if e4 Nc6 I am just going to play d4 and take the centre, playing Nc3 there is just stubborn and not taking advantage of a clear advantage where no theory has to be remembered cos its move 2.
I think this is a bit of strange post. If I want to avoid the vienna ( but I am not required to play 1...e5) why can't I just play literally any other opening? He plays 1.e4 I play 1...c6 boom, no more vienna.
I think it would make more sense to find something inside the 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 complex that is easy to play, rather than make Black play a whole new opening.
All of your points are valid. But that's just like saying you would rather eat a steak than risk trying a sushi. Not everything is about winning efficiently.
As a ~2400 bullet player, recently I played a lot of 1...Nc6.
To 2.Nc3 my reply is 2...e5, I don't fear their Vienna. I have ideas in those positions too. I find it easier to fight from an equal position:)
Sometimes I play the silly gambit 2.Nc3 d5, mostly due to premove but it can be tricky.
At my level I wouldn't expect people to play 2...Nf6 3.f4, even Vienna fanatics. 3...d5 disturbs the Vienna scheme. Maybe at 1800 level people play Nc3-f4 automatically...
Like others, I also find 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.d4 too good for White.
I like your enthusiasm though:) Analyzing is useful for improvement
@cuendillar said in #5:
> 1.e4 Nc6 [Uncommon, probably for good reasons]
The reasons are 2.Nf3 and 2.Nc3 refusing the Nimzowitsch, aster 2.d4 Black already scores better than White.
I used to play the Vienna and against openings like Pirc, Modern etc, I'd take the centre with 2.d4 cuz I didn't have anything special prepared. Against 1... Nc6 there is the problem of 2.d4 d5, or 2... e5, so 2.Nc3 solves that problem (no centre to undermine) preparing d4, not f4, like against any other opening that isn't e5 or c5.
Still an interesting line
@Karagialis said in #14:
> As a ~2400 bullet player, recently I played a lot of 1...Nc6.
What's your answer to 2.Nf3? I've been playing around with f5, but that wouldn't work in classical more than once...
As a lifelong 1. Nc3 player, I promise you that we look at transpositions deeper than move 2 and most of us will play 3. d4 and not 3. f4.
It leads to an easy game for White.
The blog post is good, but the title is misleading. "Defeat the Vienna as a Nimzovich player with no effort whatsoever", or something of the like, would be more accurate.
@Mortadulo said in #17:
> As a lifelong 1. Nc3 player, I promise you that we look at transpositions deeper than move 2 and most of us will play 3. d4 and not 3. f4.
>
> It leads to an easy game for White.
Have you checked the 3.d4 chapter?
@TotalNoob69 said in #19:
> > As a lifelong 1. Nc3 player, I promise you that we look at transpositions deeper than move 2 and most of us will play 3. d4 and not 3. f4.
> >
> > It leads to an easy game for White.
>
> Have you checked the 3.d4 chapter?
I will admit it was nearly 2 AM when I posted this, so my point may have not been clear.
I am simply saying that you SHOULD EXPECT 3. d4... Though you will get 3. f4, it is not some addicting move that Vienna players are compelled to play.
In fact, I would wager that the number of Grand Prix players that play 3. f4 in that position is higher than Vienna players.