Starting Out: The Nimzo-Indian (Starting Out - Everyman Chess) [Paperback]

Chris Ward (Author)

Book Description

Series: Starting Out - Everyman Chess | Publication Date: October 1, 2002

These books are perfect for enthusiastic chess players who are starting out in the game, and who are seeking to understand the basic principles behind these most important openings: the Sicilian, the King's Indian, the Nimzo-Indian, and the French. All four books are written in a user-friendly style with an abundance of notes, tips, and warnings scattered throughout, while key strategies, ideas, and tactics for both sides are clearly illustrated. The authors of these books are all very skilled and experienced chess writers, who are used to writing for players of all levels and are renowned for their ability to explain ideas in a lucid and straightforward manner.
-- User-friendly design to help readers absorb ideas
-- Concentrates on the fundamental principles of the openings
-- Ideal for the improving player

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Ideal for those wanting to understand the basics of the Nimzo-Indian.The Nimzo-Indian is one of the soundest and most popular defenses against 1 d4, offering Black the chance to unbalance the game early on and play for a win without undue risk. Advocates include virtually all of the world's top players, including Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik, Vishy Anand and Anatoly Karpov. In this revolutionary book, Grandmaster Chris Ward revisits the basic principles behind the Nimzo-Indian and its many variations. Throughout this easy-to-read guide the reader is helped along by a wealth of notes, tips and warnings from the author, while key strategies, ideas and tactics for both sides are clearly illustrated. (7 x 9 1/2, 176 pages, diagrams)

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Everyman Chess; 1st edition (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1857442547
• ISBN-13: 978-1857442540
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #738,651 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A solid intro book, but not comprehensive or unique., July 30, 2005

By 

Wallace Hannum (Berkeley, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Starting Out: The Nimzo-Indian (Starting Out - Everyman Chess) (Paperback)

The Nimzo-Indian can be played in conservative solid fashion or in a more aggressive, unbalancing manner in which black plays for the win early in the middlegame. This book is designed to introduce the basic ideas, themes, and philosophy of the Nimzo. It is not loaded with the latest theory nor will it help titled players learn something they didn't already know.
However, this book really is a nice way to 'start out' in one of the best defenses against 1.d4 and is obviously critical for white players who play 1.d4/ 2.c4/ 3.Nc3. Chris Ward has a lifetime's experience with this opening and it shows. He is also a fairly entertaining writer, which is more than more chess authors can say for themselves.
Although, the book doesn't run 'deep' (nor does it claim to) it does present all the pertinent variations within the Nimzo so that you can choose which lines you want to play or research further.
This book will not be enough for strong club players to just hit the ground running. You will still (of course) need to check open resources like ECO, NCO, or the TWIC for modern theory of whichever lines strike your fancy. If you are already 1800+, then look elsewhere for you Nimzo knowledge. This book is really meant for lower rated players.

As a side note, the Sherbakov-Jakovenko game is not tactically flawed as a previous reviewer mentioned. If he had tried to play the lines with Fritz analysizing for more than a minute he would find that Grandmasters might know a bit more than some people give them credit for. The ideas involving a quick b4 in that game look winning for white at first but then the computer (and strong GM's like Onischuk and Gurevich)realize black gets the material back since the knight on a8 isn't going anywhere. Also, since black ends up with 2 queenside connected passers in the coming endgame. More than compensating and in fact, forcing play to take a perpetual to avoid getting burned. A very playable line for black.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sufficient understanding, January 7, 2010

By 

Marc Lemelin "lone-knight" (Sherbrooke, Québec Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Starting Out: The Nimzo-Indian (Starting Out - Everyman Chess) (Paperback)

I own many books from the ''Starting Out'' serie and they fit my needs. Being a class B player, I need a general and practical understanding of the different opening set ups I use. This serie is well written and the strategical and tactical concepts are very helpful. I use it as the basic of my futur work if I ever get strong enough to need more detailed informations.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for both Novice and Club Player, December 14, 2011

By 

Carl Armstrong - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Starting Out: The Nimzo-Indian (Starting Out - Everyman Chess) (Paperback)

I've been a chess coach for over 30 years and own most of the "Starting Out" series.This one on the Nimzo-Indian Defence by Chris Ward is written in an everyday language thats easy to understand, and has lots of diagrams as well as illustrative games to show you the plans and objectives of each main line with crystal clear clarity.By doing this you wont have to memorize countless seemingly meaningless variations as is the case with many other opening books.Their is no safer reply to 1.d4 than the Nimzo-Indian Defence,a favorite of many world champions, which has numerous different ways you can steer the game to suit your style of play.If you want to take your opponent out of his comfort zone, or are just looking for a solid way to get an exceelent game in the opening phase, this book is for you.For the novice and club player as well as the Master, author Chris Ward writes in a down to earth easy to understand style.176 pages long and an excellent investment.