Nimzo-Indian Defence

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Nimzo-Indian Defence
Moves	1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4
ECO	E20-E59
Origin	Englisch - Blackburne, London 1883
Named after	Aron Nimzowitsch
Parent	Indian Defence
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This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.

The Nimzo-Indian Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:

1. d4 Nf6

2. c4 e6

3. Nc3 Bb4

Other move orders, such as 1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.d4 Bb4, are also feasible. In the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings scheme, the Nimzo-Indian is classified as E20-E59.

This hypermodern opening was developed by Grandmaster Aron Nimzowitsch who introduced it to master-level chess in the early 20th century. Unlike most Indian openings the Nimzo-Indian does not involve an immediate fianchetto, although Black often follows up with ...b6 and ...Bb7. By pinning White's knight Black prevents the threatened 4.e4 and seeks to inflict doubled pawns on White. White will attempt to create a pawn centre and develop his pieces to prepare for an assault on the Black position.

Black's delay in committing to a pawn structure makes the Nimzo-Indian (sometimes colloquially referred to as the "Nimzo") a very flexible defence to 1.d4. It can also transpose into lines of the Queen's Gambit or Queen's Indian Defence. The Nimzo-Indian is a very popular and well-respected defence to 1.d4, and has been played by every world champion since Capablanca. Indeed, White often plays 3.Nf3 to avoid the Nimzo-Indian, allowing him to meet 3...Bb4+ (the Bogo-Indian Defence) with 4.Bd2 or 4.Nbd2 rather than 4.Nc3.

Contents 1 General considerations 2 Rubinstein System 4.e3 2.1 4...0-0 Main Line: 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd3 d5 6.Nf3 c5 7.0-0 2.2 4...0-0: lines with Ne2 2.3 4...c5 2.4 4...b6 3 Classical Variation (or Capablanca Variation) 4.Qc2 4 Kasparov Variation 4.Nf3 5 Other variations 6 ECO codes 7 References and further reading

[edit] General considerations

In the Nimzo-Indian, Black is often prepared to concede the bishop pair by playing ...Bxc3. In compensation, he doubles White's c-pawns, which represent a static weakness. Black will aim to close the position so that White's bishops have little scope. To this end, Black must blockade the white pawn centre from advancing and neutralize White's attacking chances on the kingside. An example of Black's strategy carried out successfully is the classic game Mikhail Botvinnik - Samuel Reshevsky from the 1948 World Championship Match-Tournament, which reached the position in the diagram after White's 24th move.

Earlier in the game, Reshevsky was able to block White's kingside attack by playing ...Nf6-e8 and ...f7-f5. Now, both White's bishops are reduced to passive defence, and White's queen must go to the miserable a2-square to defend both the pawns on a3 and c4. Without any prospects for counterplay, White's game is strategically hopeless, and Black ultimately traded queens and won the endgame.

[edit] Rubinstein System 4.e3

The Rubinstein System (named after Akiba Rubinstein) is White's most common method of combating the Nimzo-Indian. White continues his development before committing to a definite plan of action. In reply, Black has three main moves to choose from: 4...0-0, 4...c5, and 4...b6.

In addition, Black sometimes plays 4...d5 or 4...Nc6. 4...d5 can transpose to lines arising from 4...0-0, but White has the extra option of 5.a3 (known as the Botvinnik Variation). This forces Black to retreat the bishop to e7 or take on c3, which transposes to a line of the Sämisch Variation that does fairly well for White because he can undouble his pawns at some point by playing cxd5, and then prepare the e4 pawn break. 4...Nc6 is the Taimanov Variation, named after Russian GM Mark Taimanov. Black prepares to play ...e5, which may be preceded by...d5 and ...dxc4, or ...d6. The variation was tried several times by the young Bobby Fischer, and has long been favoured by GM Nukhim Rashkovsky.

[edit] 4...0-0 Main Line: 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd3 d5 6.Nf3 c5 7.0-0

Black's most flexible and frequently played response is 4...0-0. The main line continues 5.Bd3 d5 6.Nf3 c5 7.0-0, reaching the position in the diagram.

White has completed his kingside development, while Black has claimed his share of the centre. At this point, the most important continuations are:

7...dxc4 8.Bxc4 Nbd7 (Parma Variation)

7...dxc4 8.Bxc4 cxd4 9.exd4 b6 (Karpov Variation)

7...dxc4 8.Bxc4 Nc6 9.a3 Ba5 (Larsen Variation)

7...Nc6 8.a3 Bxc3 9.bxc3 dxc4 10.Bxc4 Qc7 (Main Variation)

7...Nc6 8.a3 Bxc3 9.bxc3 Qc7 (Khasin Variation)

7...Nbd7 (Averbakh Variation)

• The Parma Variation (7...dxc4 8.Bxc4 Nbd7) is named after Slovenian grandmaster Bruno Parma, and can sometimes transpose to the Karpov Variation if pawns are exchanged on d4. White usually continues with 9.Qe2, clearing the d1-square for the rook, which will assist in the advance of the d-pawn. Black then faces an important decision. He may play 9...b6, with the intention of playing ...cxd4 at some point to isolate the d-pawn and blockade it, or exchange on c3 as well to play against the isolated c3-d4 pawn couple. Or, he can consider 9...a6 to grab space on the queenside with ...b5. In this case, Black will usually retain his dark-squared bishop. Black also has two rare alternatives on his eighth move worth mentioning: 8...Qe7 intending ...Rd8 is the Smyslov Variation, invented by former World Champion Vasily Smyslov, and 8...Bd7 followed by ...Bc6 is the Bronstein Variation, the brainchild of two-time world championship finalist David Bronstein.

• The Karpov Variation, (7...dxc4 8.Bxc4 cxd4 9.exd4 b6) named after former World Champion Anatoly Karpov, is one of Black's most reliable defences to the Rubinstein System. For the moment, White has an isolated pawn in the d-file, even so, Black plans to play ...Bxc3 at some point and follow up with ...Bb7, ...Nbd7, ...R(a)c8 and ...Qc7 to restrain White's c- and d-pawns. After 7...dxc4 8.Bxc4 cxd4 9.exd4 b6 the game usually continues 10.Bg5 Bb7, when 11.Ne5, 11.Re1, 11.Rc1 and 11.Qe2 are all good moves for White.

• The Larsen Variation (named after GM Bent Larsen) can be reached by either 7...dxc4 8.Bxc4 Nc6 9.a3 Ba5 or 7...Nc6 8.a3 dxc4 9.Bxc4 Ba5, but the latter move order gives White the extra option of 9.axb4. The idea is to wait until White plays dxc5 before playing ...Bxc3. If White does not oblige, then Black will play ...Bb6 with pressure on the d-pawn. The point of inserting ...dxc4 before ...Ba5 is to prevent White from inflicting an isolated queen's pawn (IQP) on Black by playing cxd5.

• The Main Variation was enormously popular in the 1950s, but the name has become increasingly inappropriate ever since. This is not because the line is bad for Black – on the contrary, Black equalizes in all variations – but because White has a huge selection of moves to choose from, and Black must be familiar with all of them. After 7...Nc6 8.a3 Bxc3 9.bxc3 bxc4 10.Bxc4 Qc7, White has tried 11.Be2, 11.Bd3, 11.Ba2, 11.Bb2, 11.Bb5 (trying to provoke ...a6 before retreating the bishop), 11.h3, 11.a4, 11.Re1, 11.Qc2, and 11.Qe2 – ten possibilities in all! Regardless of the move chosen, however, the basic strategic ideas remain similar: Black will play a quick ...e5 to pressurize d4. If White has a bishop on d3, then Black also threatens ...e4 forking it and the knight on f3. White will try to advance his centre pawns to free his bishops: c4, d5, and f3 followed by e4 are all possible. If Black can prevent White from achieving this, then he will enjoy the better game. There are several move orders to reach the Main Variation besides the one given above; 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd3 d5 6.a3 Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 dxc4 8.Bxc4 c5 9.Nf3 Nc6 10.0-0 is one worth noting, because White may try 9.Ne2 instead.

• 7...Nc6 8.a3 Bxc3 9.bxc3 Qc7 is the Khasin Variation, named after International Master Abram Khasin. 10.exd5 cxd5 is the usual continuation. White will try to build up a strong centre with f3 and e4, or he may play for a kingside attack with f3 and g4. Black will try to restrain White's centre as well as he can, ideally blockading it, before mobilizing his queenside pawn majority.

• The Averbakh Variation (7...Nbd7) was popularized by Grandmasters Viacheslav Ragozin and Yuri Averbakh. The idea is to exchange pawns on c4 and d4 and then bring the d7-knight to b6 and d5. The same knight may also move to f8 to defend the black king. This line has gone out of fashion since the 1960s due to GM Svetozar Gligoric's gambit idea 8.cxd5 exd5 9.a3 Ba5 10.b4! cxb4 11.Nb5! with pressure along the queenside files and a potential square for the knight on d6.

[edit] 4...0-0: lines with Ne2

In general, the main line of the Rubinstein has held up very well for Black, so since the 1980s White has begun to look elsewhere for chances of obtaining an advantage. In the Rubinstein, White has often resorted to playing Ne2 rather than Nf3 at some point to be able to recapture on c3 with the knight, thus avoiding the doubled pawns. Two lines where White does this (following 4.e3 0-0) are:

5.Ne2 (Reshevsky Variation)

5.Bd3 d5 6.Ne2 (Modern Variation)

• The Reshevsky Variation was a specialty of GM Samuel Reshevsky. White will first play a3 to kick the bishop away, before moving his knight on e2 to a more active square. The main line runs 5.Ne2 d5 6.a3 Be7 7.cxd5, when both 7...exd5 and 7...Nxd5 are possible, the latter move leading to livelier play. GM Mikhail Gurevich is currently the foremost expert in the Reshevsky Variation.

• 5.Bd3 d5 6.Ne2 and the closely related variant 5.Bd3 d5 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Ne2 were collectively dubbed the "Modern Variation" by FM Carsten Hansen in his book on the Rubinstein Nimzo-Indian.^[1] White again avoids the doubled pawns, but develops his bishop to d3 first so that it isn't blocked in by the knight on e2. Black usually continues 6...c5, putting more pressure on White's centre. While 7.a3 and 7.0-0 are playable, the main line is 7.cxd5 cxd4 8.exd4 Nxd5 9.0-0 Nc6, leading to an IQP position with White's knight on e2 rather than f3, as is normally the case. This gives Black the possibility of playing ...e5 at some point to completely liquidate the centre, although the resulting positions are rather drawish. White's main options on his tenth move are 10.a3, putting the question to the bishop, and 10.Bc2, intending 11.Qd3 with an attack on h7.

[edit] 4...c5

Black puts pressure on d4 and leaves open the option of playing ...d5, or ...d6 and ...e5. The game can still transpose to the main line mentioned above after moves such as 5.Bd3 d5 6.Nf3 0-0 7.0-0, but there are two major variations particular to 4...c5:

5.Bd3 Nc6 6.Nf3 Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 d6 (Hübner Variation)

5.Ne2 (Rubinstein Variation)

• 5.Bd3 Nc6 6.Nf3 (6.Ne2 will likely transpose to the Modern Variation) 6...Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 d6 is the Hübner Variation, popularized by GM Robert Hübner in the late 1960s and '70s and utilised by Bobby Fischer in his world championship match with Boris Spassky in 1972. It is slightly unusual in that Black captures on c3 without waiting for White to play a3, but this is because Black intends to immediately set up a blockade on the dark squares with ...d6 and ...e5. This is feasible because White's knight is on f3; if it were on e2 (as in some lines of the Sämisch), White could quickly advance his kingside pawns, but in the current line the knight must be moved away first. By closing the position, Black is able to make his knights superior to White's bishops, and the doubled c-pawns deprive White of any pawn breaks on the queenside. It was the success of this variation that motivated the current tendency for White players to choose lines where the doubled pawns are avoided. When he does play into this line, White has two main setups to choose from: he may immediately close the centre by playing 8.e4 e5 9.d5 Ne7, or play more flexibly with 8.0-0 e5 9.Nd2 0-0, but Black has full equality in both lines.

• The Rubinstein Variation (this is why 4.e3 is properly referred to as the Rubinstein "system" or "complex" to avoid confusion) is similar in spirit to the Reshevsky Variation: White prevents Black from doubling his pawns. After 5.Ne2, Black opens a path of retreat for his bishop with 5...cxd4 6.exd4, and now chooses between 6...d5 and 6...0-0. 6...d5 allows 7.c5, a typical continuation being 7...Ne4 8.Bd2 Nxd2 9.Qxd2 a5 10.a3 Bxc3 11.Nxc3 a4. White's c4-c5 push created a queenside pawn majority, which Black neutralized by playing ...a7-a5-a4. Black will now try to destroy the rest of White's pawn formation by playing ...b6 or ...e5, while White will try to use his lead in development to create attacking chances on the kingside. The alternative is 6...0-0 7.a3 Be7. Here Kasparov played 8.d5 exd5 9.exd5 a few times early in his career, increasing his space advantage further but falling behind in development. A safer move for White is 8.Nf4.

[edit] 4...b6

Favoured by Nimzowitsch, 4...b6 is a move in accordance with the spirit of the Nimzo-Indian: Black fianchettoes his light-squared bishop to increase his control over e4. White usually continues 5.Ne2, avoiding the doubled pawns, or 5.Bd3, continuing his development (5.Nf3 usually transposes to 5.Bd3). The main variations emerging from this move are:

5.Nge2 Ba6 (Fischer Variation)

5.Nge2 c5 (Romanishin-Psakhis Variation)

5.Nge2 Ne4 (American Variation)

5.Nge2 Bb7

5.Bd3 Bb7 6.Nf3 0-0 7.0-0 d5 (Classical Fianchetto Variation or Tal Variation)

5.Bd3 Bb7 6.Nf3 0-0 7.0-0 c5 (Keres Variation)

5.Bd3 Bb7 6.Nf3 Ne4 (Dutch Variation)

• The Fischer Variation (5.Ne2 Ba6) aims to exchange light-squared bishops after ...d5 so that Black can play on the light squares. Keres, Bronstein and Smyslov were early contributors to the theory of this line, and Fischer used it several times successfully. White may play 6.a3, which was favoured by Botvinnik and asks the bishop on b4 to clarify its intentions, or 6.Ng3, which was invented by Reshevsky and prepares e4.

• 5.Ne2 c5 6.a3 Ba5!? was dubbed the Romanishin-Psakhis Variation by Carsten Hansen ^[1] because Oleg Romanishin and Lev Psakhis were the two grandmasters who were primarily responsible for reviving the line and infusing it with new ideas. It can also arise via the move order 4.e3 c5 5.Ne2 b6 6.a3 Ba5. Black dares White to try and trap the bishop on a5, a challenge White usually takes up, but rarely successfully.

• The "American Variation" is another name invented by Hansen ^[1] for the line 5.Ne2 Ne4, as it was pioneered by GM Isaac Kashdan and then developed by GM Bisguier, IM Anthony Santasiere and currently GM Nick de Firmian. Black will exchange off two minor pieces and play ...f5 to keep e4 under control.

• 5.Ne2 Bb7 is a rather passive line: White seems to obtain a slight advantage by continuing 6.a3 Be7 7.d5, blocking in the bishop on b7 and making e3-e4 possible.

• The Classical Fianchetto Variation, also known as the Tal Variation, can be reached through two move orders: 4.e3 b6 5.Bd3 Bb7 6.Nf3 0-0 7.0-0 d5 or 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd3 d5 6.Nf3 b6 7.0-0 Bb7. It is a solid variation where White often holds the initiative early on, but Black usually equalizes in the end. White has two ways to attack Black's setup. The first is to play 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Ne5 followed by 10.f4 and transferring the queen or f1-rook to h3 via f3. This formation, known as the Pillsbury Attack, blocks in the dark-squared bishop and appears rather crude, but is actually quite dangerous. Black must create immediate pressure on White's centre by playing ...c5, and ...Ne4 may be a handy move at some point to block the b1-h7 diagonal and perhaps exchange some pieces. The main alternative for White is 8.a3 Bd6 9.cxd5 exd5 10.b4, which gains space on the queenside and makes it harder for Black to free his position with ...c5.

• The Keres Variation, characterized by the moves 5.Bd3 Bb7 6.Nf3 0-0 7.0-0 c5, is named after Estonian GM Paul Keres, although Smyslov and Bronstein were also early practitioners of this line. If allowed, Black will play ...cxd4 and ...d5 in the hope of leaving White with an isolated queen's pawn. Nowadays, White's most testing continuation is reckoned to be 8.Na4, ducking the exchange on c3 and threatening 9.a3. The knight will often stay on a4 for quite some time to assist in a potential c4-c5 push. After 8...cxd4 9.exd4, Black often sets up a Hedgehog formation (pawns on a6, b6, d6 and e6), while White will try to pursue a strategy of gaining queenside space with b4 and c5.

• The Dutch Variation is so-called because after 5.Bd3 Bb7 6.Nf3 Ne4, Black usually follows up with 7...f5, with a position that resembles the Dutch Defence (1.d4 f5). It is not a very common line, probably because White obtains good chances by playing 7.0-0 f5 8.d5, sacrificing a pawn to open up lines for his bishops.

[edit] Classical Variation (or Capablanca Variation) 4.Qc2