1.Nc3 : A Different Approach

1.Nc3 is a dynamic and unusual opening.  Keep it in your bag of tricks when you need a changs of pace. I rarely see anyone talk about this opening move.  What do you think about it Joe?

Hi HolyFlame777--1. Nc3 is interesting and playable, but should still be regarded as a second-tier move.  Black has too many good responses (1...c5, 1...d5, 1...Nf6, etc.) to need to fear anything.  The move is championed by some impressive players who've snared a number of qualified opponents, and there's nothing outright poor about it.  It just doesn't offer the flexibility or the winning chances of e/d/c-pawn openings throughout one's chess career.

Chess_gg has the correct idea, but 1.Nc3 leads to a totally different game from 1.Nf3.  1.Nf3 is objectively superior but 1.Nc3 is an acceptable first move.  The worst you'll have to deal with is a Caro-Kahn where black didn't commit to c6 yet (thus allowing c5! in one go), but even this is playable for white albeit equalizing for black:

the migration of the knight originating at b1 all the way to g3within the first 4 moves is most unusual and very interesting, thank you  oogie boogie!

The computer, Chessmaster uses 1.Nc3 but according to wikipedia, this opening is too passive.

Igather knowledge a bit here and a bit there to get a better game, watch gg you will soon see some raising in my rating as a five minute blitzer, i assure you gg!

its been my first choice opening for years, and i also play 1..nc6

I get rapid development and an attacking game with the position of the pieces in these openings, aswell as throwing opponents onto their own resources. My only problem is that I only play blitz, but Im now playing more correspondence games with the openings.

If Black meets 1 Nc3 with any of 1...c6, 1...e6, 1...Nf6 (2 e4 e5) or 1...d5 2 e4 de4 3 Nxe4 Qd5!? doesn't White just have to tranpose into an e4 opening?

I used to play the Dunst quite a bit in the '70s and early '80s, but it's too easy for Black to equalize if White tries to avoid transposition to better-known lines.

Here's an OTB game from the '81 (or '82?) Atlantic Open:

Nc3. What does it really accomplish? 

I think the only thing it does is gives some flexibity in opening paths the game can go.

Which is not ambitious enough for me.

It gets your opponent out of his memorized lines, and forces him to play chess instead. Unfortunately, it's a pretty weak move.

I've been thinking of switching to 1. a3, though.

7. f3 looks just a tiny bit dubious, though.

I despise this opening as white, and merely see it as passive as black playing nc6. I prefer to play the ponziatti attack, where white will attack the e5 pawn with c3 then d4. it's impossible if your first move is a knight over the c pawn, that attracts pawns.

Yeah.  I'm confident in my ability to equalize although I've never seen any lines hah.  It's as if why says on move 1 "I will not advance my c pawn."  Well ok, that's fine, you keep it on c2 then, I'm going to play 1...d5 and you can't challenge it with the c pawn.

In fact, in my evaluation, after 1...d5 black has equality already

A lot of people like to use Nc3 to transition into the Vienna Game.

In Fred Wilson's book Simple Attacking Plans, he covered several games with 1 Nc3 based on one of his former students.

@17

FIDE master Bruno Dieu
https://ratings.fide.com/profile/603759/chart 
1 Nc3 cannot be wrong, develops a piece, but usually transposes.

Bruno Dieu does a good job proving that white can equalize after 1.Nc3 d5 2.e4 d4 3.Nce2 e5