1. d4 Nc6

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Avatar of birdboy1

it's not downright losing, although I think it's pretty unpleasant for black.  It probably will transpose to the chigorin defense after 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4

Avatar of gwnn

yes it is.

if white carelessly plays 2. c4, you have 2.. e5! with almost immediate equality.

2. e4 transposes into a Nimzowitsch defence, where 2 .. d5 was the original idea of Nimzowitsch (the consensus seems to be that white ought to play 1 e4-Nc6; 2 Nf3 as the best way of meeting the Nimzo).

White's best try is 2. Nf3, and then you have 2.. d5 at your disposal. white will have less central space than he is accustomed to, but also perhaps you will have less counterplay.

If you wish, you can transpose into the two knights tango (1 d4-Nf6 2 c4-Nc6) or the Zurich variation of the Nimzo-Indian (1 d4-Nf6 2 c4-e6 3 Nc3-Bb4 4 Qc2-Nc6), but I think 2 c4-e5 is stronger than either of these two possibilities.

There's not much theory about this opening so both you and your opponent will have to think for yourselves.

Avatar of gwnn

Oh yes, I didn't remember about the Chigorin. However, 3 Nf3 is a side-line of the Chigorin so there's a good chance White will not know it very well.

My book on d4 (written by John Cox) advises against entering it, and he thinks you should play c4 only later, if at all. He says Nc6 is 'really quite a reasonable move'.

Avatar of Atos

2.d5 is an independent line that doesn't transpose into anything, but actually it scores pretty well for the White. 

51 % 20.4 % 28.6 %  
Avatar of Atos
Balachandar wrote:

What if 1. d4 Nc6 2. e4 ?


That would probably transpose into Nimzowich Defense.

Avatar of Ilberg

[Event "98th ch-GBR"]

[Site "Sheffield ENG"]

[Date "2011.08.05"]

[Round "11"]

[White "Gordon,S"]

[Black "Short,N"]

[Result "1/2-1/2"]

[WhiteElo "2533"]

[BlackElo "2687"]

[EventDate "2011.07.25"]

[ECO "A40"]

 

1. d4 Nc6 2. d5 Ne5 3. e4 e6 4. dxe6 dxe6 5. Qxd8+ Kxd8 6. f4 Nc6 7. c3 Bc5

8. Nf3 a5 9. a4 Nh6 10. Bd3 f6 11. Ke2 Ke7 12. Na3 Bd7 13. Nc4 Nf7 14. h4

h5 15. Be3 Bxe3 16. Nxe3 b6 17. Rhg1 g5 18. g3 g4 19. Nd4 Nd6 20. Rac1 Rhc8

21. b3 Ne8 22. Rgf1 Nd8 23. e5 f5 24. Rfd1 Nb7 25. Rd2 Nc5 26. Rcd1 Ng7 27.

Nc4 Nxd3 28. Rxd3 Rd8 29. Na3 Ne8 30. Ke3 Rac8 31. R3d2 Rb8 32. Rd3 Rbc8

33. R1d2 Rb8 34. Kf2 Rbc8 35. Ke2 Ra8 36. Ke3 Rab8 37. Ke2 Ra8 38. Kf2 Rac8

39. Rd1 Rb8 40. R3d2 Rbc8 41. Ke1 Ra8 42. Rd3 Rab8 43. R1d2 Ra8 44. Kd1 Ng7

45. Kc2 Ne8 46. Kb2 Ng7 47. Nc4 Be8 48. Ka3 Rdc8 49. Nb5 Bc6 50. Rd4 Ne8

51. Nbd6 Rd8 52. Nxe8 Rxd4 53. Rxd4 Kxe8 1/2-1/2