10 Openings Every Chess Player Must Memorise
2. Nimzo-Indian Defence
The Nimzo-Indian Defence is a variation of the Indian Defence
named after chess master Aron Nimzowitsch. The Indian Defence is a variation of
the Queen’s Pawn Game, where instead of responding with pawn to D5, black plays
king’s side knight to F6. A variety of options are available to both players
from this position, however whites strongest move is to play pawn to C4 in
order to pressure more of the centre.
Black still has a variety of options here, but for the Nimzo-Indian Defence the next move is to play pawn to E6. This frees the king’s side bishop and can lead into a variety of different openings, such as the Queen's Indian Defense or the Modern Benoni, depending on whites’ next move. The Nimzo-Indian Defence is the response to white playing the queen’s side knight to C3.
Black’s best response here is to play the king’s side bishop to B4, targeting the knight that white has just moved. Other moves such as B6 or C5 are viable, but the bishop to B4 move pins knight and allows black to castle on the king’s side. While the obvious response from white might seem to be pawn to A3, pressuring the bishop, black can simply respond by exchanging the knight on C3; this is known as the Sämisch Variation.