Petrov's Defense: Nimzowitsch Attack
The Nimzowitsch Attack of the Petrov's Defense is 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3. Read the guide
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Statistics from Lichess
960,693 games: White 51.6% / Draw 7.0% / Black 41.4%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 743,529744K | ||
| 133,913134K | ||
| 51,77852K | ||
| 12,37912K | ||
| 8,1618,161 | ||
| 6,0936,093 | ||
| 2,2122,212 | ||
| 750750 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 8, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.17 The position is about equal
Best play: 5... Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 Nd7 8. Qd2 O-O 9. O-O-O Re8 10. Bd3
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
The stronger the players, the worse this line does for White: White scores 55% under 1400, 52% at 2200 and up and 58% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 73K | |
| 1400–1799 | 270K | |
| 1800–2199 | 601K | |
| 2200 and up | 182K | |
| Masters, over the board | 5,659 |
Master games
- Carlsen, M. – Caruana, F.
- Carlsen, M. – Caruana, F.
- Carlsen, M. – Caruana, F.
- Carlsen, M. – Aronian, L.
- Caruana, F. – Mamedyarov, S.
Rated blitz, rapid and classical Lichess games by rating band, and over-the-board games of players rated 2200+ from the Lichess masters database, updated Sep 27, 2026
Description
The Nimzowitsch Attack of the Petrov's Defense is 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3. Instead of the classical 5.d4, White offers to trade knights and accepts doubled c-pawns after 5...Nxc3 6.dxc3, in return for rapid development and queenside castling.
The plan
White can play a quick Be3, Qd2 and O-O-O and go for a kingside attack. White trusts that the doubled c-pawns will help protect the king, and that a strong initiative and attacking chances will outweigh their long-term drawback.
A trap: 5...Bf5?
Black must avoid 5...Bf5 6.Qe2, which wins a piece because of the pin on the e-file. If 6...Qe7, then 7.Nd5 forces 7...Qd7 because of the threat to c7, and 8.d3 wins the knight. Viswanathan Anand fell for this against Alonso Zapata at Biel 1988 and resigned after only six moves.
The numbers
On Lichess White wins 51.6% of the 960,693 games and Black 41.4%. From 2200 up the results are closer, 47.3% against 43.5%. Masters draw most of their games: in 5,659 games over the board 61.5% were drawn, White won 27.1% and Black 11.5%.
Suggest an improvement or report a mistake
How to play against Petrov's Defense: Nimzowitsch Attack
5…Nf6 scores best for Black: 46.4%, with Black winning 42.9% and White 50.1% of 134K games. The most played, 5…Nxc3, scores 45.0% in 744K games, and 5…d5 scores lowest: 43.6%. Stockfish's first choice is 5…Nxc3.
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
Popularity by year
Petrov's Defense: Nimzowitsch Attack has lost ground since 2016: 0.028% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.034% (its peak: 0.064% in 2018).
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.034% | 12,212 |
| 2017 | 0.041% | 22,423 |
| 2018 | 0.064% | 50,052 |
| 2019 | 0.061% | 75,851 |
| 2020 | 0.053% | 153,885 |
| 2021 | 0.039% | 152,833 |
| 2022 | 0.035% | 130,895 |
| 2023 | 0.032% | 120,230 |
| 2024 | 0.029% | 104,336 |
| 2025 | 0.028% | 95,829 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.027% | 29,777 |
Share of rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500 (blitz, rapid and classical) that reach this position, by year; 2026: January to April. Which openings are rising and falling
Sources
- History and theory: adapted from the Wikipedia article Petrov's Defence, version of 26 October 2026, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Results: Lichess opening explorer, figures collected from September to November 2026.
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Petrov's Defense: Nimzowitsch Attack (C42)”. Lichess data as of 8 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/petrovs-defense-nimzowitsch-attack