Take Down the Nimzo-Indian by GM Ivan Sokolov

There are a lot of great things about playing 1.d4, but facing the Nimzo-Indian isn’t one of them. This dynamic defense, rich with strategic imbalances, is one of the toughest ones for White to crack.

Like many 1.d4 players, Grandmaster Ivan Sokolov has long searched for the winning formula against the Nimzo-Indian – and after many years of research and testing over the board, he’s found the key to…

Knock Down the Nimzo with Ease

The former Yugoslav Champion, Dutch Champion and super GM is bringing together his years of experience and expertise in the Nimzo-Indian in his first ever Chessable course. And as he’ll tell you, the timing is no accident. Even though he’s been asked repeatedly to publish a course on his system, he’s decided to release his course after – and only after – finding strong lines in every serious variation for White.

The resulting repertoire, in GM Sokolov’s words, is “more successful than ever imagined.” And we’ll take him at his word: GM Sokolov’s loss rate against the Nimzo is only 18% – far lower than the average of 33% for master players!

So what’s his approach? Well, it all starts with the Samisch Variation (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.a3) inducing an immediate trade on c3. From there, you’ll either play 6.e3 or 6.f3 depending on what Black plays on move 5.

In each variation, GM Sokolov will show you how to fight for the critical e4 square and fight off Black’s counterplay, usually targeted on the sensitive c4-pawn. Your swift and unforgiving plans won’t give Black any chance to take advantage of pawn weaknesses in your camp – they’ll be too preoccupied with fending off a vicious kingside attack or dealing with your mighty bishop pair!

Flexible Defense, Flexible Offense

But the characteristically flexible Nimzo-Indian can take on a different very nature depending on what Black plays. its flexibility has to be met with flexibility in White’s attacking strategy.

That’s why GM Sokolov offers many deep lines for a variety of circumstances – some as deep as 16 trainable moves – to make sure you understand how to carry out the plans no matter what Black plays. He also offers nearly 40 alternative variations so you can try what you like and play based on your style.

But if you’re worried that these lines are too deep to memorize, don’t be! GM Sokolov is meticulous in explaining the purpose of each move so you can call upon the key ideas easily when the time comes over the board. You’ll also have a collection of model games to show you the ideas found in the trainable variations put into practice by the world’s best players: Kasparov, So, and Anand, just to name a few. And of course, you can choose an alternative variation based on what’s easiest for you.

Don’t get pushed around by the Nimzo any longer – Take Down the Nimzo-Indian with this bulletproof approach today.