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Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...Nc6

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Nimzowitsch Defence
a b c d e f g h
8a8 black rookb8 black kingc8 black bishopd8 black queene8 black kingf8 black bishopg8 black knighth8 black rook8
7a7 black pawnb7 black pawnc7 black pawnd7 black pawne7 black pawnf7 black pawng7 black pawnh7 black pawn7
6a6 black kingb6 black kingc6 black knightd6 black kinge6 black kingf6 black kingg6 black kingh6 black king6
5a5 black kingb5 black kingc5 black kingd5 black kinge5 black kingf5 black kingg5 black kingh5 black king5
4a4 black kingb4 black kingc4 black kingd4 black kinge4 white pawnf4 black kingg4 black kingh4 black king4
3a3 black kingb3 black kingc3 black kingd3 black kinge3 black kingf3 black kingg3 black kingh3 black king3
2a2 white pawnb2 white pawnc2 white pawnd2 white pawne2 black kingf2 white pawng2 white pawnh2 white pawn2
1a1 white rookb1 white knightc1 white bishopd1 white queene1 white kingf1 white bishopg1 white knighth1 white rook1
a b c d e f g h
Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN)

r1bqkbnr/pppppppp/2n5/8/4P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKBNR w

Moves: 1. e4 Nc6
ECO code: B00
Parent: King's Pawn Opening

Nimzowitsch Defence

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1...Nc6

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This somewhat uncommon move prepares the d5 push, being a kind of delayed Scandinavian Defence. After 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 Qxd5, White cannot apparently play 4.Nc3 because of the reply 4...Qxd4, however by 5.Qe2 White enters into the Marshall Gambit variation. This has been ignored by the 1.e4 Nc6 books. It may look foolish to give away a centre pawn in this way, but an editor wrote, "We admire this move. Development is everything in the opening portion of the game...Such play shows up the weakness of Black's strategy better than we can express it in words."

Frank Marshall expressed his opinion in that after 4.Nc3 Qxd4 5.Qe2, "and we have some interesting attacks but is the position worth the pawn? For my style, I like White!"

A line was also quoted stating "We think this gambit is an excellent reaction to 2...d5." However, the Marshall gambit has been checked with modern chess engines and is found to give a large advantage to the second player (though it may have some practical value).

After 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 d5, 3. e5 is considered the main option for white. Black usually now plays 3...Bf5, and a sequence such as 4. c3 e6 will likely occur. A very interesting comparison can be made to two other chess openings, the French Defence (1. e4 e6) and Caro-Kann (1. e4 c6). In the French Defence, Black gets to play c7-c5 in one go to start direct counterplay against the white centre, but at the cost of the dark squared bishop being locked in. In the Caro-Kann, Black usually plays Bf5 before e6, but they also want to play the move c5 to strike at white's centre, which means that c6 was a "waste" of a tempo. In this position from the Nimzowitsch, Black has the bishop out, but the knight on c6, which blocks the c-pawn. Black's plans involve playing Nge7 to develop the piece and support the f5-square (white usually develops their light-squared bishop to d3), playing f7-f6 and even moving the c6-knight back to b8 and playing c7-c5 to strike at white's formidable centre. White, of course, has a good position, and the current state is that these positions are complex and unique, with a slight advantage for white. Still, Black has the ability to play for a win, which is why 2. Nf3 (offering a transposition to normal opening theory with 2...e5) has become the modern main line.

White can either play the main line 2. d4 or try to avoid complex theory with 2. Nf3 or 2. Nc3. Upon Nf3, black can play Nf6 and there will be something like Alekhine's defence.

The opening is named after Aron Nimzowitsch.

Theory table

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For explanation of theory tables, see theory table and for notation, see algebraic notation..

1. e4 Nc6

2 3
Main line d4
d5		 e5
Bf5		 +=
Nf3
d6		 d4
Nf6		 +=
Nc3 =

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Wikipedia has related information at Nimzowitsch Defence

References

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  • Nunn's Chess Openings. 1999. John Nunn (Editor), Graham Burgess, John Emms, Joe Gallagher. ISBN 1-8574-4221-0.
  • BCO2
  • The Nimzovich Defence To 1.e4, Hugh Myers, Caissa, 1995
  • The Kipping chess Club Year Book, 1943-4
  • Unorthodox Openings Joel Benjamin, Eric Schiller: Batsford 1987
  • British Chess Magazine June 1899
  • Myers Opening Bulletin #3
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