What to do against the Nimzowitsch defense... - Chess Forums

AleksChess03

Aug 30, 2020

0

#1

The Title says it all.

LM_player

Aug 30, 2020

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#2

I assume you are referring to the Scandinavian Variation of the Nimzowitsch defense:

1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 d5

Here, White has a couple of options. 3. exd5 is my preferred one.

3. exd Qxd 4. Nf3 (Developing a knight and adding a defender to the d4-pawn) 4...Bg4 5. Be2 (Unpinning the knight) 5...Nf6 6. c4! (Attacking Black’s queen) 6...Qf5 7. Be3 or 7. O-O

Or, you could play 2. Nf3 instead of 2. d4, where they will most likely choose to play a simple Two Knights, after 2...e5. That, or they will play 2...d5?! anyway
3. exd5 Qxd 4. Nc3 Qa5 (with a better position for White)

Hope this helps

FrogCDE

Aug 30, 2020

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#3

sndeww

Aug 30, 2020

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#4

Yes, I would play Nc3.

king5minblitz119147

Aug 30, 2020

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#5

would go with 2 nf3. bonus to ensnare someone with 2..d6 3 d4 bg4 4 d5!? ne5 5 nxe5 bxd1 6 bb5+ with a better position for white, and also more fun for white. however if you play the vienna then 2 nc3 is the way to go.

ThrillerFan

Aug 30, 2020

0

#6

2.Nc3 does not do anything. 2...d6 or 2...Nf6 are just as much possible as 2...e5.

Stronger are 2.Nf3 and 2.d4, the former being the latest fashion due to some dangerous lines in White's favor if Black doesn't transpose to Double King-pawn openings.

swarminglocusts

Sep 2, 2020

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#7

Nc3 don’t advance all your pawns.

Professor_Gobbles

Mar 10, 2022

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#8

ThrillerFan wrote:

2.Nc3 does not do anything. 2...d6 or 2...Nf6 are just as much possible as 2...e5.

Stronger are 2.Nf3 and 2.d4, the former being the latest fashion due to some dangerous lines in White's favor if Black doesn't transpose to Double King-pawn openings.

As a nimzo player, I can tell you most of us will avoid going into king's pawn games as much as possible. They will prob play a dark knight pirc or trade queens after d6 e5.

Professor_Gobbles

Mar 10, 2022

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#9

AleksChess03 wrote:

The Title says it all.

The wheeler gambit is quite strong. It allows you to get extra tempo, an open b-file, and c3 played at the cost of a pawn.

I_PLAYLIKE_CARUANA

Mar 10, 2022

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#10

Wesley recommendation against nimzowitsch in his e4 course

I_PLAYLIKE_CARUANA

Mar 10, 2022

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#11

NM darkunorthodox88

Mar 11, 2022

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#12

its a nimzowitsch defense trade secret that we much rather see 2.d4 than 2.nf3.

(actually 2.nc3 may be even more annoying contra thriller's comment, the problem is, the nimzo-pirc approach is inferior vs 2.nc3 because white can get a favorable formation with d4 and f4 where black doesnt have the c5 manuever like in the austrian variation of the pirc and the threat of always watching your back for the e5 pawn thrust is very annoying. black can play 2.e5 but this is a stylistic concession ).

after 2.nf3 black has a bunch of replies that range from best, good, dubious and thrash. objectively best is 2.e5 transposing to king pawn territory but since this is almost certainly fine for white as he played 1.e4 anyways (unless you were hoping exclusively for vienna/bishop's opening/king's gambit but this is rare), and doesnt fit the nimzowitsch style, yoou may not see it too often . After that, they are lines with 2.d6 that are objectively decent, usually played like a pirc defense. 2.e6 is somewhat ok if black knows what he is doing, the rest of the replies are dubious or worse and you should study their refutations.

tygxc

Mar 11, 2022

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#13

#13
Carlsen regularly plays it
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1997152

jamesstack

Mar 11, 2022

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#14

Professor_Gobbles wrote:

ThrillerFan wrote:

2.Nc3 does not do anything. 2...d6 or 2...Nf6 are just as much possible as 2...e5.

Stronger are 2.Nf3 and 2.d4, the former being the latest fashion due to some dangerous lines in White's favor if Black doesn't transpose to Double King-pawn openings.

As a nimzo player, I can tell you most of us will avoid going into king's pawn games as much as possible. They will prob play a dark knight pirc or trade queens after d6 e5.

I only encountered this opening once and in that game after I played Nf3, d5 came and the game went into a NC6 scandinavian.

sndeww

Mar 11, 2022

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#15

afternooneveryone wrote:

well tbh when I encounter ...1Nc6 on the long path to grandmastery, I laugh, then win, then go on the next game without rematch. Anyone playing that garbage doesn't deserve one. 1. e4 Nc6 g4! end of story

Haha u a funny man

”path to grandmastery “

”e4 Nc6 g4”

”doesn’t deserve a rematch”

SwimmerBill

Mar 12, 2022

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#16

It is a defense I haven't studied but somehow seems to keep popping up against me. I soon learned that it never worked to try to crush it quickly. If I am cautious I play Nf3 [e.g. 1. e4 Nc6 2. Nf3]. .... If I'm bored& want a different sort of game I play d4 and often get this 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. c3 e6 5. Bd3 Bxd3 and then I just play slowly to take advantage of more space. Specifics depend on where the black king goes. Again, never studied the lines so maybe this second line is really bad but so far not trying to refute it but just claim more space and keep the position under control has been OK.