In this eBook I will share my knowledge with you about the Nimzo-Indian and how to play with Black. Named after Aaron Nimzowitsch, one of the strongest if not the strongest player in the late 1920s and early 1930s after Alexander Alekhine and José Capablanca.
The opening has established itself as one of the top responses to 1.d4 that there is, played by many elite GMs for decades, including Magnus Carlsen.
The main moves are 4.e3 — the Rubinstein variation — and 4.Qc2 — the Classical or Capablanca variation. But besides these two moves, White has many other options available, and I will look at all of them.
One of the nice features of the Nimzo-Indian is that you have a wide variety of different types of positions and pawn structures that may be reached. You might play a Benoni pawn structure, or play against an isolated pawn on d4, or perhaps the "classical Nimzo-Indian pawn structure" with white pawns on c3 and c4 after an exchange of bishop for the knight on c3. So, one of the benefits of this opening is you will generally improve your chess understanding by virtue of facing so many different kinds of positions. Another plus is that Black will have chances to play for a win, with an asymmetric pawn structure that should ensure an interesting game.
Without further ado, lets get started!
The Nimzowitsch-Indian Defence is one of the best and most popular openings against 1.d4. Grandmaster Niclas Huschenbeth presents a complete repertoire from Black's perspective and reveals many secrets of his own practice. This is the companion eBook to the video series and is intended for advanced players.
We respect your privacy and data protection guidelines. Some components of our site require cookies or local storage that handles personal information.
Using chess24 requires the storage of some personal data, as set out below. You can find additional information in our Cookie Policy, Privacy Policy, Disclaimer and Terms of Website Use. Please note that your data settings can be changed at any time by clicking on the Data Settings link in the footer at the bottom of our website.