Opening family
Nimzo-Indian Defense Lines and Variations
The Nimzo-Indian Defense family contains 98 named lines in this opening book, spanning ECO E20 to E59. Use this page as the map, then open individual lines for exact move orders and diagrams.
How to study this family
White
White takes the center and decides whether the bishop pair is worth structural concessions.
Black
Black fights for dark squares, often exchanging on c3 to damage White’s structure before striking the center.
Start with the shortest line, then branch to the variations that change the pawn structure or tactical target. Memorizing every branch before understanding the family plan is usually wasted work.
Main named lines
- E20 · Nimzo-Indian Defense
- E20 · Nimzo-Indian Defense: Dilworth Gambit
- E20 · Nimzo-Indian Defense: Kmoch Variation
- E20 · Nimzo-Indian Defense: Mikenas Attack
- E20 · Nimzo-Indian Defense: Romanishin Variation
- E21 · Nimzo-Indian Defense: Three Knights Variation
- E22 · Nimzo-Indian Defense: Spielmann Variation
- E24 · Nimzo-Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation
- E30 · Nimzo-Indian Defense: Leningrad Variation
- E32 · Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation
- E40 · Nimzo-Indian Defense: Rubinstein System
- E33 · Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Zurich Variation
- E34 · Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Noa Variation
- E38 · Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Berlin Variation
- E40 · Nimzo-Indian Defense: Rubinstein System, Taimanov Variation
- E41 · Nimzo-Indian Defense: Rubinstein System
- E43 · Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation
- E46 · Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation
- E21 · Nimzo-Indian Defense: Three Knights Variation, Korchnoi Variation
- E36 · Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Noa Variation
- E42 · Nimzo-Indian Defense: Rubinstein System, Rubinstein Variation
- E44 · Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation
- E46 · Nimzo-Indian Defense: Reshevsky Variation
- E47 · Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation
Deep theory branches
- 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 dxc4 8. Bxc4 c5 9. Nf3 Nc6 10. O-O Qc7 11. Qc2 — Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Bernstein Defense
- 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 c5 7. O-O Nc6 8. a3 Bxc3 9. bxc3 dxc4 10. Bxc4 — Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Bernstein Defense
- 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 c5 5. Bd3 Nc6 6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 O-O 8. Ne2 b6 9. e4 Ne8 — Nimzo-Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Capablanca Variation
- 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Bd3 Bb7 6. Nf3 O-O 7. O-O c5 8. Na4 cxd4 9. a3 Be7 — Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation
- 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 c5 7. O-O Nc6 8. a3 dxc4 9. Bxc4 cxd4 — Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Gligoric System, Bernstein Defense
- 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qb3 c5 5. dxc5 Nc6 6. Nf3 Ne4 7. Bd2 Nxc5 8. Qc2 f5 9. g3 — Nimzo-Indian Defense: Spielmann Variation, Stahlberg Variation
- 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 b6 5. e3 Ne4 6. Qc2 Bb7 7. Bd3 Bxc3+ 8. bxc3 f5 9. O-O — Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation
- 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 c5 7. O-O Nc6 8. a3 Bxc3 9. bxc3 — Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Bernstein Defense, Exchange Line
- 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 c5 5. g3 cxd4 6. Nxd4 O-O 7. Bg2 d5 8. cxd5 Nxd5 — Nimzo-Indian Defense: Romanishin Variation, English Hybrid
- 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7. e3 O-O 8. cxd5 Nxd5 — Nimzo-Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Botvinnik Variation
- 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. dxc5 f5 — Nimzo-Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Romanovsky Variation
- 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 Ne4 7. Qc2 Nc6 8. e3 e5 — Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Noa Variation, San Remo Variation
- 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 c5 5. Bd3 Nc6 6. Nf3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 d6 8. O-O O-O — Nimzo-Indian Defense: Rubinstein System, Hübner Variation
- 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 c5 6. Nf3 b6 7. O-O Bb7 8. Na4 Qe7 — Nimzo-Indian Defense: St. Petersburg Variation
- 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 c5 7. O-O dxc4 8. Bxc4 Qe7 — Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Gligoric System, Smyslov Variation
- 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 c5 7. O-O dxc4 8. Bxc4 Nbd7 — Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Gligoric System, Bronstein Variation