Are you tired of constantly following the same old opening moves? Fed up with always having to keep up with modern chess theory? Or perhaps you simply wish to try something new and exciting, but cannot decide between the numerous choices available? We have the answer!

In this book, John Emms, Chris Ward and Richard Palliser team up to examine one of the most popular and respected openings at all levels of chess: the Nimzo-Indian. Instead of pursuing the well-trodden paths, they choose an original approach, concentrating on fresh or little-explored variations of the Nimzo, and selecting a wealth of "edangerous"e options for both colours. Whether playing White or Black, a study of this book will leave you confident and fully-armed, and your opponents running for cover!

Dangerous Weapons is a brand-new series of opening books which supply the reader with an abundance of hard-hitting ideas to revitalize his or her opening repertoire. Many of the carefully chosen weapons are innovative, visually shocking, incredibly tricky, or have been unfairly discarded; they are guaranteed to throw even your most experienced opponent off balance.

• An opening armoury for both White and Black
• Written by renowned experts
• Ideal for ambitious and adventurous players

John Emms is one of Britain"es leading Grandmasters and has represented England in numerous team tournaments and Chess Olympiads. He"es also a renowned coach and an experienced writer; his works include Easy Guide to the Nimzo-Indian , while he is also a co-author of the best-selling openings encyclopaedia Nunn"es Chess Openings .

Chris Ward is a Grandmaster and a former British Champion. He is also a highly successful chess teacher and a popular author thanks to his attractive and humorous style. His earlier works for Everyman Chess include Starting Out: The Nimzo-Indian and the best-selling Improve Your Opening Play .

Richard Palliser is a young English International Master who is quickly carving out a reputation as a skilled and prolific chess writer. His previous works for Everyman Chess include The Bb5 Sicilian and Tango! , which provoked much positive interest from the critics and the chess public alike.

Introduction

The Nimzo-Indian, which arises after the moves 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4, enjoys great popularity at all levels of chess. Sure, from Black's point of view this is helped by its sound and reliable reputation, yet what attracts players even more is the fact that the Nimzo is ambitious and unbalancing too, offering both sides ample opportunity to play for a win. Imbalances arise because Black is willing to trade his dark-squared bishop for White's knight, thus giving up the bishop pair, in return for one or more of the following:

1) Inflicting White with doubled c-pawns.

2) Control of the e4-square

3) A lead in development

One of the main ideas of this book was to take these imbalances and simply stretch them a little bit further!

We won't spoil the enjoyment too much by running through all the variations in the seventeen chapters that follow, but maybe it's worth picking out just one or two. In the Preface it was mentioned that a Dangerous Weapon typically falls into one of four categories. If you were looking for ideas that fall into category '1' then it's safe to say that many variations hit the mark, 4 Qc2 0-0 5 Bg5 c5 6 d5!? (Chapter 1) and 4 f3 c5 5 d5 0-0 6 e4 b5!? (Chapter 15) being just two examples. 4 Qc2 0-0 5 e4 (Chapters 3-4) fits into category '2', with White's ambition falling nothing short of 'world domination'. Variations that have been ignored or discarded by theory include 4 Nf3 c5 5 d5!? (Chapter 11) and its close relative 4 Bg5 h6 5 Bh4 c5 6 d5 d6 7 Nf3!? (Chapter 16), while those looking for pure shock value may be more interested in 4 e3 Ne4!? (Chapter 10) or 4 Qd3!? (Chapter 17).

We certainly had fun suggesting different weapons and comparing analysis, but at the end of the day each chapter was written by an individual. Chris Ward dealt with Chapters 1, 4,11,12 and 16; Richard Palliser wrote Chapters 2, 5, 6, 8, 9,15 and 17; and John Emms was responsible for Chapters 3, 7,10,13 and 14.

Finally, we would more than welcome any reader feedback with ideas, analysis and suggestions. Please feel free to contact the authors via Everyman Chess (email info@everymanchess.com).

John Emms, Chris Ward and Richard Palliser

August 2006


Content:
005 Preface

009 Introduction

4 Qc2

011 1 A Dangerous d-pawn: 4 Qc2 0-0 5 Bg5 c5 6 d5!?

026 2 Seizing the Initiative with ...b5!: 4 Qc2 0-0 5 a3 Bxc3+ 6 Qxc3 b5!?

044 3 Wanting it all (Part 1): 4 Qc2 0-0 5 e4!? d5

065 4 Wanting it all (Part 2): 4 Qc2 0-0 5 e4l? c5 and 5...d6

081 5 The Romanishin Gambit: 4 Qc2 d5 5 a3 Bxc3+ 6 Qxc3 c5l? 7 dxc5 d4

092 6 The Topalov Gambit: 4 Qc2 d5 5 cxd5 c5l?

4 e3

103 7 A Modern Twist: 4 e3 c5 5 Bd3 Nc6 6 Nge2 cxd4 7 exd4 d5 8 cxd5 Nxd5 9 a3!?

127 8 Another Vitolinsh Specialty: 4e3 0-0 5 Ne2 b5l?

135 9 Baguio City Revisited: 4 e3 0-0 5 Bd3 c5 6 d5l?

151 10 An Idealistic Advance: 4 e3 Ne4!?

4 Nf3

167 11 A Break from Kasparov: 4 Nf3 c5 5 d5l?

180 12 The Milov Gambit: 4 Nf3 b6 5 Bg5 Bb7 6 Nd2 h6 7 Bh4 c5 8 d5l?

194 13 Going Dutch: 4 Nf3 Ne4l?

Sämisch/4 f3

204 14 The Undershooting Bishop: 4 a3 Bxc3+ 5 bxc3 c5 6 e3 b6!?

223 15 A souped-up Blumenfeld!: 4 f3 c5 5 d5 0-0 6 e4 b5!?

Others

248 16 An Original Leningrad: 4 Bg5 h6 5 Bh4 c5 6 d5 d6 7 Nf3!?

264 17 A Radical Queen Adventure: 4 Qd3!?