Nimzo-Larsen Attack
Overview
Nimzo-Larsen Attack is one of the foundational chess openings, sitting at the root of an entire branch of theory under ECO code Flank Openings in the A01 group.
The Flank Openings group covers flank openings — systems that delay the central pawn break and instead develop pieces and pawns on the wings.
It is reached after 1 ply of play, with the move sequence 1. b3.
It is the root of 7 named variations, with Classical Variation, Dutch Variation, English Variation, and others among the most studied.
In total, the branch covers 14 sub-variations across all depths.
Step through the moves on the interactive board below, review the live Lichess statistics, or play this position against Stockfish at one of six difficulty levels.
- ECO code
- A01
- Group
- Flank Openings (A)
- Plies
- 1
- Direct variations
- 7
- Total in subtree
- 14
This overview is generated automatically from the opening's metadata. Know this line well? Write a description — submissions are reviewed before publishing.
Statistics from Lichess
27,878,954 games · White 49.2% / Draw 4.9% / Black 45.9%
| Moves | Games | W / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| e5 | 8,434,482 | |
| d5 | 7,348,451 | |
| Nf6 | 3,743,060 | |
| e6 | 1,849,713 | |
| c5 | 1,658,088 | |
| g6 | 1,035,565 | |
| d6 | 879,797 | |
| c6 | 869,503 |
Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 00:32:49
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Variations (7)
Show all 14 sub-variations (full subtree)
- A01 Classical Variation 2-ply
- A01 Dutch Variation 2-ply
- A01 English Variation 2-ply
- A01 Indian Variation 2-ply
- A01 Modern Variation 2-ply
- A01 Polish Variation 2-ply
- A01 Symmetrical Variation 2-ply
- A01 Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Graz Attack 3-ply
- A01 Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Modern Variation 4-ply
- A01 Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Ringelbach Gambit 5-ply
- A01 Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Spike Variation 5-ply
- A01 Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Modern Variation 5-ply
- A01 Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Modern Variation 6-ply
- A01 Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Pachman Gambit 5-ply