Nimzowitsch Defense: Complete Guide

An unorthodox reply to 1.e4 — Black develops the queenside knight before committing a single pawn, keeping the option to strike back in the center with d5 or e5 later. Drill every main line against an adaptive engine, backed by real Lichess win rates and Stockfish evaluations.

79 variations 570,874,629 total games Avg Stockfish +0.64

Play the main line: Nimzowitsch Defense: Nf3

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All 79 variations of the Nimzowitsch Defense

Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Nf3 ECO B00 335M games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Declined Variation: e5 ECO B00 74M games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Kennedy Variation: Nf3 ECO B00 45M games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense ECO B00 24M games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Nc3 ECO B00 16M games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Declined Variation ECO B00 11M games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Williams Variation: d4 ECO B00 7M games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Kennedy Variation ECO B00 7M games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Kennedy Variation, Linksspringer Variation ECO B00 4M games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Scandinavian Variation, Advance Variation ECO B00 4M games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Scandinavian Variation ECO B00 2M games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: d4 ECO B00 2M games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Kennedy Variation: d5 ECO B00 2M games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Scandinavian Variation, Advance Variation: e6 ECO B00 2M games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Franco-Nimzowitsch Variation ECO B00 2M games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Scandinavian Variation: e5 ECO B00 2M games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Declined Variation: e6 ECO B00 2M games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Scandinavian Variation, Exchange Variation ECO B00 1M games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Scandinavian Variation: exd5 ECO B00 1M games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Williams Variation ECO B00 1M games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Mikenas Variation ECO B00 1M games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Declined Variation: d6 ECO B00 1M games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Declined Variation: d5 ECO B00 956K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Bc4 ECO B00 954K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Scandinavian Variation, Exchange Variation: Nf3 ECO B00 867K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Pseudo-Spanish Variation ECO B00 759K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Kennedy Variation, Linksspringer Variation: Nd4 ECO B00 749K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Scandinavian Variation: Nc3 ECO B00 742K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Scandinavian Variation, Advance Variation: Bf5 ECO B00 727K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Scandinavian Variation, Bogoljubow Variation ECO B00 720K games Gambits Nimzowitsch Defense: Kennedy Variation, de Smet Gambit ECO B00 592K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Kennedy Variation: dxe5 ECO B00 592K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Franco-Nimzowitsch Variation: d4 ECO B00 536K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Mikenas Variation: Nf3 ECO B00 536K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: French Connection ECO B00 468K games Gambits Nimzowitsch Defense: Colorado Countergambit ECO B00 406K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Kennedy Variation, Linksspringer Variation: Nce7 ECO B00 395K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Mikenas Variation: Nc3 ECO B00 341K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Declined Variation: Nf6 ECO B00 282K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Scandinavian Variation, Exchange Variation: Nc3 ECO B00 250K games Gambits Nimzowitsch Defense: Colorado Countergambit Accepted ECO B00 215K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Declined Variation: f5 ECO B00 215K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: f4 ECO B00 211K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Scandinavian Variation, Bogoljubow Variation, Vehre Variation ECO B00 206K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Franco-Nimzowitsch Variation: Bc4 ECO B00 196K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Franco-Nimzowitsch Variation: Nc3 ECO B00 168K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Breyer Variation ECO B00 167K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Scandinavian Variation, Advance Variation: f6 ECO B00 147K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Williams Variation: Bc4 ECO B00 114K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Kennedy Variation, Linksspringer Variation: Nb4 ECO B00 114K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Woodchuck Variation ECO B00 91K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Bb5 ECO B00 85K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: El Columpio Defense ECO B00 84K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Scandinavian Variation, Exchange Variation: c3 ECO B00 74K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Kennedy Variation: Bc4 ECO B00 68K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Pirc Connection ECO B00 66K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Mikenas Variation: d5 ECO B00 59K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Kennedy Variation: c3 ECO B00 58K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Scandinavian Variation, Exchange Variation: Be3 ECO B00 48K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Franco-Nimzowitsch Variation: Bb5 ECO B00 47K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Neo-Mongoloid Defense ECO B00 45K games Gambits Nimzowitsch Defense: Scandinavian Variation, Bogoljubow Variation, Heinola-Deppe Gambit ECO B00 45K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Scandinavian Variation, Exchange Variation: c4 ECO B00 44K games Gambits Nimzowitsch Defense: Kennedy Variation, Bielefelder Gambit ECO B00 39K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Mikenas Variation: c4 ECO B00 36K games Gambits Nimzowitsch Defense: Kennedy Variation, Hammer Gambit ECO B00 28K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Franco-Nimzowitsch Variation: c3 ECO B00 26K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Williams Variation: Bb5 ECO B00 24K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Williams Variation: Nc3 ECO B00 23K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Kennedy Variation, Linksspringer Variation: Na5 ECO B00 20K games Gambits Nimzowitsch Defense: Hornung Gambit ECO B00 16K games Gambits Nimzowitsch Defense: Scandinavian Variation, Aachen Gambit ECO B00 15K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Kennedy Variation, Linksspringer Variation: Nb8 ECO B00 8K games Gambits Nimzowitsch Defense: Scandinavian Variation, Bogoljubow Variation, Brandics Gambit ECO B00 4K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Scandinavian Variation, Advance Variation: a6 ECO B00 3K games Gambits Nimzowitsch Defense: Scandinavian Variation, Bogoljubow Variation, Erben Gambit ECO B00 3K games Gambits Nimzowitsch Defense: Wheeler Gambit ECO B00 2K games Gambits Nimzowitsch Defense: Kennedy Variation, Herford Gambit ECO B00 2K games Openings & Plans Nimzowitsch Defense: Mikenas Variation: Bb5 ECO B00 1K games

Frequently asked questions about the Nimzowitsch Defense

What is the nimzowitsch in chess?

The Nimzowitsch is a chess opening family with 79 variations covered on Chessy. Over 571 million Lichess games have reached these positions across all rating levels.