Caissa Codex
E48

Nimzo-Indian Defense: Ragozin Defense

Chess diagram: Nimzo-Indian Defense: Ragozin Defense after 7. O-O

Type a move and press Enter: e4, Nf3, O-O, or from and to squares like g1f3 (e7e8q to promote). The board is also played with the mouse.

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Statistics from Lichess

48,060 games: White 58.6% / Draw 3.8% / Black 37.6%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
9,0669,066
8,7228,722
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Ragozin Variation 6,7236,723
5,7865,786
5,1715,171
3,0573,057
2,9072,907
1,2581,258

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 7, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.36 White is slightly better

Best play: 7... a6 8. h3 dxc4 9. Bxc4 Bd6 10. e4 e5 11. d5 Ne7 12. a4

Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.

Overview

Nimzo-Indian Defense: Ragozin Defense (ECO E48, Indian Defenses) is a variation of the Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Classical Defense, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. O-O (7 moves).

In 48,060 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 58.6%, Black 37.6% and 3.8% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 7…Bxc3, in 19% of those games.

It continues into one named variation, Nimzo-Indian Defense: Ragozin Variation.

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How to answer 7. O-O

7…Re8 scores best for Black: 43.2%, with Black winning 41.3% and White 54.8% of 8,722 games. The most played, 7…Bxc3, scores 37.9% in 9,066 games, and 7…Bd7 scores lowest: 34.4%. Stockfish's first choice is 7…a6.

Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: Black's wins plus half the draws, in rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500. How to play against other popular openings

Variations (1)

Other lines from the same position

Instead of 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. O-O, the position after Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Classical Defense also goes on to:

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Nimzo-Indian Defense: Ragozin Defense (E48)”. Lichess data as of 7 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/nimzo-indian-defense-ragozin-defense

https://chesscodex.org/openings/nimzo-indian-defense-ragozin-defense