Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Move by Move Paperback – December 17, 2013

My rating floats around 2100.So why did I purchase a book about an off-beat and not very popular opening? Because I'm always exploring opening possibilities. I started by watching a set of videos by Igor Smirnov on the opening and it intrigued me enough to want to know more.Lakdawala has a natural flow and charm that make his books a chess course int themselves. This book is no different.The great part about this opening is it's not about memorizing lines, it's about understanding. Since the Nimzo-Larsen is essentially a counter-attacker's dream opening, it's very easy to play because it's plans are simple to understand and follow yet close to impossible to counter. Playing this will get White a playable middle game. Let's face it, there is no magic opening that guarantees a winning advantage (like in checkers). If there were the game would be dead.So put the game in unknown, fend for yourself, anti-computer land and open yourself to something different. Especially if you are a counter-attacker.Another great thing about this opening is it is flexible. Especially if you are interested in the Colle.

1. b3. Great opening. The 'Hyperist' of the Hypermodern Chess systems. The strength of this opening primarily is in it's flexibility. One can transpose to more 'normal' lines of other systems. OR one can can let their imagination run amok with a whole myriad of wild possibilities. Like what I call the 'Ghost Hippo' - the Hippopotamus Defence with colors reversed. Perhaps a reversed Queen's Indian Defence, Nimzo Indian Defence, with colors reversed as well, with the hope of having an extra 'tempo' in one's pocket due to White moving first. Maybe you like certain variations of the Reti, English opening or Kings Indian attack? It's all here waiting for you. When to use which system where at what point is the 1.b3 player's craft. Sound confusing? Imagine your opponent's state of mind when you essay 1.b3! Then there is the ...bizarre and rare. I dare say the 1. b3 player is a bit of a chess heretic. For example 1. b3 N -f 6 2. B-b2 p-g6 3. p-g4. What? You want MORE heresy? Perhaps a White system with moves like 1.b3 2.B-b2 3 e3. 4 N-c3 5.p-f3 6. N-e2 7.p-d4! I do not even pretend to know what to call this arrangement! A Mirror King's Indian Attack? Queen's Indian Attack? How about also trying a reverse 'Christmas Tree' Dutch system? Then there is the psychological and practical benefit of enticing one's opponent into the quagmire of your preferred variations/systems, a not to be under estimated tactic in tournament play. It is note worthy too that White, because of one's tournament standing, may wish to play for a draw. 1.b3 is an excellent choice if one wishes to steer for such lines. I would not call this opening 1. b3 but rather ! b3. Next let's discuss the author. Frankly I would buy this book (and I have every book published on this system that exists that I know of) just to read Cyrus Ladawala's comments on chess. He knows of what he speaks! His style of writing is not only amusing but presented in a simplistic and educational manner. One does not feel so overwhelmingly inundated with mind numbing technical nuances with a Lakdwala Book. Such is often the case with voluminous opening tomes of lesser quality. So then. You wanna play the Nimzo -Larsen's opening? Then I suggest you BUY this book! Also buy the Jacobs and Tait book. Buy Odessky's book too! All are available here at Amazon. I would ALSO recommend buying 1... b6 by Christian Bauer and OF COURSE Cyrus Lakwala's other book, 'Play 1...b6 Move by Move'. Why? Because it is just yet another virtue of such an opening beginning with a Queen's Bishop fianchetto - one can play it with White AND with Black, thus saving oodles of study time AND familiarizing one's self with the move patterns of such a system each time one plays a game! But wait! There is more! This opening is not so exhaustively analyzed like other systems so one does not have to stay up all night just to keep up with the latest published theory like one would have to so in systems like the Sicilian Defence. All in all what more could one ask from an opening? Happy Hunting!

I am enjoying this book in my continuing study of 1. b3. I played 1. b4 for a couple of years, had good success with it, but found a couple lines hard to play against. The pawn on b4 seems to be more often a target than a weapon.1. b3 can transpose into a lot of openings (Reti, Zukertort-Colle, Hippo Reversed just naming three) and it has numerous independent lines according to how Black develops early in the game. This can be both a blessing and a curse for White. If you are one-up on your opponent that's good - but there are so many lines for Black since White's play is not forcing. White also needs to be ready to give up the hypermodern idea and hit the center with c4 and d4 from time to time.All of Lakdawala's books are excellent. Good analysis, good explanations, fun to read. Still, I long for more standardization of the variations. Tough to accomplish - again without forcing moves and so many transpositions. Move-by-Move concentrates more on strategic and (to a lesser extent) tactical motifs. This may be the only possible approach. White is reminded to not get passive and not to just 'make moves' but find a plan early. Lakdawala also notes White cannot forget his Kingside - it can get badly underdeveloped. Spassky's win as Black against Larsen in this opening is a warning against all those potential errors.For the serious student I'd read the 1. b3 books in this order (mostly historical):1) Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack - Keene (1977)2) Nimzo-Larsen Attack - Tait (2001)3) Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Move by Move - Lakdawala (2013)4) Play 1. b3 - Odessky (2008)

This opening (1.b3) seems, rightly, to be treated with respect even by commentators who dislike "unusual" first moves on principle, but it's not been publicly analysed to any great extent and Lakdawala has done a great service by bringing it into the limelight. As always he is a delight to read. I guess that some of the lines he presents (such as GM Blatny's double pawn-grab in Game 2) may wilt rather soon under the merciless gaze of Houdini, Rybka & co - but so what? That's one way the game progresses. I'm not at all criticising Lakdawala for rushing into print - on the contrary it was important to get this stuff out into the world so that we can all pick it over.Only one quibble - a non-standard opening invites non-standard responses, and I'd have welcomed a little more guidance on how to deal with those, especially 1...Nf6, which seems to be played relatively often but gets only a short chapter.

Easy to read book providing a repertoire without too much work. Does not burden you with too much theory and allows you to confidently go your own way. I have had many enjoyable games using the lines in this book and performed above my grade

Nice book

Sorry, but I simply cannot agree to what was written somewhere else. I do not find the book to be complete. It is well written and covers most of the critical lines, yes. But as an oversight, Lakdawala fails to deal with a very topical and often played line which begins with 1. b3 d5, 2. Bb2 c5, 3. e3 Nf6, 4. Nf3 and now 4. ...Bg4. Playing this way, black just denies White the opportunity to show his knowledge of the beloved reversed Nimzo-Indian. As far as I could see, Lakdawala mentions only 4. ...e6 - which, by the way, is what also Nigel Davies does on his Nimzo-Larsen-DVD, failing to mention 4. ...Bg4, a move almost every club player seems to play. Perhaps, I was looking for this line in the wrong place when I looked it up in the "Reti-set ups"-chapter which is where the line with 4. ...e6 can be found. But, to be honest, if it is not to be found there - where should it be dealt with? I think this is a key line a 1.b3-player is likely to meet over the board often, so it should have been dealt with in some detail at all. On the other hand, the rather dated (from 2001) title "Nimzo-Larsen Attack" by Byron Jacobs and Jonathan Tait gives this line the coverage it deserves. All in all: a good book, but unfortunately not a complete repertoire book.

Ha soddisfatto in pieno le mie aspettative. Avevo già altro testo su b3 e qui ho trovato nuove idee. Anche nella pratica ho avuto le giuste soddisfazioni. Abbinato al testo sulla bird (rientro nella bird - larsen), tante idee interessanti