Nimzo-Larsen Attack

White skips the classical e4/d4 centre entirely and instead fianchettoes the queen's bishop to b2, aiming it down the long diagonal at e5 and eventually g7. The whole opening is a plan, not a memorised sequence: control the centre with pieces first, decide on c4/d4/e3 later depending on what Black does, and steer the game away from mainstream theory into positions White understands better than the opponent.

• Point the bishop down the long diagonal at g7 and the e5 pawn instead of occupying the centre with pawns — don't rush to trade it off for a knight, it's your best piece.
• If Black answers with the natural 1...e5, meet it with Bb2, c4 and Nc3 rather than committing d3/e3 too early; ...Bb4 hitting your knight is normal, and Qc2 followed by a3 (trading on c3 if needed) keeps your structure intact.
• Against 1...d5, don't panic about the 'undeveloped' bishop — play e3, Nf3 and Be2/Bd3, and only push c4 or d4 once your pieces are out; many club players force c4 too soon and hand Black an easy ...d4 space grab.
• Watch for the Graz Attack idea (2.Ba3) when Black plays an early ...d5: swapping dark-squared bishops before Black can defend f8 with ...Nd7 or ...Bd6 disrupts castling and is a common trick lower-rated opponents miss.
• Castle short and keep the king safe before opening the position — the long diagonal is a weapon for you as much as a liability, and putting your own king on g1 behind a fianchetto-less kingside is fine since your bishop already left c1.
• Don't overextend with an early g4 (Spike Variation) unless you've specifically prepared it; at this level it's more common to lose time or weaken your own king than to land a real attack, so treat it as a surprise weapon, not the default plan.