I for one had to look this up. I've heard about it all right -- it's the perfectly common 4 Bd2 c5 -- but I had no idea it had a name. So who or what was/is Vikoni?

As for dullness, well, it doesn't exactly set the board alight, but then I guess some lines are strategically quite interesting even if I suspect some might not be! So come on Strptzr -- sell it to us! What plans are available to Black? Have there been exciting new ideas here recently?

I would recommend the QI to complement the Nimzo. It is richer and more complex then the Bogo (which I think is rather dull) and gives you much better winning chances. I took up both the QI and the Nimzo as a defensive system to 1.d4 when I was very young and have played them usefully throughout my life (my OTB rating is around 2150). My favorite theme in this openings is playing for a K-side attack with b6, Bb7, Bb4, Nf6-e4 and f5, and there are many other aggressive plans as well as positional subtelties. You would be surprised, for example, how many times I have castled Q-side in the Nimzo-Qi hybrid (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.Nc3 Bb4) and went on to checkmate my opponent. All in all, I think the QI is the perfect choice here.

The Modern Benoni is a very interesting opening, but in my vew not the kind of opening to start playing these days. If someone have it on his repertoire it´s ok but not to start right now because it is a riskier option. Taimanov lines with Bb5+ are very dangerous for black and that is the reason why a few time ago, players only enter the Modern Benoni when white had played his knight to f3 and not to c3 to avoid Bb5+ line. The problem was that white in more positional lines like modern main line or others with the knight on f3 found ways to steal counterplay to black and black position is viewed as riskier. Between the two I found Modern Benoni more interesting but I would not advice to start playing it for a player who doesn´t have it in his repertoire. Of course until master, every opening is playable but the perfect choice for the Nimzo-Indian player is in my view the Queen´s Indian because both openings share similar ideas and themes in the spirit of his creator Nimzowitch. Again, Bogo-Indian shares same ideas too, like giving the bishop and playing d6 and e5 structure and Benoni is a diferent opening in this way.

Queen´s Indian or Bogo? This is a good question I had a few weeks ago and my aswer is: Queen´s Indian had a theory that is more interesting and the positions with Ba6 are dynamic. The Bogo in my view is playable, but is less interesting and a bit too solid, I think the Queen´s Indian is better to play against all kinds of players. In books, Queen´s Indian had Starting Out The Queen´s Indian- Aagard a very good book to start and Queen´s Indian by Yrjola is a great book! In a few weeks we have the new book Chess Explained- Queen´s Indian defence by Yermolinsky explaining the plans of the opening! For Bogo Indian the Steffen Pedersen book of Gambit is the best choice since the cd from New in Chess is not a fantastic product. I do not know the outstanding booklet of Bogo. What booklet is that? For me, to choose an opening, we need a good book on ideas, one with detailled variations and a good cd (usually from Chessbase) with games well anotated. In view of this criteria and with the books available, my choice is the Queen´s Indian, a great defence according to Kramnik and it is possible to learn from Karpov games too, not to tell that there is a lot more theory published for example in fantastic New in Chess Yarbooks.

If my opponent steers clear of my cherished Nimzo I will play 3.)...b6 (Queens Indian) for a few simple reasons......

1.) Alot more published theory on the Queens Indian
2.) I belive it tends to be a bit more solid then the Bogo

Don't get me wrong though I do have a strong interest in the Bogo! I plan to incorperate it into my own arsenal in time!!!

For my chess career I have almost always played the Budapest Fajarowicz and the Slav against the 2.nf3 move order.  I am trying to move into something more solid, so I now play the Nimzo-Indian and am debating between the bogo indian or the queens indian to accompany that.  What do you guys think?