Caissa Codex
E43

Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation 5…Bb7 6. Nf3

Chess diagram: Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation after 6. Nf3

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

166,653 games: White 47.4% / Draw 5.4% / Black 47.2%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
65,28965K
with Ne4 37,05337K
24,15624K
13,07313K
9,5739,573
8,8048,804
2,1782,178
2,0422,042

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 30, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.16 The position is about equal

Best play: 6... O-O 7. O-O c5 8. Na4 cxd4 9. exd4 Re8 10. a3 Bf8 11. Nc3

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

Overview

Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation (ECO E43, Indian Defenses) is a variation of the Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Bd3 Bb7 6. Nf3 (6 moves).

In 166,653 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 47.4%, Black 47.2% and 5.4% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 6…O-O, in 39% of those games.

It branches into 2 named variations; the most played is Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation, with Ne4. In all, 6 named lines continue from it.

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How to answer 6. Nf3

6…Bxc3+ scores best for Black: 51.8%, with Black winning 49.2% and White 45.7% of 24K games. The most played, 6…O-O, scores 50.4% in 65K games, and 6…d5 scores lowest: 46.9%. Stockfish's first choice is 6…O-O.

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 (2)

Other lines from the same position

Instead of 5. Bd3 Bb7 6. Nf3, the position after Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation also goes on to:

All 6 named lines that continue from here

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation (E43)”. Lichess data as of 30 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/nimzo-indian-defense-st-petersburg-variation-4

https://chesscodex.org/openings/nimzo-indian-defense-st-petersburg-variation-4