CanadianClub wrote on 04/11/19 at 08:52:08:
I disagree.
Isn't this agreeing
I agree as well, fwiw :^) The 4.Qc2 mainline I combat with some concrete stuff one has to know a bit about, and all the Bg5 lines are somewhat important to handle properly, but most of the Nimzo, even playing the absolute top database choice till move 10, can be handled over the board.
I don't play the QID, so I'm not sure how similar it is in that respect (personally, when looking at the positions, they always looked less natural for Black to me - in particular the A0 pawnsac line of course), but even if it amounts to some kind of work, you can of course always pair the Nimzo with something else (I play the QGD after 3.Nf3, and if the standard one is too boring for you, then the Ragozin is always an option; Sielecki in his book recommends the Bogo, which also shouldn't be too much work; and if you already play the Benoni, you can of course also go for that, while having avoided the most critical tries)
E: The main reason that I can see to steer clear of the Nimzo is that it's a big question how often you actually get it on the board.
I've been playing the Nimzo in OTB play since the Gustafsson video series on it was released (end of 2016, so a little over 2 years), and in the 80-100 games (well, halve this since only Black matters) that I got in that timespan, I managed to get.. 3? 4? Nimzos on the board (default opponent in the 1800-2100 range).
Almost everyone I've seen goes 3.Nf3, so if you really really want to play some NID games, you may end up disappointed (akin to the Marshall, which I also .. try to play
); while if you play something like the KID, you're always going to get something resembling the positions that you want.