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Normal Topic The Modernized Nimzovich Defense 1.e4 Nc6! - Bauer (Read 2884 times)
an ordinary chessplayer
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Re: The Modernized Nimzovich Defense 1.e4 Nc6! - Bauer
Reply #5 - 10/17/22 at 19:52:55
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Bauer's book is on sale at New in Chess for only €4.99 / $5.38. I would say it is worth more than that, particularly if you are interested in 1.e4 Nc6 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 g6 5.d5 Nb8 and related lines, which is about one-third of the contents. https://www.newinchess.com/sale?utm_content=autumn_sale
Edited:
Oops! Out of stock already.

Although I think the GM could have put in more effort, I am nevertheless working my way through it, especially the mentioned setup, which could also help me with white. I tend to play quiet Nf3 lines against the Pirc/Modern.
  
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Michael Ayton
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Re: The Modernized Nimzovich Defense 1.e4 Nc6! - Bauer
Reply #4 - 09/23/22 at 17:45:59
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Thanks for these notes, AOC, esp. those transpo possibilities. I vaguely contemplated these while looking up some games on ChessLive earlier (and noting, in some cases, how few had reached these positions via 1 ...Nc6 ...), but hadn't thought about them concretely.

On the basis of what you write I have no plans to rush out and buy Bauer -- a shame in some ways, as I had him down as an interesting guy ...
  
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Re: The Modernized Nimzovich Defense 1.e4 Nc6! - Bauer
Reply #3 - 09/23/22 at 16:18:41
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I'm not sure why Bauer felt a need to analyze both 2...d5 (his repertoire recommendation) and 2...e5, because he doesn't give any explanation.

There is no bibliography, and the only external reference of any kind that I can see is a passing mention of Wisnewski (2007) Play 1...Nc6! (see Bauer page 14). As for whether he has looked at chesspublishing material, it's hard to say. He does cover many (not all) of the same games that are in the chesspublishing archive, but his notes are different. My best guess is he used almost exclusively the ChessBase database and an engine.

Specifically to the lines you asked about.

1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 e5 3.dxe5 Nxe5 4.Nf3
  • 4...Nxf3+ is his main line, following Korneev - Hoi, 2015 https://old.chesstempo.com/gamedb/game/3902811. He offers an improvement taking the game from +/- to +=.
  • 4...Bb4+ "Trying to be creative with 4...Bb4+ can easily backfire. Some examples: ..."
  • 4...Qf6 he gives 3 moves for white. One of them is 5.Nc3 and he mentions Plaskett - Sherwin, 2002 https://old.chesstempo.com/gamedb/game/2045437, which can be found in the chesspublishing archives.
  • 4...d6 not mentioned.

1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 e5 3.d5 Nce7 4.Nf3 Ng6 (4...d6 Bauer says is a "valid alternative" with a paragraph of discussion but no actual variations) 5.h4 h5 6.Bg5 Nf6
  • 7.Nc3 is his main line, following Christiansen - Benjamin, 2000 https://old.chesstempo.com/gamedb/game/2675186. Here is one of those places I would criticize him for not identifying critical tries for white. He gives a couple of one-move suggestions on move eight, but it's not really enough.
  • 7.Nfd2 "This knight retreat was played in Chabanon, J - Canonne, A France 1991 https://old.chesstempo.com/gamedb/game/675551, and also makes sense. It resulted in a crushing White victory, but Black has many possible improvements."

If you think both 1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 e5 3.dxe5 Nxe5 4.Nf3 d6 and 1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 e5 3.d5 Nce7 4.Nf3 d6 are okay for black, then why not play 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nc6!? ? Note that there is a chessable course advocating 1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 e5 3.Nf3 d6!? https://www.chessable.com/the-aggressive-nimzowitsch-1-e4-nc6/course/104898/, which amounts to the same thing.
  • 4.dxe5 Nxe5 is a transposition.
  • 4.d5 Nce7 is a transposition.
  • 4.Bb5, 4.Bc4, and 4.c3 are respectively Spanish, Italian, and Ponziani. These are bound to be += but are they really worse for black than 4.dxe5 or 4.d5?

I'm not advocating this for black, just noting the possibility.
  
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Michael Ayton
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Re: The Modernized Nimzovich Defense 1.e4 Nc6! - Bauer
Reply #2 - 09/23/22 at 11:16:08
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Thanks for this, AOC. I used to play the Nimzo (with 2 …e5) all the time and it sure can discombobulate people (I enjoyed beating an IM with it recently in a small simul), but it seems to have come under some potentially deadly scrutiny lately, not least on ChessPublishing. I was intrigued by your mentioning that Bauer points out inferior Black choices, because looking at his main lines in the video Contents I couldn’t help wondering if some of his choices mightn’t be just that! In the 2 …e5 3 de Ne5 4 Nf3 line, I had thought 4 …d6 was the way to go and that 4 …Qf6 left White better after 5 Nc3, with various gxf3 options coming up. And in the 3 d5 Nce7 4 Nf3 Ng6 5 h4 h5 6 Bg5 Nf6 variation, I was under the impression 7 Nfd2 is good for White. I’d be intrigued to know (without your giving away all his analysis of course) whether you reckon Bauer has adequate responses here.

In the latter line, I wonder also if Bauer covers 4 …d6. More than one commentator on ChessPublishing suggests 2 …e5 is inferior to 2 ...d5, but after 4 …d6 5 c4 g6, one gives 6 c5 f5 7 Nc3 Nf6 as unclear and 6 Nc3 Bg7 as simply leading to a mainline KID! I always thought 7 c5 was good for White here, and thus that instead of …Bg7, 6 …f5 here too was better (7 c5 Nf6 transposing to 6 c5). Meanwhile I notice 5 …f5 has taken a few scalps, appreciably or otherwise!
  
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Re: The Modernized Nimzovich Defense 1.e4 Nc6! - Bauer
Reply #1 - 09/21/22 at 15:38:13
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I recently purchased this. It seems to be (almost exactly?) the same content as his 2019 ChessBase DVD The nasty Nimzowitsch Defence https://shop.chessbase.com/en/products/bauer_nasty_nimzowitsch_defence So you can look at the Content tab there and compare with the sample pages here https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/8367.pdf

Aside: I linked to the newinchess sample because the thinkerspublishing url has Modernized in all caps, which is rejected by chesspub.

There are also a couple of reviews of the DVD, which in my opinion apply equally to the book (thus reinforcing my supposition that the content is identical).
My short review: It needed better editing and longer explanations. Bauer includes variations for black that he recommends black avoid, which would be okay in an overview, but this is a repertoire book. He doesn't make any attempt to highlight critical white tries. I have no interest in test positions which happen every third chapter here. Based on his old book The Philidor Files, I expected better. This one makes me hesitate to get anything else by Bauer, at least without getting my hands on it first.
  
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The Modernized Nimzovich Defense 1.e4 Nc6! - Bauer
10/08/20 at 14:14:50
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New book by Christian Bauer from Thinkers Publishing. Anyone already has it? If so, a short review should be appreciated.
  
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