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Nimzo Statistics

Success rates and recommendations of the main variations for both White and Black

 

The two databases I’ve used to generate statistics are the following:

Megabase 99

The Week in Chess (TWIC)

Megabase 99 contains over a million games from the earliest games until the end of 1998. All World Championships and most of the major tournaments in history are included in this database.

The Week in Chess contains over 150 thousand games from the time period of 1994 until the present day. Once again most major tournaments are included in this database.

 

MegaBase 99

TWIC (1-245)
No. of games White wins Draws Black wins White score (%) No. of games White wins Draws Black wins White score (%)
Classical 4 Qc2 0-0 2954 923 1192 834 52 714 215 294 205 51
Classical 4 Qc2 c5 2388 876 891 621 55 289 109 100 80 55
Classical 4 Qc2 d5 1149 405 484 259 56 196 56 89 51 52
Rubinstein 4 e3 0-0 8558 2766 3489 2300 53 592 179 236 177 50
Rubinstein 4 e3 4...c5 2758 984 1006 765 54 542 189 189 164 52
Rubinstein 4 e3 b6 2568 893 905 770 52 271 97 88 86 52
Saemisch 4 a3 2313 736 703 870 47 194 66 47 81 46
4 f3 822 343 239 240 56 137 45 44 48 49
4 Nf3 1242 440 423 378 52 300 120 104 76 57
Leningrad 4 Bg5 1573 515 482 576 48 187 57 52 78 44
4 g3 1535 490 654 389 53 126 43 45 38 52

 

Conclusions

1) The Classical Variation (4 Qc2) and the Rubinstein Variation (4 e3) share a similar popularity over the last few years. Traditionally the Rubinstein Variation has been the main choice, with Black’s most popular reply being the flexible 4...0-0

2) In both the Classical and Rubinstein Variations, the draw has been the most common result of the three. This justifies the Nimzo’s reputation as being "solid and dependable".

3) The most reliable answer to the Classical is also 4...0-0, although in the last few years 4...d5 has enhanced its reputation

4) Of the lesser played lines, 4 Nf3 gives White reasonable results, while the sharp 4 f3 produces a lower ratio of draws. The same can also be said of the Leningrad Variation, except that Black is scoring well against 4 Bg5.