Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...Nf6/2. c4/2...e6/3. Nc3

Indian Defence
a b c d e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h
Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN) rnbqkb1r/pppp1ppp/4pn2/8/2PP4/2N5/PP2PPPP/R1BQKBNR b
Moves: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3

Indian Defence

3. Nc3

With 3.Nc3, White develops a piece and continues to fight for the center of the board. On c3, the knight controls the important d5 and e4 squares. Black can choose from four main continuations. One of the main continuations is Bb4, which activates the dark squared bishop and pins the white knight. This is known as the Nimzo-Indian Defense.

Theory table

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

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3

	3
Nimzo-Indian Defence	... Bb4	=
Queen's Gambit Declined by transposition	... d5
Modern Benoni Defence	... c5	=
Queen's Indian Defence	... b6	=
Black Knights Tango by transposition	... Nc6	+=