Esta página também existe em português: Português (Brasil)
Nimzo-Indian Defense (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4)
How do Nimzo-Indian Defense games actually end? Across 13,554 Lichess games that reached the position after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4, White won 46.0%, 4.9% were drawn and Black won 49.1%. Below: the main line move by move, the most played continuations (the favorite is 4.Qc2), the rating effect and the opening's history.
The main line, move by move
| Move | Position name | Games | White | Draws | Black |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.d4 | Queen's Pawn Game | 697,933 | 50.4% | 4.7% | 44.9% |
| 1...Nf6 | Indian Defense | 179,238 | 45.6% | 5.0% | 49.4% |
| 2.c4 | Indian Defense: Normal Variation | 97,129 | 46.6% | 5.0% | 48.4% |
| 2...e6 | - | 33,438 | 47.4% | 5.1% | 47.4% |
| 3.Nc3 | - | 21,621 | 47.1% | 4.9% | 48.0% |
| 3...Bb4 | Nimzo-Indian Defense | 13,554 | 46.0% | 4.9% | 49.1% |
| 4.Qc2 | Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation | 2,774 | 46.4% | 5.3% | 48.3% |
| 4...O-O | - | 880 | 44.9% | 5.5% | 49.7% |
| 5.a3 | - | 272 | 48.5% | 5.9% | 45.6% |
The 5 most common continuations (for White)
| Move | Variation | Games | White | Draws | Black |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.Qc2 | Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation | 2,774 | 46.4% | 5.3% | 48.3% |
| 4.Nf3 | - | 2,243 | 44.9% | 4.5% | 50.6% |
| 4.e3 | - | 2,175 | 50.3% | 5.2% | 44.6% |
| 4.Bd2 | - | 1,909 | 43.0% | 6.4% | 50.6% |
| 4.Bg5 | - | 1,703 | 43.9% | 4.4% | 51.7% |
How rating changes the same position
| Rating band (average of the pair) | Games | White | Draws | Black |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1600-1799 | 5,286 | 48.5% | 4.6% | 46.8% |
| 2200-2499 | 861 | 43.6% | 7.3% | 49.1% |
The story of the opening
The Nimzo-Indian is the masterpiece of Aron Nimzowitsch, prophet of hypermodernism and author of My System, the 1925 book that ranks among the most influential in the game's history. The pin 3...Bb4 distills his philosophy: control the center from a distance without occupying it, and accept giving up the bishop pair in exchange for structure and blockade.
By near unanimous consensus across a century, it is one of the most respected defenses to 1.d4: so reliable that many White players choose the 3.Nf3 move order purely to forbid its existence, a compliment no other defense receives. Every world champion since Capablanca has faced or employed it, and in the Lichess statistics it keeps, band after rating band, one of Black's best scores against the queen's pawn.
Compare it with every other opening in the opening statistics archive, or visit its neighbors: Grünfeld Defense and London System. Nerd aside: chess notation is a 64 square code, cousin to the ones living next door, like binary and Morse.
Source: the Lichess open game database (database.lichess.org, CC0 data), months 2014-06, 2015-01, 2016-01, snapshot of 2026-07-09: blitz, rapid and classical games with the players' average rating between 1600 and 2199, aggregated by move sequence. Variation names and ECO codes: lichess-org/chess-openings (CC0).
Last updated: · Methodology and sources