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On this page of chess-openings-for-beginners.blogspot.com we will study the Nimzovich Defense, a semi-open game chess opening named after Grandmaster Aron Nimzowitsch (Nimzovich). It is a sample of hypermodern openings, a solid one, played rarely and not known by beginners. The Nimzowitsch has been proved to be playable for Black by grandmasters in real chess games... 1.e4 Nc6... B00.
Note. On this page dedicated to the Nimzowitsch Defense you will find 3 chapters: Chapter I "Description," Chapter II "Answering Statistics," and Chapter III "How to Play" (with the Nimzovich PGN file games). You are recommended to pay attention to Chapter III -- if you want to learn in real how to play this opening.
I. Nimzovich Defense Description
Chess Opening Name: Nimzovich Defense (Nimzowitsch)
Opening Moves to Memorize: 1.e4 Nc6
Encyclopedia of Chess Openings ECO Code: B00
Type: Semi-Open Game 1.e4 not e5, Hypermodern Opening
Like the Alekhine's Defense, the Nimzovich Defense is an example of hypermodern chess opening (the hypermodern is characterized by a play in which Black allows White to create the pawns' center and then tries to undermine it by piece attacks or with pawns). It is a solid opening and playable for Black. The Nimzowitsch game mostly runs 1.e4 Nc6 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3...
The Nimzovich Defense is named after grandmaster Aron Nimzowitsch (1886-1935) who was one of the foremost specialists on the hypermoderns... The famous Garry Kasparov wrote about the Nimzovich Defense, "It has been never accepted as a dependable opening, but this opening is sound -- it offers the maverick spirit a great deal of foreign territory to explore."
A specific feature of the Nimzowitsch Defence chess opening is that the latter can easily transpose to other chess openings (for example: to the French Defence, Alekhine's Defence, Scandinavian Defense, or Robatsch Defence via 2...e6, 2...Nf6, 2...d5, and 2...g6 which is explained in the Nimzowitsch Defence article on WikipediA: it can also transpose to the Scotch Game)...
II. Nimzovich Defense Answering Statistics
The Nimzovich Defense begins with 1.e4 Nc6 (see figure above). The most common respond to the Nimzovich Defense is 2.Nf3 (50-55%) or 2.d4 (35-40%). The line 1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 is called the Main line of the Nimzovich Defense although the move 2.Nf3 is more frequent than 2.d4 (however, 2.d4 is stronger than 2.Nf3 as +0.41 to +0.25). Below is the answering statistics for the Nimzovich Defense:
• most common answer 2.Nf3 ~ 50%;
• answer 2.d4 (the Main line) ~ 40%;
• answering move 2.Nc3 ~ 8%;
• others (2.Bc4, Bb5, d3, c3, c4, g3, f4, Ne2) ~ 2%.
III. Nimzovich Defense How to Play
The hypermodern chess opening Nimzovich Defense has 8 official variations. The most common variations of the Nimzovich Defense are: Nimzovich, 2.d4 (the Main line) and Nimzovich, 2.Nf3 variation. The following links will help you learn in details how to play the most common variations and lines of the Nimzovich Defence chess opening (the last link is for the Nimzovich Defence PGN file):
• How to Play the Main Line of the Nimzovich, ... 2.d4
This variation embraces ~ 40% of all Nimzovich Defense games.
• How to Play the Most Common Nimzovich ... 2.Nf3
This variation embraces ~ 50% of all Nimzovich Defense games.
• How to Play the Nimzovich Colorado ... 2.Nf3 f5
This variation embraces ~ 5% of all Nimzovich Defense games.
• Nimzovich Defense Games (PGN File 2019)
(to be published soon)
To see all lessons for beginners on this chess opening website:
• Links to All Chess Opening Lessons
On this page of chess-openings-for-beginners.blogspot.com we have studied the Nimzovich Defense. And this is Lesson 45 and the main page for the Nimzovich Defense chess opening on this website. Using the material and links provided on this page, you will likely be able to learn the B00 hypermodern opening Nimzovich Defense 1.e4 Nc6 in a proper way. Thank You!
