The Nimzo-Indian Defense has been the most enduring and popular contribution to the theory of chess openings by iconoclast and trailblazer Aaron Nimzowitsch. The moves 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 comprise the jumping-off point for the Nimzo-Indian Defense. Akiba Rubinstein, a classicist only four years older than Nimzowistch, formulated the response 4. e3, which starts the Rubinstein Complex. He often intended to continue Nge2, planning to recapture on e3 with the Knight. However, the Rubinstein Complex - and this book - also include those variations where White plays Ngf3.
In the 70-odd years since its inception, the popularity of the Nimzo-Indian Defense has grown, and the Rubinstein Complex has become White's main weapon against it. World Champions such as Bobby Fischer and Anatoly Karpov have favored the Nimzo-Indian when playing Black, while Mikhail Botvinnik and Tigran Petrosian often chose the Rubinstein Complex to combat it. Smyslov, Tal, Spassky and Kortchnoi did both.

This book gives up-to-date "best moves" in the main lines of the Rubinstein Complex, adding some of the more interesting sidelines, and also the author's suggestions, so far untried in tournament play.

The author stresses the strategic concepts of the Rubinstein Complex. The reader will know how to play it - not just the moves, but the ideas behind those moves.