In this lesson, I’d like to reveal one of my favorite chess openings for blitz games: the Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack. This opening starts with the move 1.b3, followed by 2.Bb2.

Though opening with b3 considered unconventional, it follows the hypermodern school of chess. This school of thought challenged the classical ideas of opening theory, particularly about using pawns to control the center.

Proponents of this school such as Aron Nimzowitsch espoused the idea that pieces can do that job as well if not better than pawns. Moreover, central pawns can be the target of such pieces.

The Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack takes half of the name from Nimzowitsch and the other from another proponent of the hypermodern chess, Bent Larsen. This opening they developed is actually a very simple setup. Your opponents are often unprepared, and you have plenty of interesting tricks and traps at your disposal.

The ‘sniper’ bishop on b2 will harass your opponent’s pieces long-term. Initially, it puts pressure on Black’s central pawns, and later, once you’ve castled, the bishop supports a powerful kingside attack.

I’ve been playing this opening for several years with great success, winning over 95% of my blitz games.

1. b3 Nimzo-Larsen Opening Video Lesson

Watch the full video lesson to learn how to play this opening against both of Black’s main responses: 1…e5 (the Modern Variation) and 1…d5 (the Classical Variation).

Below, you can find the examples shown in the video:

Discover more openings with our Chess Openings Lesson Guide to find lessons organized by opening strategies. Improve your play from the first moves with a clear, topic-based approach.

If you want to learn all the fundamental things about chess, including openings, then you need to check out Level Up Your Chess. This course has six sections covering, not just the opening, middlegame and endgame. It also covers how to avoid blunders and how to study and train effectively.

And my big promise in this course is that studying just one section is enough to boost your chess rating. So, go ahead and check it out.