Nimzo Indian Question

Hi everybody;

I have never really looked into the Nimzo Indian Defence before, but consider doing so now.

Generally the position looks comfortable for Black.

However there is one thing I find problematic: How can Black prevent the white pawn from going to e5?

The few times I tried this opening, I always got crushed when that happened.

I'm not asking for specific lines; more for general ideas and plans.

Maybe if you could point me to an instructive game or two, that would be very helpful...

Many thanks for taking your time!

To prevent white`s pawn from going to e5 prevent it from going to e4.

Most of the time this will happen automatically since The black bishop on b4 influences e4 and black also has a knight on f6.

Thanks for your quick reply! I understand the point; espially about the knight on f6.

However; isn't the bishop usually traded off in the opening, by taking on c3?

And as for my knight on f6; I have ended up getting this knight pinned and then attacked by the e5-advance. Made me look like a complete beginner who doesn't know where to put his pieces; which I guess is true in this opening.

by trading the bishop on c3, you remove one of the defenders of the e4 square, so often white can't advance to e4 without dropping the pawn. Restraining e4 in this way (with a piece, without committing your pawn structure and thus retaining a great flexibility) is basically the main idea behind the nimzo indian. (while a lot of beginners think that the idea is "saddling white with weak doubled pawns"). As a consequence it's rather difficult for white to play e4 without a long preparation or without making some serious concessions. If you give us an example of how things have gone wrong in your games, we may be able to offer some concrete advice.

Thanks!

As it is, I do have only one tournament game where I tried the Nimzo Indian and failed. One other I won against a complete beginner, and the other times I tried the Nimzo where in Rapid/Blitz where I don't have a scoresheet/notation for the games. Unfortunately the game above does not have my usual problem with the e5-advance but with me neglecting developement for an attack which at the time looked promising to me. The game probably shows my lack of understanding Nimzo Indian ideas and concepts. (Though I still think that after 14...Bxf2 I am clearly better.)

Your comments will be most welcome!

Again thanks for taking your time!

This is a common misconception in the Nimzo-Indian.  Is the Bishop traded off on c3?  Sometimes!  The purpose for 3...Bb4 is not to trade it off on c3.  Sometimes it trades itself off on c3 if there is a purpose behind it, but other times, it might recapture on c5 after a pawn capture by White (dxc5).  Many other times, it retreats to e7 or even f8 if Black has already castled and played Re8.

The Nimzo-Indian should be compared with the Queen's Gambit Declined, and not the other Indian Defenses.  It's all about preventing e4.  The Grunfeld, Benoni, Benko, King's Indian, etc all allow e4 by White.

After 1.d4 Nf6 (preventing e4) 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 (threatening e4), 3...d5 would directly transpose to the QGD, and 3...Bb4 is the only other way to specifically try to prevent e4 by White.  This is why the Queen's Indian is no good against 3.Nc3.  Against 3.Nf3, White has no direct threat to play 4.e4, and so Black has time to play 3...b6 and then use his Bishop to cover e4 a second time instead of he d-pawn or the Dark-Squared Bishop via nullifying the Knight on c3.

In some of the main lines, like say, 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 d5 6.a3, Black doesn't take on c3.  Instead, 6...Be7 is played here, and Black's argument is that in return for taking 2 moves to develop the Bishop to e7, White has shut in his DSB on c1 AND has played a3, which Black may try to prove as being a wasted move, compared to the Orthodox QGD where White develops his Bishop to g5 and his a-pawn usually sits at home on a2 for the time being.

Most, though not all, lines where Black has played c5, like 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, are the cases where Black will capture on c3 as going to a5 in this case is just silly and allows White to expand on the Queenside.

The other common scenario, and probably the ONLY scenario where Black should capture on c3 without being pushed to do so by a3, is in the Huebner Variation, which is 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 c5 5.Bd3 Nc6 6.Nf3 (6.Nge2 is a more modern variation that usually results in an Isolated Queen pawn for White) and now 6...Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 d6 intending 8...e5 with a dark-squared blockade, and Black tries to keep the position shut, trade off pieces, and if he can't attack the White King directly, his next goal is to achieve the "Good Knight versus Bad Bishop" scenario in the endgame.  Typically he will trade off the Light-Squared Bishops, saddle White with his Dark-Squared Bishop, and try to pick off the c4 pawn with his Knight.  You don't want to do this early on though, as White can sacrifice the pawn, move his c3 pawn to c4, and open up the diagonal for his Bishop, which is specifically what Black wants to avoid with White having the Bishop pair.

If you want to master the Nimzo-Indian, also look at the Queen's Gambit Declined.  There are a lot of similar ideas.  The Nimzo-Indian and Queen's Indian are not like the other Indian Defenses, kinda like how Lutheran is a lot more similar to Catholic than it is to the other Protestant religions, even though Lutheran is technically a Protestant religion.

Great answer! Thanks!

Yes, many lines White does get in e4, but never without a cost.  Allowing e4 on move 4 is an outright mistake for Black.

However, if White plays a line of the Nimzo-Indian like 4.f3 (which blocks the f3 square and so the Knight can't go there, and so the Kingside pieces tend to trip over each other), or some other line that is super-duper slow.  Another common scenario (take the Huebner, for example) is you impose damage to White's pawn structure, and then plug up the dark squares, and so your pawns block his DSB, his own pawns block his LSB, and Black's idea is that the Knights are better than the Bishops.

There is no hard and fast rule that applies to all lines of any opening, but whatever you do, DON'T play 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 b6? 4.e4!

Thanks; I'll keep that in mind.

Actually I think I'll have a closer look at hedgehog structures. It can be reached both via the Paulsen-Taimanov Sicilian and also the Nimzo-Indian so it would be a good addition to my repertoire. Studying these structures should help me solve my Nimzo-Indian problems.

I believe if you do not want to experience a slow death black needs to make F4 matter more than E4!