Quote Originally Posted by Chuckychess View Post
Chesscat wrote:

Nimzovich himself used to play (as Black): 1 e4 Nc6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 e6. Like you said, it seems like it's going to be very difficult for Black to generate queenside counterplay. In one game, Nimzovich played ...Na5 at some point so that he could play ...c5 and then return the knight to c6. (The Keene and Jacobs book contains several games in this problematic variation.)

BTW, Keene and Jacobs recommend 1 e4 Nc6 2 d4 e5, avoiding the cramped positons that can arise after 2...d5 and 3...e6.
First I want to say what a great book this is. It's changed my repertoire opening from 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 e5 to 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 d5, which completely surprised me, since I bought the book only to look at 1. e4 Nc6 2. Nf3 Nf6. This book is very well written, and it's obviously a labor of love. It's one of the best books I have.

But I have a question about one line (sorry, I don't have the book with me at the moment, so I can't provide a page number).

After 1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 e6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. ed5 ed5 6. Bb5 Bd7 7. O-O Bd6 8.Re1+ Ne7 9. Bd7+ (instead of the line analyzed by the author, beginning with 9. Bg5) Qd7 10. Ne5 Be5 11. de5 Nfg8 12. Qh5 Ng6 13. e6 looks better for White, e.g. 13. ... fe6 14. Qd5 Qd5 15. Nd5 O-O-O 16 Nf4.

I'm only a beginner and would be interested in any suggestions as to how to approach this line. Obviously there a number of points at which alternative moves could be chosen. I apologize if my analysis is faulty.

And thanks, Christoph, for a great book!