question about Nimzo-Indian please

thinking of playing the nimzo otb and maybe some experienced nimzo players can tell me..

If white tries to avoid it with 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 do you still play B4+ or go for d5, c6 Nbd7, Bd6 type plan instead. (I suppose after Nf3 is there any point in e6 even?!)

Thanks.

Originally posted by plopzilla
thinking of playing the nimzo otb and maybe some experienced nimzo players can tell me..

If white tries to avoid it with 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 do you still play B4+ or go for d5, c6 Nbd7, Bd6 type plan instead. (I suppose after Nf3 is there any point in e6 even?!)

Thanks.

After 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3, white avoids the Nimzo-Indian but after...

3. ... b6 he faces the Queen's Indian Defense, the sister defense to the Nimzo-Indian, or

3. ... Bb4+, when he faces the Bogo-Indian Defense, the step-sister to the Nimzo-Indian, or

3. ... c5, the Modern Benoni Defense, a cousin to the King's Indian Defense, or

3. ... d5, with a transposition to the Queen's Gambit.

How to approach it is really more a question of style/taste/preference than anything else, I think.

Originally posted by Paul Leggett
After 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3, white avoids the Nimzo-Indian but after...

3. ... b6 he faces the Queen's Indian Defense, the sister defense to the Nimzo-Indian, or

3. ... Bb4+, when he faces the Bogo-Indian Defense, the step-sister to the Nimzo-Indian, or

3. ... c5, the Modern Benoni Defense, a cousin to the King's Indian Defense, or

3. .. ...[text shortened]... approach it is really more a question of style/taste/preference than anything else, I think.

I seem to play a fair few Bogo-Indian defence as white,
the Gruenfeld variation: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Nbd2 b6 5.a3 Bxd2+ 6.Bxd2
Bogo-Indian defence, Nimzo variation:
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Qe7 5.g3 Nc6 6.Nc3 0-0 ( although I prefer the 'less stat friendly' 6.Bg2 line which leads to Bxd2+, Nbxd2 etc..
Bogo-Indian defence, Monticelli trap, with a 'few' good Master games db listed.
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6, 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Bxd2 5.Qxd2 b6
6.g3 Bb7 7.Bg2 0-0 8.Nc3 Ne4 9.Qc2 Nxc3 10.Ng5

I prefer Bogo-Indian or Queen's Indian Defence.

These days for every 10 d4 games probably 7-8 of them will have Nf3 before Nc3 so don't focus as much on the Nimzo as on what you will play vs Nf3.

The Bogo makes an ideal pair with the Nimzo as the most common pawn structures and some plans are similar. That being said I think playing the Bogo is not a good choice if you need to play for a win - (against 2000+) White's plan is too simple and it can be hard to complicate things enough. (In my experience...)

The Queen's Indian tends to be more complex but that could backfire on you if you aren't strategically a strong player (or well prepared).

The d5 setups can go either into a solid Semi Slav or a Catalan which is very trendy these days.

Another option is to play 1. d4 e6 and then if Nf3 you play 2.. f5 going into a Dutch...

*deleted*

Originally posted by nimzo5
...The Queen's Indian tends to be more complex but that could backfire on you if you aren't strategically a strong player (or well prepared).

...

Some lines of the Queen's Indian are tough to win with black as well (the classical variation with g3, for example). And white gets to choose. Frankly, I think if you are playing for a win as black against strong players, you're better off avoiding both the Bogo and Queen's Indian.

Having said that, I agree with the comments on Bogo vs. Queens Indian. There are a lot more complex lines in the Queen's Indian. The Bogo - Indian, black can get some nice positions with a little help from white, but they tend to be require lots of good positional play to convert to a win.

thanks all for reply, so we are saying the semi-slav is a good, solid agresponse

It is true that the Bogo and Queens Indian can be tough to win with - especially in correspondence type chess. However, I've had good luck OTB with both even against 2200+ players.

Originally posted by kbear1k
It is true that the Bogo and Queens Indian can be tough to win with - especially in correspondence type chess. However, I've had good luck OTB with both even against 2200+ players.

I really don't like the QID any better than the Bogo (especially in CC where the QID is struggling.) but it more complex and a sub master should have more chances to show their chess strength than in the Bogo where White has a pretty straightforward game.

Nonetheless the Nimzo is a good solid choice of opening.