Nimzo-Indian Defense
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4
Also known as:Nimzo
Play Through the Opening
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Moves
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Move 7 of 7
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 (Rubinstein) or 4.Qc2 (Classical) 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 (White recaptures with the queen to avoid doubled c-pawns, taking the bishop pair instead)
Core Ideas
Nimzo-Indian pins the c3 knight with bishop on b4 before the knight can support e4 push. Trades off dark bishop for a c3-c4 doubled pawn structure (weak) that can be exploited long-term. Used by Nimzowitsch (opening namesake), Kasparov, Karjakin. One of the theoretically best defenses against 1.d4.
Plan for White
Rubinstein (4.e3): rebuild center with e3-Nf3-Bd3 system. Classical (4.Qc2): avoid double pawn by recapturing on c3 with queen. Long-term: bishop pair advantage for endgame.
Plan for Black
Trade off bishop on c3, exploit c-file doubled pawn with piece pressure (Nc6, Nd7, queen to a5). Castle fast plus queenside expansion. Slightly better endgame for Black with clean structure.
Grandmaster Tier Context
T4 National through T5 Master. Nimzo-Indian requires depth positional understanding due to imbalanced post-opening pawn structure. Grandmaster coaches introduce Nimzo at rating 1800 plus after players are solid in Slav or Queen's Indian.