I think Nimzowitsch Defense is a decent opening for black and I've gotten into playing it again (playing e5 against 2.Nf3 xD) All the lines I think are fine for black, but there is one particular line that seems really good for white, maybe even winning. The line involves white playing an early h4.
I found this game and it seemed pretty brutal for black:
I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to what black should do against this line. :(
Thanks and Happy Checkmating
Oh my
Imo, playing h5 against h4, has a big downside, Bg5 in the long term is like, whew.
In this line, the best black can hope for is Queenside castling, since White doesn't already have play on the queenside (Sometimes) and can try to counter in the center with f5.
Here's an example where Black fails to do that (It's bullet so not the best quality game)
Apparently 5...h5 is the only move. And it's better for white to bring the knight out before playing h4
Live with the fact that white can get a good position against a second-rate defence by black. ;)
If it annoys you too much, you will have to switch to a more reliable opening (like Sicilian, 1. e4 e5, French or Caro-Kann).
This is a good line for white. The results of the games by correspondence are ~ 64-65% 35-36% in favor of whites.
This does not mean that the line can not be reproduced for Black, but it's better to play 2) ... d5 if there is not any a suitable workpiece Imho. Or you can play here, for example, in Old Indian,
1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 e5 3. d5 Nce7 4. Nf3 d6 5. c4 g6 6. Nc3 Bg7
yes black is in trouble there. the play is also much easier for white. there's not much else to say..
i think 4..d6 c4 f5 is an improvement. there is at least some play there..
i have a soft spot for "low tier" lines, but you have to understand that sometimes the opponent is going to respond correctly. you have to decide if the risk of the opponent playing a response you don't like is acceptable..
@Dr_King_Schultz Hey, CM
@Kingscrusher-YouTube and my 2100 friend at tournament play it online and in tournaments. I've seen lots others playing it and I wouldn't call it a second rate defense. Too bad there is just this one line. Ugh. I do play Caro Kann but I was determined to find a good recipe against this line. I'll ask my 2100 Expert friend in detail on what he thinks, because he said "Black is fine in all variations".
@GuardianRM @Rise White plays Nf3 with either the automatic intention of playing h4 or not. If white doesn't want to play h4 then black has a very good game. I guess better safe than sorry and play d6. Thanks for your help
