Nimzo-Indian Defence - Other Variations

Other Variations

• 4. f3 - This line has no generally accepted name, so is usually just referred to as the 4.f3 Variation. It has previously been called the Gheorghiu Variation (a name given by Gligoric),who often played it early in his career, even defeating Fischer, and sometimes the Shirov Variation, after Alexei Shirov who used it with great success in the early 1990s, before he lost three consecutive games with the line and abandoned it. According to chess365.com it is called the Kmoch Variation. It is a straightforward attempt to seize control of e4, though at the cost of delaying development, and therefore attempts to refute Black's plan, which has been to play for control of the e4-square. Black's most common reply is 4...d5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5 7.cxd5 Nxd5, a position also reached from the Sämisch Variation. Black's pressure on c3 and d4 compels White to play 8.dxc5, trying to open the position for his two bishops. White will follow up with e4, and Black will counter with ...e5 at some point to prevent White from pushing his e- and f-pawns further up the board. Another approach for Black is to play 4...c5, after which White plays 5.d5 to keep his central pawns together reaches a Benoni-style position, and Black's main replies are 5...b5, 5...0-0, 5...Bxc3+ and 5...Nh5. 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 is a direct transposition to the Saemisch Variation below.

• 4. Bg5 - The Leningrad Variation received its name because its theory was developed extensively by players from that city, such as Boris Spassky. The main line runs 4. ... h6 5. Bh4 c5 6. d5 d6 7. e3 Bxc3+ 8. bxc3 e5, when Black has achieved a Hübner Variation-like blockade, the difference being that White's dark-squared bishop is outside the pawn chain. The pin on the f6-knight is very annoying, and Black often finds himself compelled to break it by playing the drastic ...g7-g5, which also clamps down on a potential f2-f4 break by White. This move weakens Black's kingside, so he often will not castle, walking his king to c7 via d8. An interesting alternative to 6....d6 is ....b5, much played in the 1970s after Mikhail Tal scored a crushing win over Spassky at Tallinn 1973.

• 4.a3 - The Sämisch Variation (named after Fritz Sämisch) is a direct attempt to refute Black's strategic concept, as White gives up a tempo and concedes doubled c-pawns to gain the bishop pair. After 4...Bxc3+ 5.bxc3, Black has several possibilities, the most common of which is that he immediately begins to blockade the doubled pawns with 5....c5 and applies more pressure on the (often doomed) pawn at c4 with the moves ...Ba6, ...Nc6-a5 and ...Rc8. In the early days of this line, 5....d5 was frequently played, though it was soon realised that this enabled White to liquidate the weakness at c4, so the idea fell from favour, particularly after the game Botvinnik-Capablanca, AVRO 1938, and has never been revived at top level. As compensation, White establishes a powerful centre, in order to play for a kingside attack before Black can make use of his static advantages. White has two main options for playing: he can move slowly into the centre with 6.e3, or he can play 6.f3, followed by 7.e4 to take a quick hold in the centre. In practice, however, Black has demonstrated that White's structural weaknesses are more serious than the attacking chances he gets, so this variation is rarely seen nowadays. The Sämisch Variation was employed five times by Mikhail Botvinnik against Tal in the 1960 World Chess Championship, with five draws resulting, and once in the 1961 rematch, with a win for White.

• 4. g3 - The Fianchetto Variation resembles the Catalan System, where White fianchettoes his king's bishop to put pressure on the centre squares from the flank. Black can play 4...c5 5.Nf3 with a position also reached from the Kasparov Variation (see above), but 4...d5 is possible as well. This is considered the strongest response, since if allowed, Black can take the pawn on c4 and often keep it. This is not usually possible in the Catalan, where White's knight is developed to d2 and can simply recapture on c4.

• 4. Qb3 - The Spielmann Variation is named after Rudolf Spielmann who played it at Carlsbad, 1929, and was played at GM level in the early 1930s, though soon eclipsed in popularity by 4.Qc2. Like the Classical Variation, it avoids the doubling of White's pawns. However, unlike 4.Qc2, the queen has no control over e4, which Black can exploit by playing 4...c5 5.dxc5 Nc6 6.Nf3 Ne4, for example. Thus, despite the occasional revival by GMs Vladimir Akopian, Vladimir Malaniuk and Jeroen Piket, this variation is also unusual.

• 4. e4 - The Dilworth Gambit, named for Vernon Dilworth, who contributed an article on the variation to the March 1949 issue of CHESS magazine. Dilworth's idea was 4...Nxe4 5.Qg4 Nxc3 6.Bd2. However, White's compensation for the pawn is nebulous at best, and the line accordingly never developed a following beyond Dilworth himself. (No. 3762) Chris Ward called the gambit "critical, but basically rubbish".

• 4. Bd2, unpinning the knight, is a move which is common among amateurs who have no theoretical knowledge when they face the Nimzo-Indian. Although the move is not bad, it is unambitious. The strategic aim of obtaining the bishop pair without conceding the doubled pawns fails, for after e.g., 4...Bxc3 5.Bxc3 Ne4, White does not get to keep both bishops, and fair trades are usually not in White's interests since White has an advantage in space.

• 4. Qd3 - The Mikenas Variation is named after Vladas Mikėnas. That supports the knight, and brings the queen to a central location, but the queen is exposed on d3, making this variation rare.