General Considerations
Botvinnik vs. Reshevsky, The Hague/Moscow 1948| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
| 8 | 8 | ||||||||
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| 5 | 5 | ||||||||
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| 2 | 2 | ||||||||
| 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h |
In the Nimzo-Indian, Black is generally prepared to concede the bishop pair by playing ...Bxc3. As dynamic compensation, he often doubles White's c-pawns, which represent a static weakness, and gains play against the central light squares d5 and e4, even in those instances where White is able to recapture with a piece after ....Bxc3. Black will aim to close the position to reduce the scope of White's bishops. To this end, Black must blockade the white pawn centre from advancing and neutralise White's attacking chances on the kingside. An example of Black's strategy carried out successfully is the classic game Mikhail Botvinnik versus Samuel Reshevsky from the 1948 World Championship Match-Tournament, which reached the position in the diagram after White's 24th move.
Earlier in the game, Reshevsky was able to block White's kingside attack by playing ...Nf6-e8 and ...f7-f5. Now, both White's bishops are reduced to defence, and White's queen must go to the miserable a2-square to defend both the pawns on a3 and c4. Without any prospects for counterplay, White's game is strategically hopeless, and Black ultimately exchanged queens and won the endgame.
Read more about this topic: Nimzo-Indian Defence
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