| Feb-03-05 | | akashic: 4... 0-0 is way too passive. 4... c5 is much better in my opinion. |
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| 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! :) |
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| Feb-03-05 | | Poisonpawns: I like 4.Bg5 as white! |
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| 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! |
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| 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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Kibitzing
