why do people play e3 against the nimzo Indian?
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I don’t see the point
Jun 29, 2024
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#2
The point is to solidify White's center and to get in e4.
If Black makes a useless move like 3...b6 (fine against 3.Nf3, which does nothing to threaten e4, but not 3.Nc3), then White had intended to play 4.e4. With the Knight pinned, that is not possible. White can get his Queen to c2, but without e3, he cannot get his other pieces to cover e4. The move e3 must be played before Bd3 can be played.
If the g1-Knight is going to contribute to covering e4, it needs to go Ng1-e2-g3.
Now you might be saying "But why not move the Bishop out first like the QGD?". In the QGD, the knight on c3 is not attacked. White can get castle, and his fight for e4 goes on.
In the Nimzo, the knight is already attaced once. With this pin, the knight can go to e4. The Queen to a5 (after the move ...c5.
Think about the Cambridge Springs Defense. Wouldn't it be easier if that DSB were on d2 instead of g5?
White recognizes that black has more rapid development in the NID than the QGD, and White must act accordingly. In the QGD, it is as simple as Bg5, e3, Nf3, Bd3, and get castled. It isn't that simple in the Nimzo, and White can lose a lot of time spending time to move the Bishop out, and his dark squares on the a5-e1 diagonal can become a major problem.
At first white tried to refute the Nimzovich Indian Defense with moves like 4 a3 or 4 Qc2.
As these failed to achieve anything, the more modest tries like 4 e3 became fashion.
tygxc wrote:
At first white tried to refute the Nimzovich Indian Defense with moves like 4 a3 or 4 Qc2.
As these failed to achieve anything, the more modest tries like 4 e3 became fashion.
I believe Qc2 is more "modest" than e3, not allowing the doubled pawn structure and being the slowest start of all against the Nimzo. Though I'm not sure what kind of hooligan plays 3. Nc3 in the first place to allow the Nimzo, but that's just me.