Outplay Them With The Nimzo Indian Defense
The Nimzo Indian Defense is one of the most popular ways for Black to meet 1. d4. It offers the prospect of a strategically rich game, replete with enough imbalances to play for a win with the Black pieces.
The best part about the Nimzo Indian? A great deal of move-by-move memorization is not necessary. Instead, it rewards the player who takes the time to familiarize themselves with the typical middlegame plans for both colors.
In this article, you will learn:
- The main ideas behind the Nimzo Indian Defense.
- Key lessons from top master-level games.
- Where to go next to learn more about this fascinating chess opening for Black.
Introduction To The Nimzo Indian Defense
The Nimzo Indian Defense is named after the early 20th-century chess master Aron Nimzowitsch.
Nimzowitsch is remembered today as one of the foremost members of the hypermodern school of chess, contending that the all-important center of the chess board can be effectively controlled from the flanks, rather than by occupying it directly. This was a revolutionary idea when Nimzowitsch was active as a player in the 1920s and 1930s.
Related: Check out Nimzowitsch’s famous chess strategy book My System.
The opening that bears his name begins 1. d4 Nf6, 2. c4 e6, 3. Nc3 Bb4.
The characteristic Nimzo Indian move 3. …Bb4 pins White’s queenside knight. This has the effect of preventing White from playing e4, and also allows Black to control the e4 square themselves. For example, a future …Ne4 jump can often be an idea for Black at some point.
White has several moves from here:
- 4. e3 - the “Normal Line” or “Rubinstein System” is White’s most common reply. This solid move prepares the development of White’s light-squared bishop.
- 4. Qc2 - the “Classical Variation” or “Capablanca Variation” sees White use their queen to regain influence over e4. It also gives White the option of meeting a future …Bxc3+ by recapturing with the queen, thus preserving White’s queenside pawn structure.
- 4. Nf3 - the “Kasparov Variation”, named as such due to Garry Kasparov’s frequent use of it in the 1985 World Championship Match. White develops their kingside knight to its most logical square and waits to see what Black does next.
- 4. f3 - is an attempt by White to renew their ability to play the e4 advance, in spite of Black’s pin against their queenside knight.
- 4. a3 - which sees White put the question to Black’s bishop immediately, provoking the Bxc3+ capture right away.
Feeling overwhelmed? Fear not. Although this may already seem like a lot of opening theory to contend with, the Nimzo Indian Defense is pretty forgiving of minor opening inaccuracies. Black has many possible replies to most of White’s 4th moves. At the amateur level, you can simply play what seems reasonable without worrying too much about getting into a sharp, highly critical line from early in the game.
We will now study two instructive games in the Nimzo Indian Defense. These will showcase some of the most important middlegame ideas for Black.
Great Games In The Nimzo Indian Defense
Portisch vs. Fischer, 1966
The great American grandmaster Bobby Fischer was best known for replying to 1. d4 with the King’s Indian Defense.
However, a few years before he became the 11th World Chess Champion, Fischer gave a masterclass in the Nimzo-Indian Defense when playing with Black against Hungary’s Lajos Portisch. It appears in Fischer’s highly-regarded game collection My 60 Memorable Games.
After 4. e3 from Portisch, Fischer opted for 4. …b6 - the so-called St. Petersburg Variation, where Black looks to develop their light-squared bishop to either b7, or, as in the game, a6.
Portisch developed his kingside knight via 5. Ne2 and 6. Ng3. However, as soon as 6. Ng3 was played, Fischer immediately captured on c3 via 6. …Bxc3+! creating a structural imbalance, which is highly thematic for the Nimzo Indian Defense.
Understanding this …Bxc3+ capture is crucial for every Nimzo-Indian Defense player. Black hands their opponent the bishop pair, but in return, White ends up with a compromised queenside pawn structure (highlighted below):
- White has doubled c-pawns.
- White also has an isolated a-pawn.
The game saw White trade their queen for both of Black’s rooks. This is usually a favorable trade if the rooks can work together harmoniously. However, in this particular case, White’s shaky pawn structure meant that the Black queen was able to dominate.
The next critical moment of the game came when Fischer played 16. …Na5, piling up the pressure against White’s weak pawn on c4. This idea is also important to take note of. Attacking White’s c4 pawn is a common idea for Black in the Nimzo Indian Defense.
White has no way to prevent the loss of the c4 pawn. Note that advancing the pawn via 17. c5?? would result in losing a piece to the simple 17. …Bxd3.
Fischer went on to secure victory. Aspiring Nimzo-Indian players would do well to study this game further. Click here to view the whole game.
Blumin vs. Fine, 1939
This is an outstanding example of how Black ought to play when White makes efforts to prevent damage to their queenside pawn structure.
White responded to the Nimzo Indian Defense with 4. Qc2. One of the main ideas behind this move is to allow White to meet …Bxc3+ by recapturing with the queen instead of with the b-pawn. However, an important downside of 4. Qc2 is that it leaves White’s d-pawn undefended. This allows Black to develop with tempo via 4. …Nc6.
With their knight on c3 safely guarded by the queen, a few moves later, White played 7. a3 to force Black into making a decision with their bishop. Black chose to capture the knight via 7. …Bxc3+ anyway, despite the fact that it would not cause damage to White’s queenside pawn structure.
It appears that White has secured a long-term positional advantage. After all, White has been able to gain the bishop pair without suffering the sort of damage to his queenside pawn structure we saw in the other game.
However, White’s dark-squared bishop is, for the time being, a rather bad piece. White’s own pawn on e3 restricts the bishop from developing anywhere useful. The White pawn on a3 also prevents the dark-squared bishop from reaching the a3-f8 diagonal.
Black looked to take advantage of this by aiming to reach a good knight vs. bad bishop endgame. Having first fixed White’s queenside pawn on dark squares, Black played 12. …Na7! followed by 13. …Bb5 in order to force the trade of White’s strong light-squared bishop.
This is often an excellent strategy when fighting against the bishop pair: identify which of your opponent’s bishops is the better of the two, and then seek to exchange it.
Related: 7 Tips To Upgrade Your Chess Middle Game.
If we examine the position after 17 moves, Black’s superiority is clear. Black’s knight on b5 does a great job of blockading, while White’s dark-squared bishop is completely impotent behind a wall of its own pawns.
Black went on to comfortably win. Click here to view the whole game.
Next Steps
You are now ready to give the Nimzo Indian Defense a try. Play it in casual games or in blitz chess. This real-world exposure will give you a stronger sense of the opening and will help you decide whether to invest more time into learning it more deeply.
If you want to play the Nimzo Indian Defense in serious tournament games, you should continue your education in this important chess opening for Black.
Related: Chess Tournaments: What To Expect.
Because the Nimzo Indian is one of Black’s most common replies to 1. d4, you must expect that your opponents with the White pieces will arrive at the board highly prepared to face it. Therefore, it pays to do your homework before your game begins.
Book Recommendation
If you are looking for a high quality book to help with your foray into the Nimzo Indian Defense, then look no further than Playing the Nimzo-Indian by GM Reiner Castellanos.
This tome emphasizes active, counterattacking play. It also contains plenty of interesting opening novelties which will have your opponents scrambling to keep up!
At over 400 pages, this book is extremely comprehensive. It can serve as your one-stop reference guide for playing the Nimzo-Indian Defense with Black.
Summary: Is The Nimzo Indian Defense Right For You?
The Nimzo Indian Defense could be worth adding to your repertoire if you:
- Enjoy imbalances. The thematic capture …Bxc3+ is one that the Nimzo Indian player must be prepared to make. Though it leads to White gaining the bishop pair, it also gives White weak queenside pawns that present Black with clear targets to attack.
- Prefer not to learn a lot of opening theory. The Nimzo Indian Defense branches out early in the game. This means that it does not lend itself to rote opening memorization. You should therefore be the sort of chess player who prefers to think for themselves rather than recite memorized opening knowledge.
- Can play a variety of different positions. The breadth of the opening tree means that Nimzo-Indian Defense games tend to be quite different from one game to the next. You should enjoy the challenge of playing a diverse range of middlegame positions!
If that sounds like a chess opening for Black that you would relish, then learn more about the Nimzo-Indian Defense by clicking here!