Nimzowitsch Defence: free opening course

Key ideas

• The c6 knight and the d-pawn attack d4 together. Many White moves leave d4 short of guards.
• Against the advance to e5, the bishop goes to f5 before the e-pawn moves to e6. Then the f-pawn hits White's chain.
• When White's queen comes out early, chase it with your knights and bishops and develop with tempo.
• After White pushes to d5, the knight goes back to e7 and on to g6. Do not jump into d4, where it gets trapped.
• Watch the long diagonal from b5 to e8. A bishop check on it often wins a loose knight on c6.

The 6 variations in the course

• Advance line: 3.e5 Bf5: 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. c3 f6 6. Bb5 Ne7 … — White grabs space with e5. Black develops the bishop to f5 first, then plays the e-pawn to e6. Next the f-pawn attacks White's centre, and Black trades the light-squared bishops.
• Knight line: 3.Nc3 dxe4: 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. d5 Ne5 5. Qd4 Ng6 6. Qxe4 Nf6 … — White develops the knight and keeps e4. Black takes on e4. After 4.d5 the knight jumps to e5 and then g6, and Black chases White's queen while developing.
• Exchange line: 3.exd5 Qxd5: 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 Qxd5 4. Nf3 Bg4 5. Be2 O-O-O 6. c3 e5 … — White trades in the centre. Black takes back with the queen and pins the f3 knight. Black castles long and hits the centre with the e-pawn.
• Pawn grab: 3.dxe5 Nxe5: 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 e5 3. dxe5 Nxe5 4. Nf3 Nxf3+ 5. Qxf3 Qf6 6. Qg3 Bb4+ … — White takes the e5 pawn and Black takes back with the knight. Black trades the knight on f3 and brings out the queen and the bishop with tempo.
• Space line: 3.d5 Nce7: 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 e5 3. d5 Nce7 4. c4 Ng6 5. Nc3 Bc5 6. Be3 Bxe3 … — White pushes the d-pawn and chases the knight. The knight goes to e7 and then g6. Black trades the dark-squared bishops and keeps a solid position.
• Quiet line: 2.Nf3 d6: 1. e4 Nc6 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 Bg4 5. Be2 e5 6. d5 Bxf3 … — White develops calmly with the knight. Black plays the d-pawn to d6 and the knight to f6. Black pins the f3 knight, takes it and puts a knight on d4.

Traps you will learn (3)

• Trapped knight: 3.d5 Nd4? 4.c3 — A warning for Black. After 3.d5 the knight jump to d4 looks strong. But after 4.c3 every square of the knight is covered, and White wins it.
• Early capture: 5...Bxf3? Bxf3 — A warning for Black. In the line with the queen on d5, taking on f3 too early is a mistake. The bishop on f3 hits the queen and the c6 knight. Grabbing d4 then loses the queen.
• Loose pawn: 4.Bd3? Nxd4 — In the 3.e5 line White often offers the bishop trade on d3. But the bishop blocks the queen, and the d4 pawn has no guard. The knight takes it for free.

How the opening courses work

Each course teaches an opening in a few main variations. For every move you read why it is played, which other moves are good, and which tempting moves are mistakes and why. Each course also shows the traps of the opening: the ones you can set and the ones to avoid.

After a lesson you play the moves yourself in a drill. The lines you learn go into your review, which brings them back when you are about to forget them (spaced repetition). 30 line courses add many short lines per opening, a few new ones a day, and every named opening, more than 3,800 lines, has a lesson of its own.