500+ Elo, the Nimzo-Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Romanovsky Variation has a 48.9% (90% CI: 43.0%-54.7%) win rate for white, based on 196 Lichess games. Average game length is 40 moves with a 8.4% draw rate.
In Bullet games, the Nimzo-Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Romanovsky Variation has a 43.6% (90% CI: 37.1%-50.2%) win rate for white (151 Lichess games). Draw rate is 6.2%.
In Blitz games, the Nimzo-Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Romanovsky Variation has a 45.6% (90% CI: 42.0%-49.2%) win rate for white (511 Lichess games). Draw rate is 5.8%.
The Nimzo-Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Romanovsky Variation is slightly favors black with a 44.8% (90% CI: 41.7%-47.9%) win rate across all ratings. It performs best at 2500+ Elo. Your results depend on your rating, time control, and how well you know the typical plans.