page 1 of 15; games 1-25 of 362  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. P F Johner vs Nimzowitsch 0-1 40 1926 Dresden E47 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 2. V Vukovic vs Colle   0-1 73 1927 pre-B E47 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 3. V Vukovic vs Colle   0-1 73 1927 Kecskemet HUN E47 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 4. P F Johner vs Capablanca 0-1 48 1929 Karlsbad E47 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 5. Sultan Khan vs R P Michell 1-0 25 1930 Hastings 3031 E47 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 6. Eliskases vs W Henneberger 0-1 27 1934 Bad Liebwerda E47 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 7. J Nielsen vs Szabo   ½-½ 69 1935 Warsaw E47 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 8. V Vukovic vs L Endzelins   1-0 33 1936 olm final E47 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 9. Reshevsky vs Keres   ½-½ 47 1938 AVRO E47 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 10. S Gotthilf vs Chekhover   ½-½ 56 1938 URS-ch sf E47 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 11. S Landau vs P F Schmidt 1-0 52 1938 Noordwijk E47 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 12. Alatortsev vs Smyslov 0-1 40 1939 03, Leningrad/Moscow ;HCL 32 E47 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 13. Gligoric vs B Rabar 1-0 28 1939 Zagreb E47 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 14. K Junge vs Mross 1-0 33 1941 Cracow/Warsaw POL E47 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 15. Lokvenc vs Mross   1-0 33 1941 Cracow/Warsaw POL E47 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 16. Sajtar vs Pachman 1-0 23 1943 UJCS-17.Kongress E47 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 17. Shainswit vs Chernev   ½-½ 32 1944 New York ch-USA E47 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 18. Botvinnik vs Reshevsky ½-½ 44 1946 Moscow SU-US E47 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 19. G Abrahams vs G Wood 0-1 104 1946 BCF-ch Nottingham E47 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 20. Chris Vlagsma vs T Van der Tol   ½-½ 18 1946 Beverwijk NED E47 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 21. I A Horowitz vs A J Fink   ½-½ 74 1946 USA-ch E47 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 22. Kotov vs Kashdan   ½-½ 71 1946 URS-USA E47 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 23. B Y Mills vs Purdy   0-1 48 1946 Australian Ch E47 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 24. Botvinnik vs Kholmov   1-0 30 1947 Moscow Chigorin-mem E47 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 25. Bronstein vs Simagin   ½-½ 24 1947 Ch Moscow E47 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3  page 1 of 15; games 1-25 of 362    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)

Secrets of Opening Surprises

Feb-03-05    akashic: 4... 0-0 is way too passive. 4... c5 is much better in my opinion. Feb-03-05    dragon40: <akashic> I do not know if 4..c5 is better, but it is certainly more forcing! 4...0-0 is a good, flexible move for the black pieces. I guess it is all in the way that you wish to play your set-up. the Nimzo is so full of transpositions and well-rehearsed variations that it is very important that no matter what your preference that you understand why you like it and what to expect as far as typical positions and set-ups coming from that opening. I am a D pawn player as White, and I have faced far more 4...0-0 against the Nimzo, but again, I like to play the Classical variation of this opening, 4. Qc2 as a rule; unless I plan to use the setup with 4. E3, and 5. Ne2 instead. All a matter of preference! :) Feb-03-05    Poisonpawns: I like 4.Bg5 as white! Mar-11-05    dragon40: <poisonpawns> That is a very sharp variation, and you are in good company. Boris Spassky really worked it into a system, and Jan Timman had been using it in his prime as well! These days, at least at the GM level, it is not too popular, having been "de-fanged" as it were, and most players of the black pieces know the way to equality. At the lower levels though, it can be a very useful weapon, especially if Black treats it lightly and is not paying attention! Jun-01-09    Amarande: 4 ... 0-0 seems more flexible indeed. It allows ... c5 to be delayed to a point when the Nimzo branching is more definitely established, and the relative usefulness of having played this move early is determined. Particularly, in terms of Pawn structure, it seems Nimzo lines tend to fall into two categories, which depend on Black's early pawn moves and the circumstances around ... Bxc3 (which is usually all but forced at some point): a) Where Black eschews ... d5, AND White must recapture at c3 with the pawn. b) Where Black plays ... d5, and/or White can recapture at c3 with a piece. In lines that end up in the a) type, an early ... c5 is virtually mandatory. Black's chief advantage in such variations is the weak White pawn at c4, and were this pawn allowed to advance, that advantage would *greatly* decrease (possibly vanishing altogether). However, it can usually be played after making the exchange on c3 (even if this leaves Pc5 unguarded, dxc5 is generally really a bad idea for White). On the other hand, variations of the b) type seem to have a tendency to adopt a more QGD-like formation. (Given the significant advantage White usually gets in the QGD, one might even suspect these variations of being outright *bad* for Black, though I have not heard of them being directly refuted.) Here Black normally needs to play ... c5 eventually, to avoid being crushed in the center - but as Black also does not have a significant positional advantage that would be in immediate danger of vanishing if he did not play ... c5 immediately, he can afford to delay the move until completing his development rather than using an early opening tempo to do so.

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