Nimzo-Indian Defence
E20 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4
Pin the knight, take the bishop pair off the board, and argue about structure.
Analysing from a photo?
This page needs a FEN or a board you set up by hand. The app reads a position straight from a photograph of a real board or a screenshot, and keeps your saved positions between sessions.
The idea
Bb4 pins the knight on c3 and threatens to exchange it, which is the whole point: White loses the bishop pair and often takes doubled c-pawns, while Black gets a lasting structural argument in return. It is the most respected answer to d4 at the top level and has been for eighty years.
Typical plans
- As Black, take on c3 at the right moment and blockade the doubled pawns.
- As Black, play in the centre with d5 and c5, hitting the structure before White can use the bishops.
- As White, keep the bishops and open the position, where the pair becomes decisive.
What goes wrong
- As Black, exchanging on c3 too early and giving White the centre for free.
- As White, treating the doubled pawns as a simple weakness. They control d4 and e4 and can be a strength.
- The Rubinstein, Classical and Sämisch are genuinely different games. Pick one before you play it.
Using the board above
The board starts at the position after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4. Play the continuation you normally meet, then ask the engine what it would do. That is more useful than reading a line, because it answers the question you actually have, which is what happens in the position you keep reaching.
One caution worth carrying into it: an engine evaluates an opening on the assumption that both sides then play perfectly. A line rated a tenth of a pawn better whose middlegames you have never played is worth less to you than a line rated slightly worse that produces positions you understand. More on that here.