Nimzo

I have been looking into the Nimzo and it looks a nice opening. But when looking down variations in Wiki, it did not mention what to do against 4. Bd2 (which I consider one of the most expected moves under the circumstances). What is best to play against that?

Lord-Svenstikov wrote:

I have been looking into the Nimzo and it looks a nice opening. But when looking down variations in Wiki, it did not mention what to do against 4. Bd2 (which I consider one of the most expected moves under the circumstances). What is best to play against that?

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I think 4. ... d4 will have good attacking chances

davidtiandayuan wrote:

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I think 4. ... d4 will have good attacking chances

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Do you mean 4 ... d5?

I am no expert but i would kill two birds with one stone and go with 4 ...Nc6 in doing so you continue to simply develop while also attacking and forcing the defense of the D4 pawn.

razor wrote: I am no expert but i would kill two birds with one stone and go with 4 ...Nc6 in doing so you continue to simply develop while also attacking and forcing the defense of the D4 pawn.

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i think 4...Nc6 will put you on the back foot after 5 d5;and therefore consider the conservative  4...c4 cool.since in the nimzo indian threats ,not actual combat,are glorified.

 

When I have done something in move four 5. a3 forces me to exchange a bishop for a knight with no advantage, moving back to d6/e7 which is too defensive or losing my bishop to the pawns after 5... Ba5 6. B4 Bb6 7. c5

What if white play 4.Bg5 or 4.Qc2. What would be Black best responce?

well on wiki it suggests quite a few moves. c5, d5, b6 (to Fianchetto), O-O. It was just the 4. bd2 that it didn't mention.

In response to 4. Bd2, 4...d5 is good for black. At this point, black probably already has a slight advantage, and what player as white wants to give black any chance of advantage by move five?! Because of this, many play 4. Qc2 instead. This is the Classical Variation and probably still the most popular response to the Nimzo-Indian. It avoids doubled c-pawns at the cost of some time. In other words, besides avoiding doubled c-pawns, the move Qc2 is not very useful

 

"5. a3 forces me to exchange a bishop for a knight with no advantage"

 

The reason the Nimzo-Indian defence is so unfashionable is this problem right here. People seem to fight so fervently for the bishop pair. If you firmly believe that the bishop pair is an advantage, then the Nimzo-Indian is not for you. Or you could play it as a sort of gambit where you give up the bishop pair for a lead in development. This gambit would work even better if white wasted its time playing a3, since black has obviously committed itself to an exchange on c3. If you were to simply retreat the bishop after a3, Bd2, or Qc2, then your playing the Nimzo would have been unjustified and probably give white a good edge.

The nimzo is unfashionable? since when?

It's one of black's best responses to d4. True black sacrifices the bishop pair, but his development is sound and he has good chances to fight for equality. If I didnt love the benko so much I'd probably play the nimzo/queens indian myself.   

tonightonly7 wrote:

In response to 4. Bd2, 4...d5 is good for black.

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5. Qa4+ Nc6 6. a3 Bxc3 7. Bxc3 Bd7 8. cd5 is my reponse.

I would wait with 4. ... 0-0 

If 5. a3 Bxc3 6. Bxc3 Ne4 and perhaps f5

I've found the best way to reply as black is something to the effect of 4...c5 5. a3 Bxc3 Ne4  and the bishop will be collected by black's knight with either doubled pawns as compensation for a slightly behind in development or say 6.Rc1 or Qc2 and then Nxc3 (or O-O) in which white will have a hard time gaining any advantage because he will lose the bishop pair as well and depending on whether he allows the doomed double c pawns or he/she wastes a lot of time developing his/her pieces.  Either way you should be fine.  The line is nothing to worry for black because either way black will get some kind of advantage in time or structure versus space for white.  Playing 1.d4 a good majority of the time, I haven't seen any problems to cause concern for black in that line.  I guess it just depends on who you are playing.  Well good luck with your study and enjoy chess.

Opening statistics from chessgames.com.

Hotflow and erad1288,

You guys proposed 4...b6 and 4...c5 respectively in response to 4. Bd2. I think both of these are pretty good ideas and depending on subtleties, may or may not be quite as good as 4...d5. However, I think both may be good enough for a slight edge for black. This takes me back to my original point. 4. Bd2 is a bad idea for white. Like I asked, who wants to give black a shot at an advantage by move 5?

Pokernikus wrote: tonightonly7 wrote:

In response to 4. Bd2, 4...d5 is good for black.

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5. Qa4+ Nc6 6. a3 Bxc3 7. Bxc3 Bd7 8. cd5 is my response.

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 Yes, and after Nxd5 you have allowed black to get a decent positional advantage. Also 7...Ne4 might create even more of an advantage.

Thanks Likesforests. I guess I still had a stereotype in my mind.

I'm not much into Queenside openings but
I think the textbook moves in reply to that could be c5 or d5.

4...0-0