Indian · a defense for Black
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Leningrad Variation
7/7
1.d4Nf62.c4e63.Nc3Bb44.Bg5
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Leningrad Variation1.5M games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
32%484k50%
22%334k56%
18%270k47%
10%155k50%
8.6%131k47%
4.4%66k51%
1.7%25k47%
1.4%21k53%
0.8%11k44%
0.6%8.5k46%
Famous games in this line2.1k master games
Korobov, Anton (2720) – Kramnik, Vladimir (2784)Jussupow, Artur (2680) – Karpov, Anatoly (2775)Ivanchuk, V. (2710) – Wojtaszek, R. (2727)Ivanchuk, Vassily (2717) – Topalov, Veselin (2718)Moiseenko, Alexander (2715) – Bacrot, Etienne (2714)Ivanchuk, V. (2704) – Wang Yue (2720)Ponomariov, Ruslan (2764) – Meier, Georg (2656)Sasikiran, Krishnan (2653) – Gashimov, Vugar (2759)Heroes of this opening Karpov, Anatoly · Ivanchuk, V. · Sasikiran, Krishnan
- Family
- Nimzo-Indian Defense
- Category
- Indian
- First move
- 1.d4
- ECO
- E30
- Line
- 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Bg5
PositionalHypermodern
★ Read the guide: Nimzo-Indian DefenseExplore all 99 Nimzo-Indian Defense lines →Keep exploring
Go deeper — named lines from here
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Leningrad Variation, Benoni Defense4…h6 5.Bh4 c5 6.d5 d6Nimzo-Indian Defense: Leningrad Variation, Averbakh Gambit4…h6 5.Bh4 c5 6.d5 b5
Nearby lines in the family
From the archives
Aron Nimzowitsch's ...Bb4 pin was little known when the 1920s began and one of Black's favoured defences by the time they ended; it reached a world-championship match in 1929. Its idea was radical: control the centre with PIECES, trade the bishop for structural damage, and grind.
Study this opening