The Nimzowitsch Defence (named after

Aron Nimzowitsch Aron Nimzowitsch ( lv, Ārons Nimcovičs, russian: Аро́н Иса́евич Нимцо́вич, ''Aron Isayevich Nimtsovich''; 7 November 1886 – 16 March 1935) was a Latvian-born Danish chess player and writer. In the late 1920s, Nimz ...

) is a somewhat unusual chess opening characterised by the moves: :1. e4 Nc6 This opening is an example of a hypermodern opening in which Black invites White to occupy the of the board at an early stage with pawns. Black's intent is to block or otherwise restrain White's central pawns and, if allowed to do so by inaccurate play by White, eventually undermine the White pawn centre by well-timed pawn advances of their own or by attacking the white pieces defending the centre.

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist and commentator. His peak rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by ...

and Grandmaster Raymond Keene wrote that it "has never been fully accepted as a dependable opening. Nevertheless it is sound and offers the maverick spirit a great deal of foreign territory to explore." The Nimzowitsch is included under code B00 in the ''

Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings The ''Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings'' () is a reference work describing the state of opening theory in chess, originally published in five volumes from 1974 to 1979 by the Serbian company Šahovski Informator (Chess Informant). It is current ...

''.

Main line: 2.d4

White takes the initiative in the centre. Black's main continuations are 2...d5 or 2...e5.

2...d5

The line that

, the originator of the opening, usually preferred. Now White can choose among: *3.e5, which Black usually meets with 3...Bf5, (although 3...f6 is also a decent, though more complex, variation) followed by playing ...e6 (which no longer locks in the ) and later attacking White's central with moves such as ...f6 and ...c5. *3.exd5 Qxd5, followed by 4.Nf3, seeking to gain time by attacking the

queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

with Nc3, but enabling Black to put pressure on White's centre with 4...Bg4 or 4...e5. *3.Nc3 dxe4 (3...e6 leads to a type of

French Defence The French Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves: :1. e4 e6 This is most commonly followed by 2.d4 d5, with Black intending ...c5 soon after, attacking White's and gaining on the . The French has a reputation for solidity ...

) 4.d5 Ne5, when White usually continues with 5.Qd4 or 5.Bf4 Ng6 6.Bg3.

2...e5

A line favoured by the late British grandmaster

Tony Miles Anthony John Miles (23 April 1955 – 12 November 2001) was an English chess player and the first Englishman to earn the Grandmaster title. Early and personal life Miles was an only child, born 23 April 1955 in Edgbaston, a suburb of Birming ...

. White can

transpose In linear algebra, the transpose of a matrix is an operator which flips a matrix over its diagonal; that is, it switches the row and column indices of the matrix by producing another matrix, often denoted by (among other notations). The tr ...

to the

Scotch Game The Scotch Game, or Scotch Opening, is a chess opening that begins with the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 Nc6 :3. d4 Ercole del Rio, in his 1750 treatise ''Sopra il giuoco degli Scacchi, Osservazioni pratiche d’anonimo Autore Modenese'' ("On t ...

with 3.Nf3, or play 3.d5 Nce7 (3...Nb8, although perhaps not as bad as it looks, is considered inferior), which gives White only a slight plus score in practice. Another approach is 3.dxe5 Nxe5, when White can seek a quiet advantage with 4.Nf3 or play the more aggressive (but potentially weakening) thrust 4.f4.

2.Nf3

Shown by some databases to be th
most common move
2.Nf3 is often played by White players not eager for a theoretical battle on their opponent's turf. *2...e5, transposing to a double king-pawn opening may be the best move, but is unlikely to appeal to the hard-core Nimzowitsch player. *The sharp 2...f5, the Colorado Gambit, although somewhat dubious, was played with some success by the American International Master Doug Root, and more recently by the Finnish International Master Olli Salmensuu and others. It may lead to wild complications, e.g. 3.exf5 d5 4.Nh4 e5!? 5. Qh5+ g6 6.fxg6 Nf6 7.g7+ Nxh5 8.gxh8=Q Qxh4 9.Qxh7 Nd4, when White is an exchange up, but Black has a huge lead in and White's king is in jeopardy. Naiditsch– Doettling, Dortmund 2000, ended in a draw after further complications: 10.Qg6+ Kd8 11.d3 Nf4! 12.Qf7 Bb4+ 13.c3 Bg4! 14.Qg8+ Kd7 15.Qg7+ Kc6 16.g3 Nf3+ 17.Kd1 Nd4+ 18.Kd2 Nf3+ 19.Kd1 Nd4+ . The British International Master Gary Lane advocates the more solid 4.d4 Bxf5 5.Bb5 (trying to control the weakened e5-square) Qd6 6.Ne5 Nf6 7.0-0 Nd7 8.Bxc6 bxc6 9.Qf3! Nxe5 (or 9...e6 10.g4 Bg6 11.Nxg6 hxg6 12.Bf4 Qb4 13.Qd3) 10.Qxf5 Nf7 11.Bf4 Qd7 12.Qxd7+ Kxd7 13.Nd2 when Black's inferior

pawn structure In a game of chess, the pawn structure (sometimes known as the pawn skeleton) is the configuration of pawns on the chessboard. Because pawns are the least mobile of the chess pieces, the pawn structure is relatively static and thus plays a large ...

gave White a small advantage in Shaw–Salmensuu, European Team Championship, León 2001 (, 63). *2...d6, the Williams Variation, is known to be a solid option for Black, but is less dynamic than the former options and can lead to an inferior version of the

Pirc Defense The Pirc Defence (pronounced ) is a chess opening characterised by the response of Black to 1.e4 with 1...d6 and 2...Nf6, followed by ...g6 and ...Bg7, while allowing White to establish a with pawns on d4 and e4. It is named after the Slovenia ...

. The main line continues 3.d4 Bg4, but 3...Nf6 is completely . The line usually continues 4.Bb5 a6 5.Bxc6+, leading to a fairly equal position, but a sharper try for white is 4.d5 Ne5 5.Nxe5!?, the Keene Attack, named after Raymond Keene, who played it in a 1964 game against E. Fielder. While this attack sacrifices the queen, White can gain it back after 5...Bxd1 6.Bb5+ c6 7.dxc6 Qa5+ 8.Nc3 0-0-0 9.Nc4 Qc7 10.Nd5. *Other moves, including 2...e6, 2...Nf6, 2...d5, and 2...g6 are but tend to lead to inferior variations of, respectively, the French Defence,

Alekhine's Defence The Alekhine's Defence is a chess opening that begins with the moves: :1. e4 Nf6 Black tempts White's pawns forward to form a broad , with plans to undermine and attack the white structure later in the spirit of hypermodern defence. White's im ...

, Scandinavian Defense, or Robatsch Defence.

References

External links