Fighting
the Nimzo
Semko Semkov
Chess Stars
[Link]
Chess Stars Publishing
Fighting the Nimzo
Cover design by Rustam Taichinov
Copyright © 2025 by Semko Semkov
Printed in Bulgaria
ISBN: 978-619-7188-42-4
Contents
Bibliography 4
Introduction 5
Part 1 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 0-0 9
Chapter 1. 4.Nf3 0-0 5.Bg5
Step by Step 12 Annotated Games 28
Chapter 2. 4.Nf3 0-0 5.Bg5 d5
Step by Step 36 Annotated Games 47
Chapter 3. 4...0-0 5.Bg5 h6
Step by Step 58 Annotated Games 80
Part 2 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 c5 89
Chapter 4. 4...c5 5.e3 Bxc3+
Step by Step 92 Annotated Games 105
Chapter 5. 4...c5 5.e3 d5 6.cxd5 Nxd5
Step by Step 111 Annotated Games 122
Chapter 6. 4...c5 5.e3 d5 6.cxd5 exd5
Step by Step 126 Annotated Games 134
Part 3 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 b6 147
Chapter 7. Fianchetto with ...Ne4
Step by Step 149 Annotated Games 164
Chapter 8. Fianchetto with ...c5
Step by Step 173 Annotated Games 182
Chapter 9. Fianchetto with ...d5
Step by Step 188 Annotated Games 197
Part 4 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 d5 203
Index of Variations 205
Introduction
Bibliography
Books
Playing the Nimzo-Indian, Renier Castellanos, Quality Chess 2024
The Modern Nimzo-Indian, Igor Lysyj, Chess Stars 2022
Attacking 1...d5 Volume 2, Kiril Georgiev, Chess Stars 2022
The Modern English, Volume 2, Kiril Georgiev and Semko Semkov,
Chess Stars 2019
Periodicals
Chess Informant
Internet resources
The Week In Chess ([Link])
Chess Publishing ([Link])
4
Introduction
Introduction
XIIIIIIIIY
Every serious 1.d4 player is con- 9r+-+qtrk+0
stantly facing the problem what to 9+lzp-+-zpp0
do against 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6. The 9-zp-zppsn-+0
Queens-Indian Defence 3.Nf3 b6 9zp-+-+psn-0
is solid but toothless nowadays, 9-+PzP-+-+0
and 3.g3 c5 4.d5 leads to the Mo 9zPP+-zPP+-0
dern Benoni with g3, which is 9-vLQsNL+PzP0
hardly the most challenging ap- 9tR-+-+RmK-0
proach against it. It suffices to say xiiiiiiiiy
that Black scores over 50%! 16.Bd3!
Thus having the Nimzowitsch This was the decisive move in our
3.Nc3 Bb4 in our repertoire is in- psychological battle. Tal said in
dispensable if we want to impose the postmortem that he missed
complex unbalanced play. it. His idea was to put the queen
on g6, followed by ...h7-h5-h4, or
I had been playing the Nimzo all other tactical devices like 16.Rae1
my life, relying on the Rubinstein Qg6 17.Bd3 Nfe4 18.fxe4? fxe4
System 4.e3. My most memorable 19.Be2 Nh3+ 20.Kh1 Nf2+=. My
game in it was against ex-World move hinders this set-up since
champion Tal in a closed round 16...Qg6 would be met by 17.d5!.
robin tournament at a classical Tal thought a lot and came up
control: with:
16...Nh5, hoping that I would be
Semkov-Tal scared to call his bluff. Howev-
Albena 1984 er, I calculated a forced way to
1.d4 e6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 exchange his second knight and
0-0 5.Nf3 b6 6.Qc2 Bb7 7.a3 provoked the subsequent sacri-
Bxc3+ 8.Qxc3 a5 9.b3 d6 10.Be2 fice with 17.f4!. The next moves
Nbd7 11.0-0 Ne4 12.Qc2 f5 13.Bb2 came quickly as both of us want-
Ndf6 14.Nd2 Qe8 15.f3 Ng5 ed to show confidence:
5
Introduction
XIIIIIIIIY
17...Nh3+? (17...Ne4 18.Nxe4 9rsn-wq-trk+0
Bxe4 19.Bxe4 fxe4 20.d5 Qg6 9zpl+-+pzpp0
21.b4²) 18.gxh3 Qg6+ 19.Kf2 9-zp-+psn-+0
Qg2+ 20.Ke1 Qxh3 21.Be2! 9+-+-+-vL-0
XIIIIIIIIY 9-vlLzP-+-+0
9r+-+-trk+0 9+-sN-+N+-0
9+lzp-+-zpp0 9PzP-+-zPPzP0
9-zp-zpp+-+0 9tR-+Q+RmK-0
9zp-+-+p+n0 xiiiiiiiiy
9-+PzP-zP-+0 Black then takes on c3 and deve
9zPP+-zP-+q0 lops the queen’s knight on d7,
9-vLQsNL+-zP0 achieving an easy game. Even
9tR-+-mKR+-0 worse, the principal lines have
xiiiiiiiiy been investigated up to draw end-
The bishop’s pendulum manoeu-
games, for instance, 11.Re1 Nbd7
vre decides the game. 21...Qxe3
12.Rc1 Rc8 13.Qb3 Bxc3 14.Rxc3 h6
22.Qc3 trades queens, so Black is
15.Bh4 Bd5 16.Bxd5 Rxc3 17.Qxc3
unable to keep his knight. In our
Nxd5 18.Bxd8 Nxc3 19.Bxb6
previous game two years earlier
Nxa2 20.Bxa7 Ra8 21.Bc5 Nxc5
in Sochi I was also winning, but
22.dxc5 Rc8 23.Re5 Nb4 24.Ne1
blundered just before the control.
Na6=, Lysyj-Oparin, Sochi 2017.
This time I did not miss the goal:
21...Qxh2 22.Bxh5 Qxh5 23.Qd3
Another critical move order is 4.e3
Bg2 24.Rf2 Qh4 25.Qe2 a4 26.Nf3
0-0 5.Bd3 d5 6.Nf3 dxc4 7.Bxc4
Bxf3 27.Qxf3 axb3 28.Kd2 Ra4
c5 8.a3 Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Qc7
29.Rh1 Qf6 30.Qc6 Ra5 31.Rfh2 XIIIIIIIIY
h6 32.Qxc7 Ra4 33.Rc1 d5 34.cxd5 9rsnl+-trk+0
exd5 35.Rc6 Qf7 36.Qxf7+ 1-0 9zppwq-+pzpp0
9-+-+psn-+0
The Rubinstein System had served 9+-zp-+-+-0
me well for decades, but gradually 9-+LzP-+-+0
Black players have learned to neu- 9zP-zP-zPN+-0
tralize it with an early ...d5, fol- 9-+-+-zPPzP0
lowed by ...dxc4. 9tR-vLQmK-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
One tough nut to crack proved to Note that in both cases Black re-
be the so-called Karpov Variation: frains from putting the knight
4.e3 0-0 5.Bd3 d5 6.Nf3 dxc4 on c6. That creates a threat on
7.Bxc4 c5 8.0-0 cxd4 9.exd4 b6 the Bc4, and all the retreats have
10.Bg5 Bb7 some drawbacks.
6
Introduction
XIIIIIIIIY
I did not find a satisfactory solu- 9rsnlwq-trk+0
tion, but discovered a way to side- 9zpp+-+pzpp0
step both problematic positions 9-+-+-sn-+0
via a clever move order: 9+-zPp+-+-0
9-vl-+-+-+0
4.Nf3! 9+-sNLzPN+-0
XIIIIIIIIY 9PzP-+-zPPzP0
9rsnlwqk+-tr0 9tR-vLQmK-+R0
9zppzpp+pzpp0 xiiiiiiiiy
9-+-+psn-+0 Of course Black can push it to d4,
9+-+-+-+-0 but he does not fare well in the
9-vlPzP-+-+0 arising symmetrical pawn struc-
9+-sN-+N+-0 ture due to his lag in development
9PzP-+PzPPzP0 – see Chapter 6.
9tR-vLQmKL+R0
xiiiiiiiiy The most (and only!) princi-
We call this the Kasparov Vari-
pled way to punish our particu-
ation. In the titanic encounters
lar path to the Rubinstein System
with Karpov in 1985-1986, the
via 4.Nf3 is Fischer’s set-up 5...
young World champion scored 4
Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 d6. In my opinion,
wins and 5 draws without a sin-
White obtains a stable advantage
gle loss. Apparently Karpov was
with 7.Bd3 Nc6 8.e4 e5 9.h3! h6
so impressed by his opponent’s
10.Be3 aiming to provoke 10...b6.
ideas, that he also tried them as
XIIIIIIIIY
White. Ironically, our model to
9r+lwqk+-tr0
follow in this book is not Kaspa
9zp-+-+pzp-0
rov, who treated “his” variation 9-zpnzp-sn-zp0
with g3, but none other than Kar- 9+-zp-zp-+-0
pov! Way back in 1974 he em- 9-+PzPP+-+0
ployed 4.Nf3 against Spassky, and 9+-zPLvLN+P0
after 4...c5 transposed to the Ru- 9P+-+-zPP+0
binstein System with 5.e3!?, hav- 9tR-+QmK-+R0
ing dodged the move order with xiiiiiiiiy
...d5. Now we close the centre and start
You might ask what is the dif- strangling the opponent. Howev-
ference, as Black can go 5...0‑0 er, you should know the right ma-
6.Bd3 d5. Then we opt for the noeuvres and where to place the
fashionable: king.
7.cxd5 exd5 8.dxc5!?
We have a clear plan to play 4...0-0 5.Bg5 c5 6.e3!? is an-
against the isolani on d5. other major direction of my re-
7
Introduction
XIIIIIIIIY
search. Here again we can avoid 9rsn-wq-trk+0
the Karpov Variation, as I show in 9zplzp-+pzpp0
Chapter 2. 9-zp-+-sn-+0
9+-+psN-+-0
The most popular answer to 4.Nf3 9-vl-zP-+-+0
has been 4...b6, which leads af- 9+-sNLzP-+-0
ter 5.e3 to 3 very different pawn 9PzP-+-zPPzP0
structures. 9tR-vLQ+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
Chapter 7 focuses on Dutch set- The last part of the book should
ups. I like to attack them with have been devoted to the Ragozin
breaks on the queenside, namely 4.Nf3 d5. My recommendation is
c4-c5 or a2-a4-a5: 5.Qa4+! Nc6 6.e3.
5...Ne4 6.Qc2 Bb7 7.Bd3 f5 8.0-0 XIIIIIIIIY
Bxc3 9.bxc3 0-0 9r+lwqk+-tr0
XIIIIIIIIY 9zppzp-+pzpp0
9rsn-wq-trk+0 9-+n+psn-+0
9zplzpp+-zpp0 9+-+p+-+-0
9-zp-+p+-+0 9QvlPzP-+-+0
9+-+-+p+-0 9+-sN-zPN+-0
9-+PzPn+-+0 9PzP-+-zPPzP0
9+-zPLzPN+-0 9tR-vL-mKL+R0
9P+Q+-zPPzP0 xiiiiiiiiy
9tR-vL-+RmK-0 I believe that White’s game here is
xiiiiiiiiy easier than after 5.cxd5 or 5.Bg5.
10.c5!?. It is covered in detail in Attacking
1...d5 Volume 2 by Kiril Georgiev,
Next comes 5...c5 6.Bd3 Bb7 published by Chess Stars in 2022.
7.0-0 0-0 8.Na4 cxd4 9.exd4!, I do not analyse it in the current
where Black commonly builds up book, but included a short update
a Hedgehog structure. to Georgiev’s work.
Finally, 5...0-0 6.Bd3 Bb7 7.0‑0 I hope that after several books on
d5 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Ne5!? en- the Nimzo from the Black’s per-
sures White of good prospects of spective, it would be refreshing
an attack. to offer the reader White’s point
of view.
Our next moves in the position
on the following diagram are f4, Semko Semkov
Qd1-f3-h3, planning f4-f5. January 2025
8
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 0-0
Part 1
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 0-0
XIIIIIIIIY
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 9rsnlwq-trk+0
4.Nf3 0-0 9zpp+-+pzpp0
XIIIIIIIIY 9-+-+psn-+0
9rsnlwq-trk+0 9+-+-+-vL-0
9zppzpp+pzpp0 9-vlpzP-+-+0
9-+-+psn-+0 9+-sN-+N+-0
9+-+-+-+-0 9PzP-+LzPPzP0
9-vlPzP-+-+0 9tR-+QmK-+R0
9+-sN-+N+-0 xiiiiiiiiy
9PzP-+PzPPzP0 9.0-0!. This is our trick to side-
9tR-vLQmKL+R0 step the Karpov Variation 9.Bxc4
xiiiiiiiiy (where the bishop is on d3) 9...b6
This flexible move retains all
10.0-0 Bb7, which has been de-
Black’s options open. Black might
veloped incredibly deep. The key
choose later ...d5, having dodged
move after 9...b6 is 10.Ne5! Bb7
the Ragozin 4...d5 5.Qa4+!, or
11.Bf3!
...c5 first, or even ...b6. Lysyj re
XIIIIIIIIY
commends it in his repertoire
9rsn-wq-trk+0
book on the Nimzowitsch. On the 9zpl+-+pzpp0
other hand, it does not attack im- 9-zp-+psn-+0
mediately the centre. I propose 9+-+-sN-vL-0
to use the tempo to lead out our 9-vlpzP-+-+0
bishop, which is commonly caged 9+-sN-+L+-0
in on c1 in the Rubinstein System 9PzP-+-zPPzP0
with 4.e3 – a first dividend for us 9tR-+Q+RmK-0
from the move order with 4.Nf3! xiiiiiiiiy
5.Bg5!? What have we achieved? There is
My main idea is to play later e3, not a single game in my database!
aiming for the following position: And Black has to solve complex
5...c5 6.e3 cxd4 7.exd4 d5 8.Be2! problems on his own. This is ana-
dxc4 lysed in Chapter 1, line C1.
9
Part 1
My analysis showed that this idea Since the queen’s knight is not on
does not work well with ...h6 Bh4 d7 to defend f6, Black commonly
included. Then what? In that retreats the bishop to e7 to unpin
event we enter the Karpov Varia- Nf6.
tion, but with a huge difference –
our bishop is on h4: Against ...Nc6, our favourite
5...h6 6.Bh4 c5 7.e3 cxd4 8.exd4 set-up is Re1, Qd3, a3, planning
d5 9.Be2 dxc4 10.0-0 b6 11.Bxc4! Bc4-a2-b1.
Bb7 12.Qe2
XIIIIIIIIY See Chapter 1, line C1.
9rsn-wq-trk+0
9zpl+-+pzp-0 Finally, if Black delays ...Nc6, we
9-zp-+psn-zp0 put our queen on e2 (the d4-pawn
9+-+-+-+-0 is not hanging!) and aim for Ne5,
9-vlLzP-+-vL0 possibly Nxf7 or d4-d5.
9+-sN-+N+-0
9PzP-+QzPPzP0 Analysis
9tR-+-+RmK-0 XIIIIIIIIY
xiiiiiiiiy 9r+-wq-trk+0
Again, the database is not a big 9+l+-vlpzp-0
help with less than 40 games and 9p+-+psn-zp0
not a single top level example! 9+-+-sN-+-0
Karpov’s plan is 12...Bxc3 13.bxc3 9-sn-zP-+-vL0
Nbd7 14.Rac1 Qc7, but in the con- 9+LsN-+-+-0
crete situation we have 15.Bg3 9-zP-+-zPPzP0
Qc6 16.Bb5, harassing the queen.
9tR-+QtR-mK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
That earns White the initiative af- 17.Nxf7!±. This sacrifice is a re-
ter 16...Qe4 17.Qb2 – see Chapter curring motif when we manage to
3, line A21. install a knight on e5.
Another typical set-up against the If Black meets 5.Bg5 with 5...d5
isolated pawn is based on ...Nc6. 6.e3 c5 7.cxd5 exd5, we take on c5!
XIIIIIIIIY XIIIIIIIIY
9r+lwq-trk+0 9rsnlwq-trk+0
9zpp+-vlpzpp0 9zpp+-+pzpp0
9-+n+psn-+0 9-+-+-sn-+0
9+-+-+-vL-0 9+-zpp+-vL-0
9-+LzP-+-+0 9-vl-zP-+-+0
9+-sN-+N+-0 9+-sN-zPN+-0
9PzP-+-zPPzP0 9PzP-+-zPPzP0
9tR-+QtR-mK-0 9tR-+QmKL+R0
xiiiiiiiiy xiiiiiiiiy
10
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 0-0
8.dxc5! saddles the opponent with vant insertion, as it brings about
an isolated pawn. Then 8...Nbd7 new tactical nuances. Most nota-
9.Rc1! Nxc5 is strongly met by bly, the fianchetto 5...h6 6.Bh4 b6
10.Qd4!. See Chapter 2, line B. could be challenged with:
XIIIIIIIIY
The more cunning move order is 9rsnlwq-trk+0
6...Nbd7 before ...c5, waiting for 9zp-zpp+pzp-0
the bishop to go to d3. After 7.cxd5 9-zp-+psn-zp0
exd5 8.Bd3 c5 we change plans – 9+-+-+-+-0
9.0-0 Bxc3 10.bxc3 c4 11.Bf5! Qa5 9-vlPzP-+-vL0
12.Qc2 Re8 13.Nd2 9+-sN-+N+-0
XIIIIIIIIY 9PzP-+PzPPzP0
9r+l+r+k+0 9tR-+QmKL+R0
9zpp+n+pzpp0 xiiiiiiiiy
9-+-+-sn-+0 7.g4!? (although 7.e3 may be even
9wq-+p+LvL-0 better, as shown in Chapter 1, line
9-+pzP-+-+0 A). White’s plan is unambiguous
9+-zP-zP-+-0 – Bxf6, h4, g5 and long castling.
9P+QsN-zPPzP0
9tR-+-+RmK-0 It has been trendy to meet 5...h6
xiiiiiiiiy 6.Bh4 c5 with 7.Rc1, so I provide
Play has converted to the West- some analysis, but my favourite
phalia-Manhattan Variation. It reaction is 7.e3, accepting an iso-
was popular some decades ago, lated pawn on d4, as seen above.
but I believe that White has a last-
ing initiative after 13...g6 14.Bxd7! The best feature of our approach
Nxd7 15.f3 Nb6 16.a4!? or the with 4.Nf3 0-0 5.Bg5 is the rich
more straightforward 16.Rfe1!². I play with many different strategic
offer a detailed analysis of the lat- ideas and sharp tactical skirmi
ter option in Game 4 Mamedya shes. It is not easy for learning
[Link], Baku 2005. – only the IQP positions require
years of practice, but it is all the
Chapter 3 is dedicated to lines more difficult for your opponents
where Black rejects our bish- to grind all the lines in their home
op with ...h6. It is not an irrele- preparation.
11
