Nimzo-Indian
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Bd2
John Emms in Easy Guide To The Nimzo-Indian (Cadogan, 1998) wrote: "Despite over 15 years' experience of playing the Nimzo-Indian, I cannot remember ever facing 4.Bd2. Indeed, all I can remember is that it has been heavily slagged off in the popular [chess] press. The criticism runs along the lines of 'this move is just too passive'. My opinion is that any move which serves a useful purpose (in this case unpinning) must be treated with some respect. In fact I'd go as far to say that this move is quite deceptive: it looks worse than it is."
Time moves on, and so does opening theory; there are 5,301 examples of 4.Bd2 in ChessBase's 2021 Mega database, with 4,920 having been played in 1999 or later. On the other hand, White scores a miserable 39%
4...0-0
Emms recommended 4...c5 or 4...d5, while acknowledging "Black has many playable replies."
5.Nf3 b6 6.e3 Bb7 7.Bd3 0-0 8.0-0
The game had been following the main line for 4.Bd2 in Mega21, but here 8.cxd5 is more popular.
8...Nbd7?!
There are 112 examples of this natural-looking move in Mega21 - just two shy of the most-popular move, 8...dxc4 - but it is probably a mistake, despite having been played by a host of grandmasters, including one John Emms (his game reached the position after 8.0-0 by transposition).
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| Position after 8...Nbd7?! |
*****
*****
*****
*****
*****
The problem with Black's last is White has 9.Nxd5!?, when 9...Bxd2 10.Nxf6+ wins a pawn. So Black more-or-less has to play 9...Nxd5, when 10.cxd5 Bxd2 11.dxe6 means White again will emerge a pawn up, eg 11...Bxf3 12.gxf3 fxe6 13.Qxd2 (13...Rxf3?? 14.Be4).
In the game, 9.Rc1 was played, but in view of the above there seems little point, from a theoretical view, of continuing with the moves. However the full game can be seen at https://beauchess.blogspot.com/2021/08/the-most-extraordinary-finish-to-game.html
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