The Nimzo Indian Defense is a chess opening for Black against 1.d4 and occurs after the moves 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 (see the diagram on the right).

It was developed by the famous chess master Aaron Nimzowitsch and is a popular opening choice at all levels,  a choice of players looking to win with Black against 1.d4.

It has been a reliable setup for Black for many years, and still remains one of the highly trusted options against White’s first move 1.d2-d4. The Nimzo-Indian Defense not only gives a decent game for Black, but also offers high chances for double-edged positions with rich resources for fighting for a victory.

Thus, the Nimzo-Indian Defense is included in the Black repertoires of the greatest chess players ever, such as Capablanca, Botvinnik, Smyslov, Petrosian, Spassky, Karpov, Kasparov, Anand, Kramnik, Carlsen and many others.

In many variations, the resulting unbalanced positions offer scope for both sides to play for a win.

Chapter List

1. Nimzo Indian: A Surprising Idea For Black Against The Capablanca Variation (4.Qc2) – GM Eugene Perelshteyn
2. Nimzo Indian: Win Against The 4.f3 Variation – GM Eugene Perelshteyn
3. Nimzo Indian: Beat The Saemisch Variation (4.a3) with Black – GM Eugene Perelshteyn
4. Nimzo-Indian Rubinstein Variation with 5.Bd3/5.Nf3 – GM Eugene Perelshteyn
5. Nimzo-Indian Rubinstein Variation with 4.e3 – GM Eugene Perelshteyn
6. Nimzo-Indian Fianchetto Variation 4.g3 – GM Eugene Perelshteyn
7. Nimzo-Indian Adorjan Gambit – GM Damian Lemos