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i lost my notes on this defense. can anybody be kind enough to help me?

It's actually 1...Nc6; 2 Nc6 is impossible.

Yup! It has been edited now!

Hi ,

I have played the Nimzovich 1.e4 Nc6 many times in recent years.

Recently a friend bought me the very latest book on it. "Play 1...Nc6." by Christoph Wisnewsi , published by Everyman Chess".

The book answers many question I had on how to play with a major stride forward with my results. For example 1.e4 Nc6 2.Bb5 and now simply 2...d5! . White cedes the bishop pair if he swaps, and the doubled pawns are pertty easy to exchange off. Also 1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 d5 3.e5, a very popular line, seems best met by not 3..Bf5 but 3...f6. If 4.f4 then Nh6 ( later to f5) , ...Bg4 and a blockade on the kingside.

The one major fault I have found is his defence to 2.Nf3 giving 2...Nf6 as his main line, then follows 3.e5 Ng4?! 4.d4 d6 5.h3 with a later smash up on the kingside with Bxh6. Ok a similar idea occurs in the French but I , for one, don't like it.

Much better it seems to me, and I have seen it mentioned by others on the forum is 1.e4 Nc6 2.Nf3 d5! 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.Nc6 Qd6 a la the Scandinavian.
Feasible for Black seems ...e5 and or ...Bg4,and maybe ...Bb4 in certain circumstances, I ran it through Fritz to 12 play and it showed near equallity for Black.

Hope this helps out somewhat

Good luck.

I haven't read "Play 1...Nc6" by Wisnewski, but I have read a lot of "A Complete Defense for Black" by Keene and Jacobs, which recommends 1...Nc6 against any first move by White. (A persusal of the Table of Contents of "Play 1...Nc6" reveals that Wisnewski instructs the reader to play 1...d5 and then 2...Nc6 against 1 d4, which would seem to reveal that the title of the book is a tad misleading.)

"A Complete Defense for Black" is over ten years old now, but theory on 1...Nc6 probably hasn't changed a lot over that time period given that no super-GM's play it at all that I'm aware of.

After 1 e4 Nc6 2 d4, K&J recommend 2...e5, while Wisnewski recommends 2...d5. After 1 e4 Nc6 Nf3, K&J recommend 2...d6, rather than 2...d5. I don't remember K&J mentioning 1 e4 Nc6 Bb5.

"A Complete Defense for Black" is an excellent book with a lot of well-annotated complete games.

It is available at http://www.labatechess.com, which is where I bought it.

edit: The price of the book is $9.98.

Apparently Wisnewwski is not comfortable with 1.d4 Nc6 2.d5 feeling that the Chigorin Defense offers better chances for Black. Nevertheless 1.d4 then 1...d5 with 2...Nc6 is playable against almost any White second move so it retains a bit of a "forcing" nature with regards to what the opponents will be playing. there's been an explosion of material on the Chigorin and related lines in recent years. But the book title, Play 1...Nc6!, will be deceptive if one really wants to specifically play 1.d4 Nc6. Keene and Jacobs are not mentioned in the bibliography, but there is a German language book by Harold Keilhack, 1..Sc6! aus allen Lagen, from 2003 that might offer coverage of 1.d4 Nc6. Does anyone have that title in there library.

I have played 1...Nc6 now exclusively for a number of years. Though I am only a rated expert I have had good success with it against lower and higher rated opponents. I had 2 wins with it against a couple of IM's in a simul on ICC a few years back; one being the line 1.d4 Nc6 2.c4 e5!? and the other being 1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 e5. I have the Keene book, I also have the "Nimzowitsch Defense" by Tim Harding, and the Hugh Myers book on the Nimzovitch. Another book I have is 1...Sc6! aus allen lagen (translated means "1...Nc6! against everything"). I also have the book by Wisnewski, although I don't use it much because he is too narrow minded in what he feels should be played; i.e., 1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 f6! (first instead of 3...Bf5). He makes no mention of 1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 e5 which I feel gives Black good chances too. The 1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 d5 line is very tough to play against a prepared player as it leads to very cramped and slow manuevering positions for Black. Against 1.e4 Nc6 2.Nf3 I like to play 2...f5!? which is called the Colorado gambit. This can lead to some very tactical positions where White is lucky to escape with a draw. All in all I feel the Nimzovitch defense to the King pawn opening is very playable and will throw most of the players of the white pieces off their games.

I have had limited success following Wisnewski's recommendations against 1.e4 and have generally not been happy with the positions in correspondence games. Not dynamic enough out of the opening in many cases. At present I am not consistently playing 1...Nc6 against anything except 1.Nc3. I do have Hugh Myers' (RIP) book and probably need to study it a little more critically. Lots of ideas in the book.

Regards,
Stan