TN wrote on 11/17/10 at 04:51:29:


supposedly so, and indeed White is usually pleased to get such a position – but actually if Black knows what he's doing he gets a perfectly good game even then.

kylemeister wrote on 11/17/10 at 04:44:20:


Indeed, Black should avoid an early ...Nc6 because White achieves a turbo-charged Nimzo-Indian with Bb5/Ne5/f4. 

However, Black's problems do not end after 3...Nf6, since after 4.Bb2 e6 (4...g6 5.Bf6 ef6 6.d4 feels better for White) 5.Ne5! followed by f4 and Bd3, White has good attacking chances. 

I would recommend 2...Nf6 3.Bb2 Bf5 4.e3 e6 for Black, playing as in the London System with reversed colours.

If you're interested in playing this line, I recommend you look at the final chapter of 'Understanding Chess Openings: The Queen's Indian' which has a chapter on this opening, called 'The Queen's Indian Attack' in the book. 

This setup works quite well against 1...d5, e.g. 1.Nf3 d5 2.b3 c5 3.e3 Nc6 4.Bb5, but the ...c5/...d6/...e5 setup is a more critical test.

What exaclty are 1 b3 and 1 Nf3, 2 b3 called?

I believe 1 b3 is called "Larsen's Opening" and 1 Nf3 and 2 b3 is called the "Nimzovitch Attack" and they are both also known as the "Nimzo-Larsen Attack" or "Nimzovitch-Larsen Attack". Is this corect?