BLOCKADE Ninrzowitsclr

BLOCKADE
ves
NewPerspecti
by
Aron
Ninrzowitsclr
TransI ated by
D r . J o s e p hP l a t z
tus
MasterEmeri
USCF
1980
C H E SESN T T R P R I S1ENSC, .
IA
PENNSYLVAN
CORAOPOLIS,
s n t e r p r i s el sn,c '
C o p y r i g h1t 9 8 0 ,1 9 8 3b v C h e s E
E d i t o r : B . G . Du d l e y
t s B N 0 - 93 ' 14 6 2 ' 0 7 - X
C o v e rD e s i g n :E - F . W i t a l i sJ, r .
lnc'
WitlalisBurkeAssociates,
Pittsburgh,PA
Thisis an Engtishtranslationof the 1925 B' Kagan'
Berlin, eclition, This 1983revisionis the third
pflnttng,
Publisher's
Foreword
T h i s i s N i m z o w i t s c hf'isr s t p u b l i s h ebdo o k ,a p p e a r i nign B e r l i na n d L e n i n 1 9 2 5 . H i s c h i e fw o r k , l v l yS y s t e ma, p p e a r etdh e s a m ey e a r
gradeditionsin
quickly
this smallerwork. Copiesof the originaledition
overshadowed
and
havebecomevery scarceand the book had neverbeentranslatedinto English.
I wasvery fortunatethat my goodfriend,Dr. JosephPlatz,readilyagreedto
handlethe translationfrom his nativetongueinto English.Nimzowitschis
verveand complexidiomaticconwell known aswriting with considerable
. r.
s t r u c t i o nw
s h i c hm a k et r a n s l a t i o nesv e nm o r ed i f f i c u l t h a no r d i n a r i l y D
P l a t zh a sh a n d l e dh i sc h a i l e n g i nt ags ka d m i r a b l y .
"Blockade"to threeof his contemporary
Nimzowitschmakesreferencein
magazine
articlesto further elucidatehis points. We haveincludedtransla'
to these
tionsfrom thesearticlesto permittoday'sreaderto havereadyaccess
materials.
suoplemental
SinceNimzowitschhad completedwriting My Systemprior to this book
thereis naturallysignificantcongruityin concepts.However,I am certain
that today'schessstudentswill welcomethe opportunityof further study of
the writingsof the chessmasterwho hasbeenproperlynamed"The Fatherof
ModernChess".
With reference
of the author'sname,the useadopted
to the variedspellings
i n t h e o r i g i n a"l B l o c k a d e "h a sb e e nc o n t i n u e di n t h i se d i t i o n .
obstructionof an enernypawn by a
By blockadeI referto the mechanical
restrictionof forwardprogress
piece.This mechanical
is accomplished
b,
placingone'sown pieceon the squareimmediatelyjn front of the pawnto be
blockaded.For example,in the diag.am,the Blackpawnon d5 is beinqorocK_
adedby a White knight on d4.
Diagram1
A
:
It is customary- at leastamongmasters_ to blockadean enemvpasseo
pawn;but to my knowledgeno attempthasbeenmadeto justify the necessity
of this measureon a theoreticalbasis.To find sucha justificationwould
meanthe solutionof the problemt,,Blockade,,.
I
.7.
Onegetsa little closerto an understanding
of the problemto which I have
just referredwhen one delvesinto the essential
behaviorof the pawn. Undoubtedlyone of its specificcharacteristics
is its tremendouslust to expand,
the desireto storm forward. The free centerclearlydemonstrates
how thts
tendencyof the pawnto gainin importanceby advancing
works.
For example,let us examinethe followinggameplayedat odds,which
incidentallywaspreviouslyunpublished.
White: A. N imzowitsch
B l a c k :A m a t e u r
P l a y e da t R i g ai n 1 9 1 0
(RemovW
e h i t e ' sR a1 , a n dp l a c et h e p a w na t a 3 )
1e2-e4
e7-e5
2 Ns1.f3
Nb8_c6
3 Bf1-c4
Bf8-c5
4 c2-c3
Ng8_f6
A s w e s h a l ls e e B
, l a c ki s w i l l i n gt o g i v eu p h i se - p a w n .B u t t h e nt h e W h i t e
center
becomesmobilized.Thereforeit would havebeenmore prudentto
shout."stop!"to the White pawn-avalanche
by playing4...02_aO.
ifrere rof_
lowed:
5 d2-d4
e5xd4
6 c3xd4
Bc5-b6
.l:"* on b4 is nor possibte
due to the pawnon a3. This fact weakens
",^1,!,"
!,quKs.oerense.tt the pawnhad
beenon a2, this checkon b4 would give
o r a c kt i m e t o c a p t u r eW h i t e ' sp a w n
o n e 4 . A n d t h a t w o u l db e a n e x c J l l e n t
'"irnce to hinderthe pawn
_ as I usedto sayjokingly
movementbecause
wnllein pain- yearsof experience proven
has
that a deadparn _ "r*o,
a d v a n caen y m o r e . B u t n o w ,a f t e rt h e m o v e6 . . . B b 6t,h e W h i t ep a w nr o l r c r
setsitselfinto motion.
7 d+d5
NcGeT
, e n o t o n l y e l u c i d a toen t h e p a w n ' sl u s tt o e x .
In showing
t h i s l i t t l eg a m ew
pandbut we alsohavethe opportunityof seeingwhat is meantby its possible
advance.Hadthe knight retreatedto b8 or movedto a5, it would havebeen
thrown back.or elsehavebeendisplaced.Thuswe note:
( a ) t h e t e n d e n c tyo a d v a n coer i g i n a t epsa r t i a l l yf r o m t h e w i s ht o d e m o b r l i z et h e e n e m y .
(b) the intentionof stormingforwardwith the pawns,in order- to get
r i d o f t h e m . A l m o s ta s u i c i d i at e
l n d e n c yd.o n ' t y o u t h i n k ? N o , n o r a I
all, because
the pawnin its essence
is alsoa blockingunit, it standsin
the way of its own pieces.lt robsthe piecesof their routesjnto enemv
territory,and thereforeby its advance,its tendencytoward self-destruc.
tion is accomplished
throughstrengthand self-assertiveness.
To summarize (b): it is the wish to gain linesfor the pieces(rooks!)which were
postedin hometerritory by advancing
for a breakthrough.And finally
(c) it is alsopossibleto form a wedgeby advancing
the pawns.
Now to continuewith the game:
8 e4-e5
The pawns'lustto expand.especially
the centerpawns,is so strongthat it
completelysurpasses
anothervery importantprinciple,that of development
(for instance,by Nc3). Nc3 would of coursebe weakbecause
of the answer
d7-d6and the centeris restrained,
sincethe most that could be initiatedis a
ljne clearance,
mentjonedunder(b). 8ut this would be too little sinceWhite
is entitledto play for a wedge(c) which might leadto a breakthrough.There
followed:
8....
Nf6e4
B l a c kp l a y sf o r m a t e r i agl a i nw h i l eW h i t ef o l l o w sa n i d e a l i s t icco u r s eh, e
wantsto hinderthe development
of his opponentby d5-d6,and thus virtually
kill the b;shopon c8. In the ensueingstrugglebetweentwo vital forcesof the
world, the latterconceptwins out, remarkable
enoughbut, as I usedto say
jokingly.yet explanatorybecause
the gamehad beenplayed- beforethe
w a r ! " N o wl p l a y e d :
I dsd6
c7xd6
10 e5xd6
Ne4xf2
andthecriticalpositionhasarisen.
{Seethe diagramat the top of the next page)
Nimzowitsch is makingan analogybetweenthe war on the chessboard
and World War I betweenthe twa confederations,and noting that the game
wasplayed in 7910 before World War l, and these noteswerc beins written
after the war.
Position after Black's 11th move:
Diagram2
t T z t "/Z.z
t tt'&
.N
'4.t'&
%
72A7, %tt4t
% ,x
+
1t od1.b3!
12 Bc4xlTt
Nf2xhl
Ke8-f8
13 Bc1-95
Resigns.
The pawnwhich imprisonsthe opponentwasthe main actor in this smatl
drama. But it wasnothingelsethan the wedgeresultingfrom the pawnmarch
e4e5. d4-d5d6. etc.
To summarizethe fundamentalmotivesof the pawnadvancein the center:
(a) demobilizationof the oooonent
( b ) o p e n i n go f l i n e s
{c) restraintthroughwedge-formation
Now let us look at a differentkind of pawn,an extremelymobileone.the
passed
pawn, Whileit seemsdifficult to hampera free centerin the longrun,
it is much easierto restrainthe marchof a passed
pawn. In anv caseit ii
mucheasierto set rulesfor the lattercasethan for the first one. Whv? Wetl
the free (mobile)centeris only a singlecaseof a ,,pawnmajority". iheoreticallywe may talk about a pawnmajority jn the center,therebeingno reason
why we can only speakof a playerhavinga pawnmajoritvon one of the
wrngs,lf, however.our definitionof the free centeris trulv equivalentto a
pawnmajority in the center.then therewould be - for purpose
of instructlon - the way to "restraina free center,,,a very complicatedprocessinvolvIng:
(1) How doesa pawn majoritywork?
{2) How doesa passed
pawnariseout of sucha majority?
{3) How doesone defendagainsta majority?
{4) What is the reasonfor the greaterstrengthof a centermajority?
(5) Speciatmeasures
againsta centermajority.
we answerthesequestionslet'sput the passed
pawn underthe mag^,.B.efore
"r rylngglassa bit because
the passedpawn is the crystallizedproductof a
pawnmajority
and assuchit can be understoodmoreeasilythan the more
elasticand complicatedpawn
majority.
A s I m e n t i o n e ad t t h e b e g i n n i nogf t h i sd i s c u s s i oint ,i s f a i r l yw e l l k n o w n
pawnshaveto be stoppedalthoughtheoreticallytherehas
that passed
beenno
reasonfor it. I havesucceeded
in findingone,and althoughI hadoriginarry
plannednot to publishthis discoveryuntil it appearedin my book
My Syste4
I shallnow revealit in the interestof this treatise.Therearethreereasons:
( 1 ) L e t ' sl o o ka t t h e f o l l o w i n gt y p i c a Jp a s s epda w n p o s i t i o n :
a
E
t
D iagram3
a
'
a
a
.
is alsothis optimismwhich givesus the strengthto discovereventhe faintest
of how bad it may be. In our
ravof hopein everybad situation,regardless
passed
pawnis undoubtedlya
we
can
state
that
enemy
instance
an
for
66se
q r e a t e v fi lo r u s . B u t e v e n t h i s e v icl o n t a i n as f a i n t r a y o f l i g h t . T h e s i t u a t i o n
is suchthat when we blockadethis pawnwe postthe blockadingpieceat the
*
backof the pawn asseen{rom the enemyside in other words,the blocksderis safefrom frontal attack.
F o re x a m P l e :
% 7272
:
4
Diagram
7"7<7,
% 'x 7.2
Blackhasa passedpawn. This passed
pawn is his pride,and thereforeit appearsnaturalthat the Blackpiecesprotectthis pawn (Nf6,
Bb7) and support
it (Rdg). Now the questionarises:ls it sufficientto hamper pu*n
the
nV NOg
and Bf2 or is the blockadeby the knight on d4 necessary?
Answei:Against
the passedpawn'sstronglust to expandmildermeasures
suchas hamp"ering
by piecesfrom a djstanceare insufficnetbecause
typically,n" pr*n "un r,ilf
advanceundersuchcircumstances,
in which casetne pawnwiff'pavfoi,n,, uation with its life. thus d4-d5,B or Nxd4, and now the glack pieces
in the back.
groundsuddenlycometo life: the gb7 getsan open
diagonaldirectedagarnsr
the enemyking,the rook obtainsan openfile, and,i,. tinigl,,grr,
" n"* ".*
tral square.We hadfocusedon thjs forcefuladvance(for tin"
Jp"ning;t fin.rt
before{underb), For the pawn,slust to expandthis is an especially
iharacteristicgoal.
Thuswe may say,the first reasonwhich forcesthe blockade
by logicis
this: the passed
pawn- as I usedto sayjokingly_ is such, Oung"roi,
"r,rninal that it is by no meanssufficientto haveit *.t"n.a OV
tn" pofi"" tfrffrsu"O
Bf2);.no,this manshouldb€ in jail, thereforecomptetetydeprived
ot'ir, ir".d o m b y t h e b l o c k a d i nkgn i g h to n d 4 .
(2) The secondreason,to be explainednow,
is strategically
aswell asrn,
structionallyof greatimportance;in chess,that whicfrOe-ciOes
in tfrs finat
measureis optimism. I meanthat it is psychologically
importantto trairr
yourselfin the attitudeof feelinghappy abour
small advantages.
The begrn.
ner enjoyshimselfonly when he callsout mateto his oooon"-nr
o, o"rnuu.
L l e t t esrt i l l w h e nh e c a nc a p t u r eh i sq u e e n( b e c a u si e
n t h e e y e so f t h e b e g i n n e r
this is possiblythe greatersuccess
of the two); the .a.tu|, how"ueris alr"aoy
pleased
and highlysatisfiedif he succeeds
in findingevena shadeof an enemy
pawnweakness
in a nook of the left half of the loaiO! The optimis.,
h"re
described,
formsthe indispensable
psychological
Oasis
+orpositionatpiay. tt
8
Black'spassedpawn is on e4; the White blockader,Ne3, ii not exposeoro
a rook attack{e8-e3)and is - so to speak- safe.
It is jmportantto note that the blockadingpiece,in additionto its obligation to blockade,usuallystandsvery well. lf this were not the case,it would
be difficult to refutethe objectionthat it would be wastefulto put a pieceon
ice,just to guarda pawn. ln realitythe blockadesquares
are actuallyexcellent posts,first - aswasshownbefore- enemyfrontal attack is impossiore,
secondthe blockadesquareis often at the gametime an outposton a rook
file, andthird the blockadingpiecekeepsenoughelasticityto speedto an,
otherpart of the battlefieldif necessaryDiagram'12demonstrates
this elastlcrty and its further development;
herewe want to be satisfiedat demonstratingthe secondcase,that the blockadesquareand outpostscoincide, In rne
Q u e e n 'G
s a m b i tB l a c ko f t e ng e t sa n i s o l a t e qd u e e np a w no n d 5 , a n da l t h o u q h
it seemsto be somewhatrestrainedby a White pawnon e3, we couldcalrtr
halfof a passedpawn,its lust to expanciis that great;this is foundedpartially
in the fact that the pawnon d5 is alsoa centerpawn. d4 is the blockade
square.Now, White alsohasthe d file and on it a fortified square.Whichone
i s i t ? W e l l ,a l s od 4 b e c a u saec c o r d i ntgo m y d e f i n ; t i o na s q u a r eo n a f i l e c a n
only be called"fortified" when it haspawnprotection,herethe pawnat e3.
A fortified point on a file shouldbe occupiedby an outpostiseemy articleon
openfiles in the WienerSchachzeitung
1913"1. In this fashiond4 becomes
strategically
importanttwo ways.
( 3 ) O n ew o u l dt h i n k t h a t t h e b l o c k a d i nogf a p a w nr e p r e s e not sn l y a t o c a t
- llmited
space- measure;
one stoppeda pawnwhich wantedto advance,
and
=*
A t r a n s l a t i oins i n c l u d e di n t h i sv o i u m ei n A p p e n d i xO n e .
s oo n l y t h e p a w ns u f f e r e dn,o t h i n ge l s e .T h i sc o n c e p t i o lna c k sd e p t h . I n r e a t .
ity a wholecomplexof enemypiecesis madeto suffer,largerpartsof the
b o a r da r er e m o v e fdr o m t h e p o t e n t i af lo r f r e em a n e u v e r i nagn, ds o m e t i m e s
the entirecharacterof the enemypositionis fixed, in other wordsthe paraly.
sisis transferred
from the blockadedpawn into the terrainfurther back_|
g i v ea sa s i n g l e x a m p l et h e " F r e n c h "p o s i t i o n ,
Diagram
5
t 7t % 2
t%
7Z"il.
t/lz,',Ft
t ,ry
vlz
,raaz
z
'8,
7 %
tz lz 71,,
The pawnse6 and d5 are thoroughlyblockadecj,
and note that the entrre
Blackpositionasa consequence
hasan uncomfortablefixed character,
tne
bishopand the rook are prisonersin thejr own campl lf White had a oassed
p a w no n h 4 , h e w o u l da l m o s th a v ew i n n i n gc h a n c edse s p i t eh i ss u b s t a n r i a l
m a t e r i adl e f i c i t !
We now askour readerto turn his attentionto the pawn majority, Diagram
6 presents
sucha pawn majority. We seethreeWhitepawnsin conflictwirn
'ztltztT"Tzrtv
t
D iagram6
'D/'".'try%%
D*'.27t'r*7K
A pawn majorityon the king side
pawn
A healthy
majority,but not an irregularone, must resultin a passed
p a w n . " N o t h i n ge a s i etrh a nt h a t l " , o u r f r i e n d l yr e a d ew
r i l l s a ya t t h e f i r s r
glanceat Diagram6, Very true, but I want to be permittedin this instancero
f o r m u l a t ea r u l ew h i c ha S c a n d i n a v i a u
n d i e n coef m i n ec a l l e d , , u n f o r q e t t a b l e ; ,
o n ew h i c hs h o u l ds t i c ki n o u r m i n d si i k ea V i e n n e swe a l t z . T h e r o a dt o r n r s
r u l el e a d sb y w a y o f a s m a l d
l e f i n i t i o nor f t h e t h r e eW h i t ep a w n so n t h e k i n g
s r d ea, t p r e s e nnt o n ei s " p a s s e d ,h, ,o w e v eor n eo f t h e m i s u n d o u b t e d llye s s
hampered
than the others. I referto the f-pawn;at leastit hasno opponent.
10
it is the rightful "candidate". And we giveit
Thef-pawnshallbecomepassed,
give
him an academicdegree:l\4r.Candidate,{Thusthat pawn in
thistitle, we
which
hasno opponentis the "candidate".)And from thrs
majority
a pawn
a rule which is dictated
we derivethe brief rule: the candidatehaspreference,
you
by
strategic
necessity
but
also,
as
must
admit,
by the duty of poonly
not
(Thusunforgettable
for everybodywho callshimselfa polite man,
1;1eness,
andwe all do that.) To expressit exactlyscientificallythis presentsitselflike
this: the leaderof the advanceis the candidate,the other pawnsonly accomand f5-f6. ln casethe Blackpawnsstand
panyit, thusf2-f4f5, then 92"94-95
of
on 96 and hb (seeDiagram7 below)then f4, 93 (not h3 at oncebecause
h3, 94 and f5. How simple! And yet how
...h4with symptomsof paralysis),
oftenone seeshow weakerplayers.facedwith the positlonin this diagram,
Diagram7
% % %
% %t
/ L % %t
% %
"ffi'
%2.,.
',tu
% %
advance
the g-pawnfirst, but then followsg7-g5and the pawnmajorityhasno
value, I haveoften askedmyselfwhy the lessexperienced
playersstartwlth
92-94.This fact can be explainedvery simply. They are uncertainwhether
they shouldbeginleft (f4) or right (h4) and in thjs dilemmathey decidelikea goodcitizen- to choosethe goldenrule of the compromise,
And now let's look briefly at the extremelycomplicateddefensive
struggle
against
a majority.
A resultof the just developedrule is that the way to counteractthe har.
moniousdevelopmentof a passed
pawn is to pushtowardthe candidateso as
ro makeit somewhatimmobile, Oncewe havesucceeded
in makingthe candi"
datebackward(by forcinga companionto advance)then the blockadeof the
onceproud candidatecannotbe preventedany longer,and then it will not be
l o n gu n t i l i t f i n a l l yf a l l s .A s a n e x a m p l eo f a f i g h t a g a i n sat m a j o r i t yI p r e s e n t
heremy gameagainstTartakowerfrom the Copenhagen
Six N4aster
Tournam e n t1 9 2 3 .
(SeeDiagram8 at the top of the next page)
B l a c kh a s2 a g a i n s1t o n t h e q u e e ns i d e W
; h i t eh a sa p a s s epda v v ni n t h e
center,\a/hichhowevercan be stronglyblockadedby Bd6. (Oneshoulddifrerentiatebetweenstrongand weakblockade.A blockaderwhich can be
e a s i l ya t t a c k e d
a n dc a n o n l y r e c i e v lei t t l eo r n o s u p p o rftr o m i t s c o m r a d e s
n a sl i t f l ee f f e d . )
11
':,.1 W h i t e :
T
lr
'..t'I
/,- '.,//,.
Diagram
8
t,/t
',t/1Xg
l:z
t
*+
t5
N imzowitsch
Bl a c kI
Tartakower
T h e r ef o l l o w e df r o m t h e d l a g r a m m epdo s i t i o n :
a6a5
23 Nagc2!
24 a2-a3
The advanceof the candidateis beingthwarted.
24 ....
Ne7-f5
2 5 R d1 . d 3 1
againstthe candidatewith Rd3'b3; the ideal
To continuethe pressure
would naturallybe to coaxthe a-pawnto advance(a5'a4)sincethen the
to
blockadeon b4 would be possible.Howeverhereit would be unrealistic
pawnwill
play for that. The realisticprocedureis to "hope" that no passed
be createdand at the sametime still be preparedin the eventthat a passed
pawndoescomeabout. Thereforethe Whitepiecesstandreadyin an emerpawn b4 if it shouldariseanyway.
gencyto blockadeby Rb3 the passed
Rb8-c8
25 ....
W i t ht h e i n t e n to f d r i v i n ga w a yt h e N c 2s o a st o e f f e c t i v e lpy l a c eh i so w n
knighton d4; but correctwasthe blockadeof the White passedpawnby Nd6.
Rc8xc2
26 Bflg4!
bSb4
27 Bg4xl5
Therefollowed:
The blockadeby Bd6 wasnecessary.
.
a5xb4
28 a3xb4
29 d$d6,
pawn'slust to expand,which herehascreateda more fortuiThe passed
tous basis,namelythe fact that the Rc2 is hanging.
Rc2-c3!
29 ""
of Rxd6,etc.
Not Bxd6because
30 Rd3xc3
b4xc3?
. l a c ks h o u l dh a v e
T h e d e c i s i vm
e i s t a k et ;h e b i s h o ps h o u l dh a v ec a p t u r e dB
pawnon the b file and not on the c file; the further courseof the
a passed
g a m ew i l l s h o ww h y ,
31 dedT
Ks8'f8
32 Rb1-b4!
Bd8-a8
It makesno difference;whateverBlackdoeshe is lost.
33 s2-s3
KJ8-e7
34 Rb4-c4
Ra8-d8
35 Ksl-s2
B l a c ki s l o s tb e c a u steh eW h i t er o o k c a nk i l l t w o b i r d sw ; t h o n es t o n e .l t
12
an actionwhich uproots
holdsbackthe c-pawnand at the sametime prepares
pawn on the b file this possibilitywouto
the blockadeon d8. With a passed
to him. Therefollowedl
not havebeenavailable
35....
h7"h5
The king threatenedto marchto h6r Kg2-f3-94-h5-h6.
36 h3h4
Rd8-s8
37 Rcel-c8
Rs8-d8
3€l2-t4l
Be5d4
39 g3g4
h5x94
40 h4h5
T h e u p r o o t i n g !T h e B l a c kb l o c k a d e r{sK a n d R ) w i l l n o w b e d e c i s i v e d
l vi virtedby the passedpawnon h5.
40 ....
Bd4b6
41 h$h6
Ke7-f8
42 Rc8xc3
Kf8-s8
43 Rc3c8
Kg8-h8
44 Kg2.s3
Rd8.s8
To makethe blockademoreeffectiveby Bd8,
45 Rc8-eg
Slippingbehindthe barrierwhich Blackhad hopedto erectby Bd8. Now
mateis threatenedby hGh7, and thereforeTartakowerresigned.
With a bold leapwe'll turn our attentionnow to the fight againsta major.
ity in the centerwithout botheringwith the restof the "majority" problems
this writing would extendinto infinity). Heretoo, aswith every
{otherwise
othermajority,we seeourselves
threatenedwith the possibilitvof the formation of a passedpawn. To makethingstougher.new threatsappear,the beginningof an attackagainstthe castledking {the centerasa weaponof aggress i o n ! )i n t r o d u c etdh r o u g hw e d g ef o r m a t i o no r o p e n i n g
o f ! i n e sa n dd e m o b i l i .
zation. I believethe followingpositionsof the mainactorsarecharacterislc.
T
'&t %g'tzt
D i a g r a m9
%t7z'lfut
%
',r41
7,2
7
7t
%
72..,
,ry,% 7,2 7
+
t
%a7z
7l
./
HH
W h i t en o t o n l y t h r e a t e ntsh e u s u a l f o r m a t i oonf a p a s s epda w ni t h r o u g na o vanceof the candidatee5-e6)but also
the wedgeformationf5-f6. This wedge
on f6, after the reply
effectfor Blackthar
97.96,would havethe disastrous
I h ec a s t l e p
dositron
w o u l db e c u t o f f f r o m t h e m a i na r m v .t h e c o m m u n i c a r t o n
on the 7th rank would be interrupted(the
BlackrookscLrtoff from protection
13
the brilliancyGiersing- Kmochpublishedin Kagan'sNeuesteSchachnachichten!) and I reachedthe followingposition:
o f t h e p o i n t s9 7 a n d h 7 ) . T o a v o i dt h i sw e d g ef o r m a t i o nB, l a c kp l a y sf 7 - f 6 ,
pawnon e6 andtherebyobtainsa powerfLr
afterwhich Whitecreatesa passed
p o s i t i o n aald v a n t a g eA.s I s a i da t t h e b e g i n n i n gI ,o n l y m a r k e dt h e p o s i t i o no f
the most importantactors.Thus,if there had beenmore pieceson the board,
the Blackpawnon f6 could be usedasa targetin orderto force openthe g
e e e a s i l yc o n c l u d teh a t i t i s n o t d e s i r a b lfeo r B l a c k
f i l e ( g 2 - g 4 - q 5T) .h e r e f o rw
to oermitthe two pawnsto advanceto the sth tank; they shouldhavebeen
stoppedon the 4th rank.
'tta
D i a g r a m1 0
g
'11
Diagram
t
t
r
t,
t t .
*u
...
7/., % 7,t
.L :.2.:t.
7;
''::/../z
,'../z /2 lt
t t'/& ,
t ,/./l ',///z t//..
"t/.2 "//.,, /./.2.:
t:
Bl a c k :
Giersing
Wh itei
Nimzowitsch
Whiteto moveand win
Whitedoesnot havecompletematerialcompensation
for the missingpiece,
but his positionalsuperiorityis so greatthat one is definitelyinclinedto pruthe protectedpassedpawnon e5 and the strongpositionof
fer White. Besides
the White king in the center,the positionaladvantage
liesprimarilyin the sad
positionof the Blackrook. This rook is chainedto a pawnand thereforesentencedto completepassivity.I applieda procedureinvolvingcombinations
whichdoesnot represent
the strongestcontinuation.To judgethe text continuationfrom the point of view of our book we will analyzeit very briefly
beforewe showthe positionalway to victory.
I n t h e p o s i t i o no f D i a g r a m1 0 ,w h i c ha g a i no n l y s h o w st h e m a i na c t o r s ,
Blackhasmoreor lessfixed the candidateon e4. Without hopeof everbeing
"sacrifice"his majority. He movesf4-f5,
ableto forcee4-e5,Whitedecidesto
knightsentrenchthemselves
on e5 and e6. With many
and now the respective
pieceson the boardthe knighton e6 could initiatea strongattack.but posit i o n a i l yt h e B l a c kg a m ei s g o o d ,a n dt h e b l o c k a d i nkgn i g h to n e 5 i s v e r yp o w '
erful (seemy explanationin (2) above)sinceit preventsthe approachof the
Whiteattackingforces,for instancepreventingthe queenfrom goingto 94 or
a rook to f3, etc.
T h e g a m ec o n t i n u e d :
We haveseenin everyfight againsta pawnmajoritythe first stepis hamperi n g , F i n a l l yt h e i d e a cl o n s i s tosf a b l o c k a d e .
however,
The desireto stop a mobilepawnmassis in itselfunderstandable;
necessary
to blockadepawnswhich are althe fact that it seemsoccasionally
m o s ti m m o b i l ei s p u z z l i n gT. h i sh a p p e npsa r t i c u l a r lwy h e no n ew a n t st o
m a k es u c ha p a w nt h e t a r g e t .l s e eD i a g r a m1 l ) ,
A n d n o w I w i l l g i v ef o u r e x a m p l etso i l l u s t r a tw
e h a t I h a v es a i di n t h i s m o n o g r a p h .A l l f o u r e x a m p l easr ed e r i v e fdr o m m y l a t e s pt r a x i st,h e N o r d i cl \ 4 a s t e r T o u r n a m e ni n
t A u g u s t1 9 2 4( C o p e n h a g e nA)l.t h o u g hi t w a sv e r vs t r o n gw
h
o
recentlw
y o n a h e a do f R u b i n s t e iann dT e i c h m a n inn B e r l i n ,
o
n
l
y
Johner,
w a st h e r e f, u r t h e rA l l a nN i l e s s o nt h, e g e n i atlh e o r e t i c i aDnr . K r a u s et ,h e s o l i c l
y o u n gm a s t e rK
s i n c h ,K i e r ,e t c .- | s u c c e e d ei nd w i n n i n gw i t h 9 % p o i n t so u t
o f 1 0 ! | b e l i e v ien a l l s i n c e r e ttyh a t t h i sg r e a vt i c t o r vh a st o b e c r e d i t e d
to mV
d e e p eur n d e r s t a n d i on fgt h e e s s e n coef t h e b l o c k a d e Il n e v i t a b l iyt h a p p e n e d
t h a t i n t h e d i f f i c u l tb l o c k a d p
e r o b l e mes n c o u n t e r eI dt o o o c c a s i o n a lflayi l e . i ,
b u t t h a t h a p p e n evde r yr a r e l ya, c t u a l l yo n l y i n t h e f o l l o w i n ge n d g a m e .
I n t h e s e c o n dr o u n dt h e e x c e l l e nm
t a s t eG
r i e r s i f l(go n eo n l y h a st o t h i n k o i
14
L.-
58 f4f5
s6xfst
59 Ke4xf5
Rh8-f8t
60 Kfs.e4
Rf8.f7
T h e B l a c kr o o k h a sc o m eb a c kt o " l i f e " . B u t i t i s j u s tt h i s n e wr o o k p o s i tron which makespossiblethe combinationwhjch now begins.
61 b+b6'
Againthe proof of the pawn'slust to expand!
ot ..-.
Ba7"b8
l f h e a c c e p ttsh e p a w n6 1 . . . 8 x b 6t h e n6 2 e 6 t K x e 6 6 3 R h 6 1 .
62 Ke4d5
Rf7-e7
63 e5-e61!
Comparethe note to White's61st move,
63 ....
Kd7-c8
64 Rh2-t2
Re7-e8?
This attemptto separate
king and pawnfrom eachother endsfataily,jusr
asin a moviebecause
theretoo the attemptto separate
the two loversis narshl y p u n i s h e dT. h i s i s n a t u r a l l ya n e c e s s i tayso t h e r w i steh e a u d i e n cw
e o u l oa s x
T o rt h e i rm o n e yb a c k .
65 Rr2.I7
Re8-dgt
66 Kd5"c6
Rd8-e8
67 b6b7t
Kc8'd8
68 Rf7-d7mate.
eith 64...
I n s t e ao
d f 6 4 . . . R e 8 ?t o, u g hr e s i s t a n cweo u l dh a v eb e e np o s s i b lw
r h i t ew o u l dh a v eh a da c l e a rw i n ( s e eD i a g r a m11 ) i f h e h a d
K d 8 ;h o w e v eW
blockadedwith 58 Rh2-h6. Therecould havefollowedl
58....
Kdl-e7
g6xf51
59 f4-f5
60 Kert-f4!!
A n d B l a c ki s h e l p l e sasg a i n st th e t h r e a tg 6 t , f o r e x a m p l e :
60....
Ke7-t7
61 s5-s6t
Kt7-97
62 Rh6xhTt
Rh8xh7
63 g6xh7
K97xh7
U Kt4xls
Kh7-s7
65 Kf5-e6
Ba7-b8!
Ks7"{8
66 b5.b6
67 KeGdT
Bb8xe5
68 bebT
A n d w i n se a s i l y .
The next exampleshowshow much the blockaderis ableto keepits elasticity.
I
D i a g r a m1 2
%e'/z '/Lt
t % 7t %
t /tut% 7z
'rfu.
Bl a c kI
A l l a nN i l s s o n
t"/2,
ltu'r&
lz
71,,
% 7'.
.Fr
n,
White:
N imzowitsch
White hasthe betterpositionasa5 and d5 are vulnerablepawnweaknesses;
the first one paralyzes
the mobility of the Blackrooks,the latterthe mobility
o f t h e B l a c kk i n g ( t h eW h i t er o o k p o s i t i o nf 5 f o r c e st h e d e f e n s i vpeo s i t i o n
Kc6, not Ke6which would be wreckedby Re5t). Thuswe must makeuseof
greatermobility of our own forces. lt is clearto every
the correspondingly
e n d g a mpel a y e rt h a t t h e W h i t ek i n gw i l l f i n d r e w a r d i nagc t i v i t yo n t h e k j n g
wing,but what happenswith the Whiterooks? Shouldthey occupythe f file?
W e l l ,t h e nt h e b a c k w a r a
d - p a w nw i l l a d v a n c ea,n d i n t h i sw a y B l a c kw i l l r i d
himselfof his weakpawnand willeven get a passed
pawn. lf howeverone
wantsto useone rook to blockadeon a5, then the other rook could hardly
w i n a n y l a u r e los n t h e f f i l e c o u l di t ?
H o w e v etrh e r ef o l l o w e d :
33 Ra2-a5
34 Kt2-s3
16
Kd7-c6
KcGbT
35 Ra1-fl
Kb7-c6
36 Rf1-f5
F i r s tW h i t eb r o u g h t h e r o o k t o f 5 a n d h i sk i n gi n t o a n a t t a c k i n g
positoin.
As far asthe other rook is concerned,it is very happyon a5 because
it has
kept its elasticityand may very well marchoverto the f file at the right mom e n t . B u t i t w o n ' t e v e nc o m et o t h a t . T h e R a 5a n dt h e B l a c ka - r o o kh o l d
eachother in balance;thereforethe Whitef-rook only hasto deajwith one
counterpart(with one rook) and hereit provesitselfto be the strongerone,
it alreadyoccupiesthe f file and partiallybecause
partiallybecause
it is suppoint out is the readiness
portedby the king, But what I want to especially
of the Whitea"rookto leaveits blockadingpositionand go onto the f file as
The fight for the f file revolves
soonas it is necessary.
aroundthe conquestof
a point of entry on f6, f7 or fg for the rooK.
Therefollowed:
36....
Ra1-e7
37 h2-h4
Ra8-a7
38 h4h5
Re7-eo
39 Rf5"f8
y h i r eh a dp l a n n e dh S h 6 . H a dB l a c kp l a v e d3 9 . . .
T h ee n t r y . ( O r i g i n a l lW
h7-h6,therewould havefollowed Kh4 with g2"g4-g5.)
39....
s7-s6
40 h$h6
sosS
41 Rt8.b8
KcdcT
42 Rb8xb5
Re6xh6
43 Ra5a4
Rhef6
44 Rb5-a5
Kc7-c8
45 Ks3s4
h7.h6
46 Ra4-a2
Ra7-t7
47 Ra5xa6and won in b4 moves.
In the followingvery instructiveexamplethe failureto establisha blockade
is punishedby free play of the pieces.
white: Kinch
B l a c k :N i m z o w r t s c n
Playedin the Nordic lVasterTournament1924
1 d2-d4
t7-t5
2 e2-e4
I4xe4
? Nb 1 - c 3
Ns&fG
Bc1-95
Nb8-co
A n d n o w K i n c h o l a y e da n i n t e r e s t i n gn e w m o v e j h e t o o k t h e k n i g h t
^
og5xf6 e7xf6 and made a regLllargdmbit out
of the game,
5 Bg5xf6
6 Bfl-c4
7 Ns1-e2
e7xf6
f&f5
7 ....
8 Bc4-b3
9 a2xb3
Ncdas!
Nasxb3
Od8-s5
P r e f e r a b il seN h 3 .
17
9...d5would be refutedbY Nt4.
/.a.a.15]!L
r':/t .?.
, LtL'.,/t
D i a g r a m1 3
2
.7,:z
'//r.t
/rrrrrrrrrrrrt.
E
.fl,,t2
7,,,
t t a lt /2..;,
;tut l.:.zEsl,fu
B l a c kI
Nimzowitsch
Whitel
S. Kinch
K i n c ht o m o v e
positionWhiteculd play to blockadethe Blackpawn
In the diagrammed
majorityon the king'swing,perhapsthrough 10 93 togetherwith establishing
a k n i g h ot n f 4 , f o r e x a m p l 1e 0 9 3 B e 7 1 1 N f 4 G 0 1 2 A d 2 d O 1 3 G 0 - 0 a n d
h2-h4;then wherewould Black'swinningchancesbe in spiteo{ the extra
pawn? Perhaps
in an attemptto breakthe blockadeby 97-95?(After 10 93
it would loosenup Elack'spoBe7 1'1Nf4Oh6 12 Ad2 s'.l Hardly,because
wasthe
which
we havesuggested
the
blockade
sitiontoo much. Therefore
r i g h tw a y t o e q u a l i z e .
The flankingmaneuverwhich takesplacein the gameis likewisegoodand
fine.
Bf8-e7
10 0-0
0-0!
11 t2]131
f5xe4
12 f3xe4
k7xl8
13 Rflxfgt
14 Nc3xe4
t a w nb u t l e a v i ntgh e o p p o n e nw
t iththebishop
W i n n i n gb a c kt h e g a m b i p
pair and the freergame.
Therefollowed:
14....
15 Ne4-t2
N o t d 7 - d 5w h i c hw o u l dw e a k e ne 5 .
Og5-e3t
d7.d6!
Bc8-d7
16 Ne2-93
17 Ks1'f1
themselves.
assert
Probably
betterwasOd3although
thentoo the bishops
Ra8-e8!
17....
r h i t ef a i l e dt o b l o c k a d teh e o p p o n e nht e i s b e i n gj u s t l y
B e c a u seea r l i eW
s a v eg r e a tm o b i l i t y ,
p u n i s h e idn s ot a r a st h e o p p o n e n t 'psi e c e h
18 Ra1xa7
Bd7-bst
Bd$a6
19 c2-c4
dGds
20 Ng3-e2
Qe3xd3
21 Dd1-d3
d4xc4
22 N{2xd3
18
23 b3xc4
Ba6xc4
24 Nd3-c1
Bf&b4!
Not only strongerthan Ba6 but alsoin conformitywith the requirements
" c a l l sf o r m o b i l i t y . "
o f t h e p o s i t i o nw h i c h
Re&f8t
25 Ra7xb7
H e r eB l a c ks t u m b l e st h, o u g hh e w i n sa p i e c eh, e w i l l b e p u t i n c h a i n sb y
force,which makesit a sin againstthe spirit of the blockade,(As waspointed
out,White logicallyshouldperishthroughBlack'sfree play with the pieces
w h i c hW h i t ep e r m i t t e dt h r o u g hh i sf a i l u r et o b l o c k a d e . I)n t h e s p i r i to f t h i s
play with the piecesBlackshouldplay (insteadof 25...RfSt) 25
unrestricted
...9b4-d2l 26 Kf2 (The only move,as Rfgt threatenedmate.)26...RfSt with
a decisiveking hunt, 27 Kg3 Bel l 38 Kh3 BeOt 29 94 h5 30 Rb5 (30 RxcT?
hxqt 31 Ks2 Bdst 32 Ksl Bf2t 33 Kfl Bq3t) 30..,Bxs4i 3'l K92 Bxe2
32 Nxe2 Rf2t 33 Kgl Rxe2,etc.
We returnto Diagraml4 after White's25th move,
D i a g r a ml 4
E.L '%
% 7,,
7z%
'"/.H.N&
t4, "'/r.
",/&,7Za
As statedbefore,Blackplayed:
25 ....
26 Kfl-sl
And now,justa littlelate:
26....
There
followed:
27 h2-h3
28 Ne2xcl
29 Ks1-h2
3 0 Rb l x c T
Blackhardlyhasa forcedwin,
30 ....
31 Kh2's3
32 Rc1xc2
33 Ks3-f4
34 Kf'l-es
35 d4-d5?
Re8-f8t
Bb+d2
Bd2xcl
RfS"flt
RfIxcl
Rc1-c2
Bc4d3
Bd3xc2
Ks8-f7
Bc2-b3
The methodical further advance Kd6 wouid probably have led to a draw.
After the text move White will be starved to death.
19
KIl-e7
36 s2-94
Ke7-d7
37 hlh4
Kd7-e7
38 g4g5
Ke7-d7
39 h4-h5
Kd7-e7
g7xh6
40 h5h6
41 g5xh6
Ke7-d7
42 Resigns.
The logicalconnections
of the blockadingeventsmanifestthemselves
extrao r d l n a r i l yi m p r e s s i v ei lnyt h i sg a m e .( T o g i v ei t a n a m e ", C r i m ea n d P u n i s h ment".)
Beforewe get to the next examplewe will first givean explanationwhich
shouldclarifythe meaningof the qualitativemajority. A majority,suchas
threepawnsagainsttwo, must,of course,be impeded;in this sensetoo we
mustcall a majorityof thosepositionsin which the pawnmajorityon one
wing is of a subjective
nature,
l n m y g a m ea g a i n sBt e r n s t e iant K a r l s b a 1
d 9 2 3{ l h a dt h e W h i t ep i e c e s ) ,
afterthe moves:
1Ns1-f3
Ns8-f6
2 d2.d4
d7.d5
3 c2-c4
e7-e6
4 Nb1-c3
Bf8-e7
5 e2-e3
o0
6 a2-a3
a7-a6
7 c+c5
c7-c6
I b2-b4
Nb8-d7
9 Bc1-b2
Od&c7
10 Od1-c2
eGe5
11 G0.0
e$e4
'15
Diagram
r g a ',,&Ilflt
72t7z x, 2
/,fl.t//z
+ + /
f,Y
t
lH
6lZ
.a
a q * ttufr.&
A p o s i t i o nh a sb e e nr e a c h e idn w h i c hW h i t eh a sa s u b j e c t i vm
e a i o r i t yo n
the queenside,BJackon the king side. Why? Because
the pawnon e4 is
"more"
t h a nt h e p a w no n e 3 a n do n t h e o t h e rh a n dt h e p a w no n c S i s , , m o r e
t h a nt h e p a w no n c 6 , l f o n ew e r et o g i v eB l a c ka f r e eh a n d ,h e w o u l dq r a o u a r 20
ly go overto the attackwith f5, 95, f4 which is much lessforcefulthan an attackwith a realmajority. Therethen threatensa wedgeformation (through
"laterally"
t+f3l and openingof lines{by f4xf3) with possibleconquestof the
a majorityassuchmeans
(not frontally)denudedPe3, Howeverto recognize
to undertakesomethingagainstit. Therethereforefollowed:
12 Nf3.h4!
Nd7-b8
To preventNf5.
13 q2-s3!
Nfde8
14 Nh3s2!
f7.f5
15 h2.h4
And Black'sking side,which is seeminglyreadyto march,is paralyzed.Afinto a blockade
ter a few more movesthe impedimenthad beenconsolidated
{bv N f4} I
Similar,althoughmore difficult,wasthe casein the gameNimzowitschOlsonfrom the Nordic MasterTournament.After 1 f4 c5 2 e4 Nc6 3 d3 q6
a positionwasreached,which, includinge7-e6and d7-d5,wascalledby
"the battleof the king'swing versus queen's
the
wing". Whitehas
Schmidt
e4,
14 a k ind of side-center,
position
the opponenthasa corresponding
in d3,
on the left wing. Therenow camemy entirelyrrnprecedented
attemptto immediatelyhamperthe mobileenemyqueenwing (thrcugh4 c2.c4)because
I
recognize
this wing asa majority(of the subjective
typc). For a detailedexplanationof this surprisingmove I may be permittedto referto the January
issueol Kagan'sNeuesteSchachnachrichten."
The followingexample.which by the way actuallyhappened,
showshow
difficult problemsofrestrictioncanbe. In his new booklet,lndisch,Dr.fartakowerpresentsa gamewhich wasplayedbetweenus in the Copenhagen
'1923.(Whiter
l,ilasters
Tournamentin
Tartakower,Black: Nimzowitsch)
I d4 Nf6 2 Nc3 d5 3 Bg5Nc6, and he makesthe followingremarkr"Typica!
ly Nimzowitsch!Seeminglyanti-positional
because
in the Oueen'sPawnopenIngthe importantc-pawnis blocked,but this strategyin the spirit of lively
playwith the piecescannotbe simplybrushedaside."
To this I would like to saythe followingrNc6 wasnot at all playedpertainingto "play with the pieces".The movewassolelyto counteractthe
a d v a n cee2 . e 4w h i c hw o u l do p e nl i n e sa n dt h u sf r e eW h i t e ' sq a m e .H a dI
'A
translationof that note follows:
4 c2.c4
this move is not inspircd by the hope of preventingd7-cl, or only of
^-As
'"dKtng
it difficult, it needsa specialexplanation. Black wants to force the
outld up e7.e5
d7-d5. After suchwork is done he will have thoughts of improving
hisattack-formation on the qLteen'swing by an eventualNd4 in order
':,use pressure
lin the c filel on the pawn on c2 after Nxd4 c,xd4 havebeen
p6yed.
The te^t move prevents thispossibleextensionof the play on the
'lueen's
wing. The hole on d4 seemsto be nonessential.
21
played4...e7-e6at once,e2-e4could be the response.Thus,the strategyof
obstructionI
SuPPlement
How interesting
that this motivecould haveescaped
Tartakowerwho plav\
with so much routineand battleexperience.Or could it be just the fault ot
the "routine" that he missedthe "finer" pointsin this instance?
publisherMr- B. Kagan,who is so well
Followingthe wish of my esteemed
l'll add somegamesrelatingto the blockade
world,
entire
chess
the
in
known
procedures.
After the next moves,4 e3 e6 5 Nf3 Be7 6 Bd3 h6! 7 Bh4 b6! the trencl
andalsosomenew examplesof my
which wasdirectedagainste2-e4wasfurther strengthened.
8 O0 Bb7,and
I beginwith an oldergame,playedin the mastertournamentat Ostende
pronouncedexamplesof the
pell-mellcombinow I threatenthe combinationalmoveNe4with interesting
1907,;hich I considerto be one of the most
qualitativemajority'
of
a
impediment
nations.
accomplished
successfully
.l
No.
B l a c k :N i m z o w i t s c h
W h i t e v: a nV l i e t
d7'd5
1
d2-d4
We havenow arrivedat the end of our explanations.We lookedat the
c7'c5
2 Ngl't3
problemof obstructionfrom differentsidesand we becameconvincedhow
e7'e6
e2'e3
3
muchstrategyis represented
by a fight betweenmobility on one sideand the
Ng&J6
4 b2'bg
tendencyto obstructon the other,
Nb8-c6
5 Bf1'd3
T h e p h j l o s o p hhye r ed e v e l o p eids e n t i r e l yn o v e a
l n d i t i st h e r e s u l o
t f man!
B{8-d6
6 a2'a3
yearsof research,
this appliesespecially
to the justificationof the duty to
7 Bc1'h2
b l o c k a d eF
. i n a l l yI w i s ht o g i v et h i sg u i d i n gp r i n c i p l teo t h e a l e r tc h e s s p l a y e r i
The White developmentis directedagalnstan intendedfreeingadvance
Stop everypawnwh ich wantsto advanceunderthe sl;ghtestpretext,every
into a blocke6e5. Thusobstruction. No wonderthat this latercrystallizes
passed
pawn,everypart of the center,everyquantitativeor qualitativemajorof
our essay
in
the
spirit
posted
Because
on
e5)
(A
knight
later
ade. White
ity, stopthem! Firsttry it goodnaturedly.with mild measures
(as3...Nc6for
is only an introductorystep,but the climax is the blockade'
light
obstruction
instancein my Copenhagen
gameagainstTartakower).after that let your
G0
7....
rightouschess-fury
swellto a mightycrescendo!The climax,the idealof
b7.b6
8
0-0
everyactionto obstructis and remains- - - - - Bc8-b7
9 Nfle5!
a7-a6l
10 Nbl-d2
the Blockade!
b&b5!
11 12-14
his pawns
counterplavon the queen'swing by recognizing
Blackestablishes
'i924
qualitative
thereasa
majority.
Dresden
12 d4xc5!
which had only the one iault that van Vliet didn't un'
An
move
excellent
A. N imzowitsch
derstandit. But the annotatorof the Ostendtournamentbook alsosuffered
a slmilarfate. Teichmanngavethe text movea ? ApparentlyTeichmanncon'
sidersthe incriminatingmoveasa surrenderof the center. But that is not the
case,only White shouldhavecontinuedcorrectly.
Bd6xc5
12 ..
NfGdT
13 0d1-f3
A betterand more consistentmoveis not apparentto me. Blackwantsto
getrid of the blockaderNe5 in orderto mobilizehis own centerpawns
Bb7xc6
14 Ne5xc6
( S e eD i a g r a mi 6 a t t h e t o o o f t h e n e x t p a g e )
15 Of3g3
This and the next moveare mistakes.
22
, h i c hc o u l db e a c c o m p l i s h e d
W h i t es h o u l dh a m o e trh e B l a c kc e n t e rw
position
t h r o u g h1 5 b 3 - b 4 !B b 6 1 6 N d 2 - b 3a n dB d 4 o r N d 4 T h e b l o c k a d e
23
*' -6 1 a r eo p i n i o n si n c h e s s l l
19 ele4
ln orderto answer94-95with e6-e5l
20 Rd1-el
21 l4-ts
'A c.9,
7/tA7,zt. L t
D i a g r a m1 6
ltall,, 1.7.,/..7
'/..,t
t,,,gt/,t
/,
/t llz
lt
t",za
,f,w7//.
.Hfr.8 t t'/,tu
od8-d7
e&e5!
After 14,..Bxc6
/t*'t
with a pieceon d4, thus achieved,
would not be easilyshakenoff by f7-f6 ancl
e6-e5because
after f7"f6, Ohs, or Oh3 would becomeunpleasant.On the
other handthe Blackb-pawn,which wasfixed by b3-b4,could becomea target for an attack. For instance15 b3-b4Bc5-b6 16 Nd2-b3Od8-e7 't7
N b 3 - d 4B c G b T 1 8 a 3 - a 4( a nn o w 1 8 . . . 8 x d 41 9 B x d 4O x b 4i s n o t p o s s i b l e
b e c a u soef t h e d o u b l eb i s h o ps a c r i f i coen h 7 a n d9 7 ,t h u s :2 0 B x h T t K x h T
21 Oh5t Kg8 22 BxgTKxgT 23 Og51 Kh8 24 Rt3l ot l7...Bb6xd4instead
of BcGbT 18 e3xd4. ln the positionthus reachedthe pawnon c2 is backward and not worth much,the sameappliesto Bb2 but theseweaknesses
couldonly be uncoveredby the maneuver
of the knightd7 overb6 to a4 or
c 4 ,a n dB l a c k- d u et o h i so w n u n s a f e
k i n g ' sp o s i t i o n( W h i t e ' es f i l e a n dm o b i l i t y o n t h e k i n g ' sw i n g iw o u l dh a r d l yh a v et i m ef o r t h a t . T h e r er e m a i ntsh e
postingof the knighton e4 which howeverafter Bd3xe4would leadto orroositecoloredbishops.
ThereforeWhitecould haveequalizedby d4xc5 in connectionwith the artempt to impedethe enemycenter. After his 16th moveWhite is at a disad,
vantage,
althoughone hasto admit that Black'splay hasto be extremelyrisky
In orderto exposethe disadvantage,
II ...Nd7.f6
16 Ral-d1?
With still betteraccess
than on the previousmoveWhitecould haveqone
t h r o u g hw i t h t h e a b o v em e n t i o n eodb s t r u c t j o nT, h u si 6 b 3 - b 4B c b - b 61 7
Nd2-b3and B lackmust be carefulin orderto equalize.
16 ....
a6a5!
Now pawna3 is a weakness,
and Whitedoesnot reachthe abovementioned obstruction.
17 Os3h3
h7-h6
T h e B l a c kp o s i t i o nc a nt o l e r a t et h i sw e a k e n i n g l
1g g2-s4
d5-d4
A deeplyconceivedmove.which alreadyshowsthe intentionof blockadi n gt h e W h i t ea d v a n c i nm
g a s sa n dt h e f l i g h to f t h e B l a c kk i n g . A c c o r d i n g
to
my teachings
any other moveis out of the questionbecause
the obstructton
of the Whitepawn massis the most urgentorderof the hour. The fact tnar
T e i c h m a ncna l l sd 5 - d 4a m o v eo f " d u b i o u sv a l u e ,s, h o w sh o r , w
v i d e l vd i v e r 24
D i a g r a m1 7
2*71,tt
"4.Allt
x
'L
i"..&''/Ltt
z
%
t%a%"lt
7Nt,.X,
Whitehasa qualitativemajorjtyon the king'swing Threat:94-95after a
oueenmoveand h2-h4.
NfFhT
21 ....
The plav which now follows,i.e.to Jorcea delayof 94-95(afterh2-h4)
untilthe king hasfled is an admirableexampleof the fight againsta qualita
tivepawnmajority.
Od7-e7
22 Nd2-t3
R{&e8
23 Oh3-93
t7.t6
24 h2.h4
25 Re1-a1
move.
This weakness
on a3 forcesWhiteto makea defensive
Ae7-b7
25 ....
Ks8-f7
26 Rt-e1
Re8-h8
27 Re1-e2
Nh7-f8
2A Ks1-92
h 6x95
29 s+ss
Nf8.d7
30 h4xg5
Now Black'splan of defensein all its depth becomesevident:after g5xf6
the answercan alwaysbe g7xf6. f6 is well defendedand the king finds satety
on d6.
31 g5xf6
Whitebeginsthe battlebeforethe king hasreachedsafety.
g7xf6
31 ....
32 N{3-h4
a strongoutposton the g file.
Not a bad idea. White wantsto establish
Rag-98
.
.
.
.
32
Rh8-h5
33 Nh+s6
Nd7,f8
34 Ks2-t2
Now a terrific battlewill ragefor the outpost96. On the wholethe out'
postappearsto be {airly strong. lf despitethat strengthit cannotbe held,
25
t h e r e a s o nI i e si n t h e w e a k n e sosf t h e W h i t ep o s i t i o nn, a m e l yi n t h e f a c tt n , ,
t h e p a w no n e 4 i s n o t o n l y t h r e a t e n ebdy B c 6a n dO b 7 ,b u t a l s ob y t h c S " i '
w h i c hi s b u r n i n gt o g i v ea d i s c o v e r ecdh e c k .
3 5 R a1 - g l
R h5-s5
36 Og3h4
Rg5xg1
37 Kt2xs1
Nf8x96
38 0h4.h5
Kt7-t8
39 f5xg6
A p p a r e n t lW
y h i t eh o l d s9 6 . . .
'lo
ab7-s7
4O Re2-92
Rs8-h8
41 Ah5-e2
'/:
7:/
/t::
D i a g r a m' 1 8
//.2 g
7.zzA.l/,11fr/,,
t,g tt /::/
'/t
L tlt lz
fr72a/lz t
Nfr,/.wtHta
41 ....
Rh8_h4!
S t a r t sa d i v e r s i oang a i n sPt e 4 ,a n dt h i s i s d e c i s i v en,a m e l yf o r t h e f a t eo t
P g 6a n dt h e r e f o rael s of o r t h e r e s u l ot f t h e g a m e .
42 Bb2-c1
At lastthe bishop,which wascut off for 24 moves,daresto comeout intc
t h ed a y l i g h tb, u t h e a r r i v ejsu s t i n t i m e t o w i t n e s tsh e c o l l a p soef h i sf o r c e s .
Attet 42 Rg4,which Teichmannrecommended
here,would havefollowecl
R x g 4 4 3 O x g 4B c 6 , d 7a! n d B d 7 - e B
a n dB l a c km u s tw i n .
42....
Rh4xe4!
43 Ae2-d2
Re4-h4
44 Ad2xa5
ag7-d7
T h e b l o c k a d i nqgu e e nl e a v ehse rp o s t . W h e no n ec o n s j d e rt sh a t b l o c k a d i n g
i s u s u a l l yt h e t a s ko f t h e m i n o rp i e c e so,n em u s ta d m i tt h a t t h e q u e e nw
, hich
i s n o t u s e dt o t h i st v p e o f w o r k ,h a sd o n ea t e r r i f i cj o b .
45 gdgTl
K8-s8
N o w h i sm a j e s t yh a st a k e no v e rt h e b o c k a d eh i m s ef .
46 ad3c4t
b5xc4
47 Oa5xc5
T o s w e e pt h e b l o c k a d a
e w a yw i t h O f g t .
47 ""
R h 4 - h 1 !t
Resigns.
T h i s g a r n e( a g a j n svt a n V l i e t ) , w h i c h r e m a i n e dr e i a t ; v e l yr n n o t i c e c l ,i s o n e
o f m y b e s ta c c c m p l l s h m e n t s .
26
d qudlitiitiv{
m u t L a l 5 ob c c o n s r d e r Y dd s a 1 ' g h ta g a i n \ 1
r"h a l o l l o w i n gg a m e
2
nd b' 11;ancv
t
h
e
w
'
l
h
c
r
o
w
n
c
d
a
n
d
, , . , l t- w r s p l a v e da t K a r l s t l a o1 9 2 3
fial9ttt't"
No.2
/ize'
Nimzowitsch
White:
1Ng1-f3
2 d2-d4
3 c2'c4
4 Nb 1 - c 3
5 e2-e3
6 a2-a3
B l a c k :B e r n s t e i{nA m e r l c a )
Nq8-i6
d7-d5
Bf8-e7
0-0
a7-a6
I C4'Ct
p a w n h a so e e n
w
h
i
c
h w i l l b e c o m p l e t eo n c e t h e B l a c k
c
h
a
i
n
F o r m sa p a w n
p
a
w
n
sd 4 a n d c 5
l
h
e
a
r
e
"O'f"l "Of The Wh;te links;n the chain
,aii.i
realm of the
the
in
plan
attack
for
!vhite
I
ne
rhe Black ones are db and cb.
b5xc6afterwhichb7xc6isforced'
* "q'.b4-b5'
lll'l ili, o" """1i n2'oq,
pawn
pawnon c6' which {ormsthe baseot the Black
in o,t'rr *orOr, the
movement
-h"in \ ill he exoosedto an altacKTromthe sideand an enveloping
ill'il
";;;i;1'L
wouldbebv Rb6'whiletheenverop'
(tnesioeattack
W e h a v ea l r e a d vd ; s c u s s et hde i n i " " " , i " i t i . r l a c o n s i sot f R b 1 - b 7 - c 7 x cl 6
lhis book
iti"almovesin the theoret:calpart of
c7"c6
7 .,'
Nb8-d7
h2'b4
a
Od8'c7
9 Bc1'b2
e&e5
10 od1'c2
11 0-0'0!
asa refutati'onof
Up until now the pushin the centerhasbeenconsidered
p
e
r c e p t i o nel G e 5i s
r t t . - " l " i r-n"trinu
" i u . " " t t r o m t h e f l a n k A n e n t i r e l Vu n f o u n d e d
hassomeabilcenter
White
the
iJ
r.."ctionto c4-c5which
""r" ii"
m
o
r
e
'
s ,u t n o t
i t y t o r e s i s-t e q u a l i z e b
e5-e4
11 "'
T h e o t h e r t h e o r e t ] c a l l y c o n c e i v a b I e a t t e m p t t o s t r e n g t h e n t heefai ltet a c K I n g p o .
p l a yo n t h e
, i t i o n. g r i " , t l a * o u i d c o n s i sot f t h e e x c h a n gee5 x d 4 'a n d
'-\14H?Ylll: i".':li: ::
ora1oJtoost
ii'""ni"n"ii*o estootirn.""t
e f i l P\ ' ! o u l db e l o n gt o v v n L r e
e a sb l eb e c a L r tshee
t e m p ti s n o i p r a c r i c a l llV
s o t h i n se l s et o d o e x c e p t o
d
e
v
e
i o p m e nT
t h e r ef e m a i n n
;;;kr;" ;it;;;|.
f r o m d 4 o n t o t h e n e wb a s e
n , t ar t O +t , u n t o u c n a Oat en dt r a n s f etrh e a t t a c k
h
a
m
p
e
r i ntgh e m o v e m e nf t7 - { 5 ' { 4 x
o
f
t
a
s
k
" g * i i n . s . + . W h i t et h e nh a st h e
e 3 ,w h i c hw o u l de x p o s e 3 f r o n rt h e s r d e '
N d7,b8
12 Nf3-h4!
t f5.
T o p r e v e nN
13 s2-93
1 4 Nh 4 ' g 2
15 h2-h4
NfGeS
t7-r5
t e a n si n c l a s s i c sal v l e '
6 2 r ' r i eodu t b y t h e s i m p l e sm
T h e o b s t r u c l i o vnv 6 5
" b a r o q u e "o t b j z a ( t eb' u t t h e r n o v ec o n s i s t s
O t c l u r s " f Z N h 4 c o u i da p p e a r
n f o b s t r u c i i o nT h e r e f o r e
ap
l eratloo
o n , i ' J t u n . " " r , 0 r , p a r ro i t h e c l a s s i c o
2,7
m y e s t e e m e dr e a d e rw i l l f i n d i t u n d e r s t a n d a b lwe h e n I h a v eo n l V a p i t i f u l
s m i l ef o r a s i m i l a rc r i t i c i s mb y s o m ec n | c s .
Be7-d8
16 aga4
MorecautiouswasBe2then Kd2. After this developmentis comoleted
W h i t ew o u l db e a b l et o b r i n gt h e a r t a c ka 2 - a 4a n db 4 - b 5t o a , r c c e r r f u l " o n clusionwithout any greatereffort.
to....
b7.b6!
W e l lp l a y e d l U s u a l l yt h e c o u n t e m
r o v e m e not f t h e m i n o r i t yo n l y g i v e sa n
advantage
to the attackingside(in this case.White). However,the prJsence
o1
the Whitemonarchmakesthe Whitemajority in a certainsensea comprornised one,and thereforethe pushb6 is sufficientlymotivated.
17 h4b5
'/a /,r. 7:./Lt
D i a g r a m1 9
ttt
ttt
t
t '&
r
t
./,
t
/&.
^
'&8/lz,
'rfua
&,trltgt
17....
18 Ns2-f4
Ne8-f6
The blockader!
18....
a6xb5
19 a4xb5
Ac7-17
20 Bt1-e2
Bd8-c7
21 c5xb6
Bc7xl4
After 21...Bxb6Blackwould soonhavehad markedweaknesses,
for in_
stance
2 1 . . . 8 x b 62 2 K c 1 . d 2a n dW h i t ew i l l o c c u p yt h e a f i l e a n d
maintain
threatsagainstthe baseof the chain,d5 (afterdisappearance
o+tte proiecrrng
c6).
zz gJxf4
Now the obstructionof the B lackpawn masson the king
sideis absolute.
22 -...
Bc8-d7
23 Kc1-d2
c6xb5
24 Rdl-a,t!
Whiteforcespositionaladvantages
on the queen,swing,
24....
Nb&c6
25 Be2xb5
NcGa5!
26 BbS"eZ
Rfg_b8
E l a c kh a sd e f e n d eedx c e l l e n t layn o i s n o w a D o u t o e q u a l i z e .
Diagra.r'20
a gt
T
A
%''.rfur'./,fu.
tzt%
"/z
, 'N. z.& t2,
/,NWWA1&.
27 Nc3-a4
elegantcombination.Otherwiseonly the simple27 Ra3
An exceedingly
i . ,e .2 7 R a 3R x b 6 2 8 R h 1 - a 1 N a 5 - c 42t 7 B x c 4 R x a 3
h a dt o b e c o n s i d e r e d
30 Rxa3 (Bxd5would simplifytoo much and resultin a draw due to the op'
oositecolor bishops)30...d5xc431 Ra3-a8tand after 31...8e8 32 Ba3 Rb3
the specificcombinationalreasonfor the
Whitehaslessthan nothing, Besides
text move,there is alsothe intentionof makingit asdifficult aspossiblefor
theopponentto win backthe sacrificedmaterialwithout howeverinsisting
too stronglyon holdingon to that materialto the end.
Bd7xa4
27 ....
Rb8xb6
2g Ralxa4
Na5-b3t
29 Bb2-c3l
WhatI had wishedfor! Also after the morecorrectmove29...Na5-c4t
30 Bxc4 Rxa4 31 Oxa4dxc 32 Oa4-a8lOf7-e8 33 OxeSNxeS 34 Rh1-a1
Whitewould standbetteralthoughin this caseBlackcould erecta firm blocka d e - w a l l odn5 .
Z . .%t8/fr}
' H
% 6 7
Diagram
2l
/Z.z
t"%t'%
'/&'t1.f,.
% ',l.f,
AlH
7
"ZW'&,har.ft'.
30 Oc2xb3!
, T h i ss a c r i f i c ep,r e p a r ebdy 2 7 N a 4 ,i s e n t i r e l yi n t h e m o d e r ns p i r i ti n t h e
oestmeaningof the word. (Comparethe noteto Black's31st move.)
Rb6xb3
30 ....
NfGeS
31 Ra4xaSl
And
quick
participation
of the other rook. All of the
now
one
expects
the
.
h e a v yp i e q qasg a i n stth e f r a i la n dp i n n e dk n i g h t .A t t h a t t i m e o n ec a l l e dt h a t :
29
28
\-
e l e g a npt l a y l H o w e v etrh i s b r u t a la p p r o a c d
h o e sn o t g o w i t h m y n a t u r ea, n d
b e s i d e si t,w o u l db e a b i g m i s t a k ei ,. e .3 2 R h1 - a 1 ?
Q I 7 . c 7 !3 3 R x e 8 l K f 7 ,
a n dW h i t eh a ss p e n th i m s e laf n ds h e d tse a r so f r e p e n t e n c eN. o , t h e R a l r sn o r
in a hurry "to take part", on the contrary.with a tired gesturelike someone
bored,it permitsbanishment,
in other words: it staysin the background.
32 Be2-d1t!
T h e p o i n t :W h i t ed o e sn o t f e a rt h e a n s w e3r 2 . . . R b ' 1 ,
32....
Rb3xc3!
And againthe talentedAmericanmasterfindsthe strongestmove. After
R b ' lw o u l df o l l o w3 3 8 a 4 R x h i 3 4 B x e S !( s t r o n g ebry a w h o l et e m p ot h a n
R x e S t ) .a n do n t h e o t h e rh a n dt h e r e t r e a3t 2 . . . R b 6w o u l db e i n s u f f i c i e nbte .
causeof 33 Ba4 Re6 34 Rb1 (onty now the rook appears)
096! 35 Rbg Oqt
3 6 B x N O x f 2 t 3 7 K c 1 ,t h e k i n gi s s a f ea n dW h i t ew i n s .
D o e s n 'tth e l a t ep a r t i c i p a t i oonf t h e m a i na c t o r ,R h 1 ,r e m i n du so f h o w
the "hero" of a dramais usually"jntroduced":first comesan old servantwho
tellsa story.then two other "characters"steponto the stageand makeus cur_
iousaboutthe "hero", and at last"he" appearsin person- and becomesthe
centeo
r f a l lh a p p e n i n g s .
33 Kd2xc3
Qf7-c7t
34 Kcgd2
Ke8-f7
Now a positionhasbeenreachedwhich canonly be won throughattackin
the classical
style. The old picture:at first positionaladvantages
arewon by
modernplay,then theseadvantages
are utllizedthroughold-fashioned,
ctass.
cal chess!
35 Be2-hst
36 Rhl-a1!
s7's6
Classical
is the watchword,the rook becomestouqh.
36....
Oc7-b6
37 Bh5-e2
Kt7-s7
38 Kd2-e1!
Neg-c7
39 Ra8-a5
Kg7-h6
40 Ke1-f1
Whata differencel In the first - modern- part of the gameWhitewas
c o n c e r n ewdi t h e v e r y t h i negl s eb u t t h e s a f e t yo f h i sk i n g ,b u t h e r et h e j u s t
m e n t i o n em
d o t i f f o r m st h e m a i ni n c e n t i voef a l l t h e a c t i o n !
40 ....
obeb3
41 h4h5!
N o w t h e p l a nb e c o m ecsl e a ra; f t e rh 5 x g 6h 7 x g 6t h e B l a c kk i n gw i l l b e a t tractivelyembraced- oncefrom the h file and oncefrom the 7th rank.
S h o u l dt h e r eb e a d i s t r a c t i nagt t a c kb y t h e q u e e n( i . e . O
, b 2a f t e rK g 2 )t h e
d o u b l e dr o o k sw i l l a l s oh a v ea w o r d t o s a v( R a 5 - a 2 ) ,
T h er e s o u r caerseb e i n g
mobilized.
42 Ras-ao
43 h5xs6
44 Rada2l
30
Nc7-e8
ob3b2
h7xg6
Seethe note to White's41st move
ab2-b7
44 ....
Ab7'b2
45 Ra2-a7
46 Kfl-92
T h e k i n gd e c l i n etsh e h e l po f h i sr o o k s ;h e d o e s n 'nt e e dt h e ma n y m o r e .
Ne8-f6
46....
N{6h5
4 7 R a l - h1 t
zl8 Be2xh5
g6xh5
has
a
even
Black
Pawn.
Passed
Now
49 Rhl-a1!
T h e t h e m eo { t h e r e t u r n l B l a c kr e s i g n s
pawnsasa
I giveherea lesserknown gamein which both sideshavepassed
master
Danish
game
the
outstanding
played
against
this
turtherexample. I
1923
tournament.
the
Copenhagen
at
Mdreller
No.3
Black:lvldeller
White:N imzowitsch
't
t7-15
d2-d4
Ns8-f6
2 c2"c4
d7-d6
3 Nbl'c3
As wasshownin my articlein the JanuaryissueoI Kagan'sNeuesteSchach'
by Krauseand myself,is perfectlyplay'
this move,discovered
nachrichten,
(This
Two.)
Appendix
article appearsin
able.
Nb8'c6
4 Ngl-f3
h7-h6
5 Bcl-t4
NfGs4
6 h2-h4
T h r e a t e n i neg7 - e 5w i t h c o m p l e t el i b e r a t i o n .
NcGeS
7 d+ds
Preferable
wasthe combinationale7'e5. Seethe abovementionedarticle
(Appendix Two).
8 Bf4xe5
e2-e4at oncewasmorecorrect.
d6xe5
8 ....
e7'e6
9 e2"e4
10 Ni3-h2
Somethinghasto be doneagainstBc5.
Od8xh4
10 ....
11 Nh2xg4l
A s o u n ds a c r i f i coef t h e e x c h a n g eA. f t e r O x h l t h e r e{ o l l o w sN x e 5w i t h a
verystrongattack.
Oh4xg4
11 ....
Bf&e7
12 Od1'b3
13 c4c5
T h e m o b i l es u p e r i otrV l
0'0
13 ....
14 d5xe6
31
G e n e r a l loyn eh a st o t h i n k t w i c eb e f o r eo n ed e c i d etso c h a n g a
e "mobile
pawnbecause
majority" into a stoppedpassed
that would meangivingup
d r e a mo
s f t h e f u t u r ei n f a v o ro f a n o i d a g ep e n s i o n I. t h o w e v etrh e m a i n t e .
n a n c eo f t h e b l o c k a d b
e y t h e o p p o n e nst h o u l dr e q u i r em a n yp i e c e sa,n d i f
there is a possibilityof awakening
to new life the "sleepingbeauty" {the passpawn),
ed
then the heroicattemptmay be justified. And so it is here.
14 ....
f4xe4
15 Nc3d5
Og'1-95
16 Oble3
B e t t e rs e e mtso b e 1 6 N x c TR b g 1 7 B c 4 .
16....
Bc8xe6!
An excellentsacrificeof the exchange
throughwhich Blackgetsvaried
p l a y i n gc h a n c ews i t h t h e t w o b i s h o p s .
17 Oe3xg5
Be7x95
18 Nd5xc7
BeefT
19 Nc7xa8
Rf8xa8
20 Btl-b5
Ra8-c8
21 t 2-b4
Diavam22
t//Z '7'
% % %A ,
9Lfl /L
'rfl
zt %
7' 7z'/&.ft
2
% 7/,
Whitehasthe majorityon the queen'swing,but difficultiesin developing
t h e k i n gr o o k b e c a u scea s t l i n g
i n a n e n d i n gw o u l db e b a d . B u t n o w t h i n g sg e t
livelybecause
Blacktriesto stopthe majorityonceand for all.
21 ....
b7-b6
22 Bds-d7l
Rc8-c7
23 c$c6
bAbs
24 Rhl-h3
e4e3!
25 a2-a4
BlackthreatenedBd5, i.e..25 fxe? Bd5 26 Rc1 Bxg2.
25 -...
b5xa4
26 Ra1xa4
Bf7-c4
27 l2xe3
Bc4b5
28 Ra$a2
Bg5-e7
29 Ra2-c2
The c-pawnis the morevaluableof the two, so the b-pawnmust die.
29....
BeTxb4t
30 Ke1-f2
Bb5-d3
32
al'as
31 Rc2'b2
pawn,which has
passed
the
still
have
White
has
cleared.
situation
The
of assailing
possibility
whatsoever
has
no
l,,enstopped,andWhiteapparentlV
p a s s epda w n( t o s p e a kl i k e L a s k e ri)s t i l l e d
B
l
a
c
k
t
h
e
w
h
i
l
e
frJoto.nua.r,
" obilitY.
. - i r h" t h r e a t e n i n gm
l(98'f7
32 Rhlh5
Bdls6
33 g2-g4
I
Diagram23
7z.t
,,.
A
,
7
7t
/.Pr
7.2.
34 Rh5xe5!
the Whiteking
the exchangebecause
A deepcombination:Whitesacrlfices
own rook can
and
his
e'pawn
his
with
connection
in
and
center
invade
the
can
lift the blockade.
34 ....
35 Rb2-b5
36 Rbsxes
37 Kt2-13
38 e3e4
39 Re5-b5
Bb4-c3
Bc3xe5
a5-a4
Bgec2
Bc2-b3
"strongrook" blockader,preparedfrom all
Unveilingthe assaulton the
"unhappy
"tasks"
asfollows:the Rb5 attacksthe
sides.The
areassigned
one" from the rear(throughRb7). Of coursethe Blackking hurriesto his aid
andcan protectthe attackedRc7 eitherfrom d6 or d8 ln the first case,the
checkfrom the pawnon e4 (e4'e5t) is decisive.but iJ the king takesthe more
modestpositionon d8, hisWhite counterpartwill advancethroughf4, e5 to
d6 and the blockaderis dead.
Kt7'e7
39 ..'.
Ke7-d8
40 Rb5-b7
lG8-e7
41 Rb7-bgt
Rc7xd7
42 Kttt4
W h i t et h r e a t e n eK
, d6
d e S ,R b 7 { . . . K d 8 )K
Bb3e6
43 Rb8-b7l
Be6xd7
44 c'xdT
45 Kf4-e5
A f t e r r h e s u c c e s s tautlt a c kt h e b e n e f i c i ar el s t !
Ke7-e8
45 ....
Bd7xg4
46 Ke5'd6
33
hGhS
47 Rb7xg7
a4a3
48 e+es
49 ete6
The threeassailants
havecometo high honors,and the little pawntoo is
aboutto be promotedto becomea majorpiece. But Blackd;d not wait for
theseeventsto unfold and thereforeresigned.
conductedattackagainst
A beautifulgame,and throughthe harmoniously
the blockaderc7 alsovery instructive.
MasterTournamentof 1923 | playeda game
Also ln the Copenhagen
pawnoughtto be interesting
againstSemisch,in which the fate of my passed
of my style,it
in the spiritof our subject.As the gameis alsocharacteristic
herefor the benefitand enjoymentof my friendly readers.
may be presented
No.4
White: N imzowitsch
B l a c k :S e m i s c h
1 d2.d4
2 c2-c4
Ns5-f6
e7-e6
b7.b6
the ideaof renouncing
the establishment
of a mate.
This openingpresents
c e n t e ri n o r d e rt o b e s a t i s f i ew
d i t h a k i n d o f d o m i n a n c(et h u s
r i a l l yt a n g i b l e
y n a l y z e idt i n 1 9 1 1a n d
t h e i d e ao f i n f l u e n c e )I. i n v e n t e ad n dt h o r o u g h l a
r g9 1 3M a s t eTr o u r n a m e nI te m p l o y e dm y i n n o v a t i o n
1912.In the Petersbu1
againstGregoryfor the first time. This qameof mine againstGregorymust be
considered
the archetypeand I asthe inventorof the opening1 d4 Nf6 2 c4
e6 without the follow-upd7-d5.
12 ....
13 d4d5
The birth of the passedpawn,
c7-c5
13....
b6b5
which howeveris taken noticeof by Blackwithout a signof concern.On
the contrary,he is gettingrough!
14 Oa4-b3
Temptingherewasthe sacrificeof the exchange14 OxbS Ba6 15 Ob3
"advanB x f l 1 6 K x f l b u t a f t e r1 6 . . . 8 f 61 7 N c 4e x d 1 8 e x d N d 7 t h e W h i t e
quite
convincing.
ls
it reallynecessary
to celebrate
so
tage"doesnot appear
pawn?
wildly the birth of a passed
14 ""
e6xd5
15 e4xd5
Be7-d6
The blockaderreportsto his post.
16 Bc1-f4!
with the offer of a sacrifice.
His counterpart.who emerges
3 Nsl-f3
4 s2-s3
This is the antidoterecommended
by Rubinsteinsometime ago. lt is howeverfairly innocuousasshownin the gameSamisch- Nimzowitschwhich
f o l l o w s( N o .9 ) .
4 ....
Bc8-b7
5 Bfl-s2
Bf8-e7
6 0-0
7 Nbl-c3
s0
d7-d5
Od8"c8
I ltlfSe5
Not good, Much betterwasmy movec7-c6as in the abovecited qame.
9 c4xd5
Nf6xd5
10 Nc3xd5
8b7xd5
11 e2-e4
This movecannotbe bad,howeverpreferable
seemsto me 11 Bxds exd
12 Be3;after 12...4e1Ito protectd5 and thus makepossiblec7.c5)would
f o l l o w 1 3 N d 3 N d 7 1 4 R a c l a n dB l a c ki s w e a ko n t h e c f i l e a n dw i l l m i s s
t h e q u e e nb i s h o pp a i n f u l l yw, h i l et h e W h i t ek i n gc a nr a t h e rg e ta l o n gw i t h o u i
t h e b i s h o po n 9 2 . H o w e v ear f t e r1 4 . . . 8 d 6t h e s i t u a t i o ni s n ' tc l e a ri n a n yw a V .
11 ....
Bd5.b7
12 ad1-a4
Lookssomewhatartificial. l\4anywould havepfeferredBe3 here.
34
'72r,
A
IL
Diagram24
'ry
t\Y_),
%
%
16 ....
Oc8-c7
After 97-95the intendedsequence
would havebeen17 NxfT Bxf4 18
N h 6 t ! K g 7 l 9 g x f K x h 6 2 0 f x g S t . I n d e e dB l a c kw o u l dt h e n b e i n d i r e
straitsbecause
if after fxgst he capturesthe pawn he will be in a matingnet
after Kh1 and Rg1. lf however{afterf4xg51)the king retreatsto 97,White
woulddecidethe gamewith 17 Oc31 Kg8 18 Bh3 and Be6or (insteadof
Bh3) positionallyby Re1and f2-f4. The pawnmassin connectionwith the
e file {squaree6) would be of decisiveimportance.
17 Ne5-d3
Againa combinationalmove. The fork c5-c4would not leadto anything
a f t e r1 8 B x d 6O x d 6 1 9 O x b 5 B a 6 2 0 O c 5 !
17....
a7-a6
'18 a2-a4l
Oneof the most difficult moves! Not only on accountof the basiccombin a t l o nc + c 4 1 9 O a 3 l !w h i c hw a sp l a y e dh e r e b
, u t a l s ob e c a u steh e o p e n i n g
of the a file servesa positionalpurposewhich is still very much hidden.
18 ....
c5-c4
19 Ob3-a3!
Bd6xl4
20 Nd3xf4
35
T h r o u g hp e c u i a icr o m b i n a t j o nI sh a v es u c c e e d ei nd e l i m i n a t i ntgh e b l o c k .
a d e rf r o m d 6 . T h e n e x tb l o c k a d ei rst h e k n i g h to n d 7 , a n dh e w i l l t u r n o L r tt o
b e a t o u g hg u y .
Nb8-d7
20 ....
a6xb5
21 a4xb5
22 Qa3'e7
g,A'Wt .L
'2
D i a g r a m2 5
'z "/a/l
t 7,,n727z
7zt./z *) /.*.
32 Nb5-d6
Not of materialof coursebut Whitesacrifices
ice!
sacrif
beautiful
A very
h ; <s"
a d v a n t a goen t h e 7 t h r a n k '
nl)
Nc6xa7
Z2 ,.,.
33 Nd6xe8
for White
The
' endingwith knightsis lavorable
Nc7'b5
33 ....
Ks8-s7
Ne8-f6t
34
35 NfGds
for the White king'
that squareshallremainreserved
'Not to e4 because
t7-t6
35 ....
g
alv.
7z%
',tu
/4t
s
7Z
Tl
26
Diagram
The positionthus reachedpresents
the explanationasto why Whitesoughl
the openingot the a filer everythingwasdonesolelywith regardto the passed
pawn. The situationis that the queenwould like to be firmly postedon e7 be.
fore d5-d6is played. Howeverwith a closeda file the queencouldn'tremain
therelongbecause
ReBwould chaseher awayat once. The situationis entirely differentwith an opena file. After 22...Ra-e823 Ob4 would follow, and
Whiteobtainsby Ra5 (afterQb6) play on the a file. And thus Blackmust
tal(eother measures.
22....
23 d5.d6
24 Kg1xgz
2 5 R f 1 . d1
Oc7-d8
Bb7xs2
Nd7-f6
The "darling" wantsto be protectedand supported.
25....
Ra8xal
2 6 R d1 x a 1
Od8xe7
27 d,6xe7
Nowhehasadvanced.
White'slaboris rewarded.
27 ""
Ri8-e8
28 Ra'l-a7
Now White'sadvantage
is clear.
2A .,..
s7-s5
29 N14-e2
Nt6d5
30 Ne2-d4
Nd5xe7
A deathcreatesgrief. Howeverthereare many raysof light presentbecause
after
31 Nd4xb5
W h i t eh a ss u p e r i o r i tbye c a u soef t h e d o m i n a t i o o
n f t h e 7 t h r a n ka n dt h e
exposedpawnon c4,
31 ....
Ne7"co
36
i :
t
a,/6
t/
, / , / t
r
t
36 Kg2-f3
37 Nd5-c3!
38 Kf3e4
39 Ke4d5
position
is decisive.
The White king
€
Kg7'17
Nb5'd4t
Nd4b3
Nb3d2
fFf5
40 hz'h3
Kf7-{6
41 Ncldl
Nd2-e4
42 ltld1'e3
Ne4xt2
43 Ne3xc4
44 b2'b4
d y k n i g h ta n dk i n g l t w i l l w r n
T h i sp a s s epda w ni s s p l e n d i d lsyu p p o r t e b
the race.
KfGeT
44....
The "blockadedagger"in camouflage!
Ke7-d7
45 b4b5
Nf2-e4
46 b5'b6
Kd7-c8
47 Nc4-e5t
Nezl-f6
48 Kd5'c6
49 Ne5'd3!
D e s t i n a t i o nc :5 .
NfGdT
49....
Kc8'd8
50 bGbTt
is the onlv piececontrol"
Nd7
the
Now
attemptat blockade.
Unsuccessful
37
lingb8.
51
52
53
54
Kc6do
Nd3-b4!
Nb4c61
KdGcT
Nd7-b8
Nb8-d7
Kd8-e8
Resigns
B e c a L rN
s ee 5i s f a t a l .
T h e f i r s tp a s s epda w nh a da c a r e erri c hw i t h d r a m a t i c o n f l i c t s( h i sa d v a n c e
t o d 6 w a sm a d ep o s s i b lbey v a r i o u o
s f f e r so l s a c r i f i c easn da l s ot h r o u g ht h e
m o v e m e notf t h e d p a w nt o e 7 ) . T h i sw a sa c c o m p l i s h eb dy e x t r a o r d i n a reyf .
f o r t s( t h es e e m i n g luyn m o t i v a t eodp e n i n go f t h e a f i l e ) . T h e nt h i sp a s s e d
pawndied by the handof an "assassin",
but out of its ashesa new passed
pawnemerged- on the b file - which advanced
with irresistable
energy.
P e r s o n a ltlhy e g a m ei s c h a r a c t e r i s w
t i ci t h a m i x t u r eo f i m a g i n a t i oann ds v s .
t e m a t i cp l a n n i n tgy p i c a o
l f m y s t y l e ,a n d i t e x c e l si n a k n i g h te n d i n gp l a y e d
i n t h e c l a s s i c satl y l e ,
T o c l o s et h e " p a s s e pd a w n "c h a p t e lr' l l g i v em y g a m ea g a i n sSt p i e l m a n n
f r o m t h e S t o c k h o l ml \ , 4 a s tTeor u r n a m e n1t 9 2 0i R e s u l t :l . B o g o l j u b o1v 2 1 l , ;
l l . N i m z o w i t s c1h2 ; l l l . O l s o n8 ; l V . S p i e l m a n6nl l , jt h e r ef o l l o w e dW e n d e t .
J a c o b s o nN.V h o l mS
, v a n b e r gT
. )h e g a m er e p r e s e nat sd i f f i c u l tp o s i t i o n a l
strugglefor minuteadvantages.
pawnonly appearslater. l-tow.
and the passed
e v e rt h e m e t h o do f s t o p p i n S
g p i e l m a n s' se e m i n g luyn s t o p p a b pl ea s s epda w n
m a k e st h i sg a m ea v e r y i n s t r u c t i veex a m p l el n t h e s p i r i to f o u r s u b j e c t .
No.5
W h i t e :N i m z o w i t s c h
B l a c k :S p i el m a n n
1e2-e4
e7-e6
2 d2.d4
d7.d5
3 e4e5
c7-c5
4 Ns1.l3
Nb8.c6
5 c2-c3
Od8-b6
6 Bfl-e2
c5xd4
l f t h i se a r l yl i q u i d a t i oonf t h e W h i t ec e n t e r( t h ep a w nc 3 d i s a p p e aar sg a i n s t
the pawnc5) is lhe bestmove,then the Blackpositionmust be characterized
y d 7i sp l a y a b l e .
a sw e a k . P r o b a b l B
7 c3xd4
N98'h6
8 Nb 1 - c 3
NhGfS
9 Nc3a4
C o m b i n a t i o n aG
l , o o de n o u g hi s B b 5 .
9....
QbGa5t
1O Bc1-d2
Bf8.b4
11 Bd2-c3
Characteristic
of this kind of attackis the fact that evenNc3 would have
s a f e g u a r dt h
ee
d p a w n si ,. e .1 1 N c 3 N x d 4 1 2 N x d 4N x d 4 1 3 a 3 N x e 2 1 4 a x b
N x c 3 1 5 B x c 3o r R x a 5a n da d r a w i s p r o b a b l teh r o u g ho p p o s i t e
c o l o rb i s n o p s
and postinga pieceon d4.
11 ....
Bc8-d7
38
1 3 a 3 ! )1 3 8 b 5 0 - 0 1 4 B x c 6 Q x b 2
O r 1 1 . . . 8 x c 3112 N x c 3 O b 6 ( O b 4 ?
o
f c 5 ( s q u a r ce5 i s w o r t h a t l e a sat s
O
d
2
a
n
d
o
c
c
u
p
a
t
i
o
n
O
b
4
t
1
6
lb Na4
h
e
r
e
)
,
a
a
s
P
a
w
n
much
Bb4xc3f
12 a2'a3
h7-h5
13 Na4xc3
Ra8'c8
14 0'0
Oa5'd8
15 Od1-d2
T o f o l l o wu p w i t h 9 7 ' q 5 .
l',lcGas
16 h2-h3!
'19
g
2
'
g
4
,
i
.
e
.
1
7
.
.
. h 5 x 9 41 8 h 3 x g 4N h 4
o
f
1
7
f
a
i
l
s
b
e
c
a
u
s
e
N o w9 7 ' 9 6
or White.
N x h 4R x h 4 2 0 K g 2w i t h 2 ' 1R h l a n da d v a n t a gf e
Od8'b6
17 Ral'd1
18 Rfl-e1
the pointsd4
overprotects
how
Whitesystematically
observe
should
One
" l m p o r t a n ts t r a t e a n de v e ne 5 a c c o r d i ntgo t h e r u l ew h i c h I e x p r e s s et hd u s :
gicalpointsmust be overprotected."
Na5'c4
18 ....
Rc8xc4
19 Be7xc4
20 Nc3-e2
T o e x c h a n gteh e s t r o n gk n i g h to n f 5 t h r o u g hN 9 3
Bd7-a4
20....
Ba4-b3
21 Rd1-c'l
Bb3xc4
22 Rc1xc4
Nf+e7
23 Ne2-93
Ne7-s6
24 h3.h4l
25 Ns3-f1
; e 3i s i n t e n d e d .
N o w t h e c a v a l r yw i l l g o a g a i n st th e s t e r i l eb i s h o pN
Bc4xl1
25....
NgGeT
26 Re1xf1
GO
27 R11-c1
t v e r y t h i n gI.n
S p i e l m a ndne c i d etso c a s t l ea n y w a ys i n c eN f 5 w i l l p r o t e c e
t f a l l h i sm a n e u v e -r sW h i t eh a sc o n q u e r etdh e
t h e m e a n t i m -e a sa r e s u l o
c file.
Ne7-f5
2A b2.b4
ObOa6
29 Rcl-c5
Oa&e2
30 Od2-c3
W i t h g r e a st k i l lS p i e l m a nhna ss u c c e e d ei nd o b t a i n i n cg o u n t e r c h a n c e s
t h r o u g hh i si n v a s i o inn t ot h e W h i t ec a m p ,p r i m a r i l yb y t a k i n ga d v a n t a goef
the weakness
on b2 and lateron a3.
2 7 a t t h e t o p o f t h e n e x tp a g e )
l S e eD i a g r a m
31 Oc3-c2!!
o n t h i sq u e e ns a c r i f i c e .
A f t e r l o n gd e l i b e r a t i oW
n h i t ed e c i d e d
Nf5xd4
31 ....
32 Qc2xe2
W r o n gw o u l db e 3 2 N x d 4O e l t 3 3 N h 2 O x e s t
Nd4xe2t
32 ....
39
'E&',"
:,/.' I 'l/.2:,1L,
t',/Z
Diagram27
',,
'//, ltt2
'Ht':fl.A/,tt
'..&
tfu. ,fl 7,/'
W /lD7/t
A f t e r3 0 . . . O e 2
7 ltg"tuA..t
33 Ks1-f1
Blackis a passedpawnahead.
34 Fc5-c7
Perhaps
b7-b6wasmore prudent.
Ne2-f4
b7.b5
35 s2-s3
Nt4d3
36 Kf1-e2
Nd3b2
37 Rc7xa7
This moverequireddeepforesight.Blackgetsthe c tile, howeverthe White
king is so "blockadeefficient" that the seeminglystronglysupportedd.pawn
very well.
cannotprogress
Rf&c8
37....
Rc8-c4
38 Nf3d4
39 Nd4xb5
d5-d4
O n 3 9 . . . R c 2 14 0 K f 1 N d 3 4 1 f 2 - f 4w o u l df o l l o w .
45 Ke2 g5xh4 46 g3xh4 Rg4xh4.
43 ....
95xh4
44 g3xh4
Rg4xh4
rts Rcl-bl
An elegantbackwardmovementof the rook a7,c7"c1,b1,
expeciallywhen
that the obligatorydrop of poisonisn't missingat all because
one considers
the positionof the rook on b'l givesthe pawnthe - lust to wander,
rts ....
Rh4h3t
46 Ketd2
On detours,one couldsaythat by tiring detoursthe White king hasreached
the blockadeposition.
Nb2-a4
47 b+bs
Na4-b6
48 Rbl.b4
48 a3-a4?Nxa4 49 b6 Nxb6 50 Rxb6 Rf3! etc.
48 .,..
Rh3f3
49 NdGc4
Deathto the blockader!
49....
Nb6d7
After 49...Nxc4 50Rxc4Rxf2t 51 Kxd3 Rf3t 52 Kc2 Rxa3,the b-pawn
would advancewithout beingstopped,i.e.53 RcSt Kg7 54 b5-b6Ra2t b5
Kc3 Ra3t 56 Kc4 Ra4 57 KbS and wrns.
50 bsb6
Nd7-c5
51 bAbT
Rf3xf2t
Please
observewith what finesseBlackmakesuseof his dying knjghtflgnr
up to its lastbreath, Now therecomesan excitingdancearoundthe pawnd3.
fr
2 7zt&
% 7.zrh
Diagram
28
a'4 /f,, 7.:,t
'','&.ErX
7; lA
% 7t i.tu
6 z&,&,
40 Aa7"c7
d4.d3t
41 Ke2-e3
Not to d2 because
of Re4.
41 ....
Rc+94
42 Rc7-c1
s7-s5
S p i e l m a ndno e s n ' rt e l a x !
43 Nb5_d6
4 3 R b 1w o u l dn o t b e a sg o o db e c a u soef 4 3 , . . N c 4 14 4 K x d 3 N x e S
40
D a i g r a m2 9
A t
tr4./
t
t
t/,
g E
52 Kd2-e3
53 Keld4
54 Kd4xd3!
l zt
z
Rf2-e2t
Nc5xb7
The point, but the win is still quite difficult because
the h-pawnsuddenly
becomes
dangerous,
54 ....
Re2-92
55 Rb4xb7
h5-h4
56 Nc.zl-e3
Rs2-95
57 Kd3,d4
h4h3
41
58 Rb7-b2
Rs5h5
59 Rb2.h2
17"t6
60 Ne3c4
Ks8"f7
6l aga4
H e r et h e g a m ew a sa d j o u r n eadn dS p i e l m a nrne s i g n ewdi t h o u tr e s u m i n g
p l a y . A f t e r 6 1 . . . K f 7 . 9 06 2 a 4 a 5 f 6 x e 5 t 6 3 K d 4 - c 5K g G f 5 6 4 a 5 - a 6R h $ h 7
6 5 K c 5 - b 6K f $ 9 4 t h e k n i g h tb y N e 3 t a n d N f 1 w i l l a r r i v ej u s t i n t i m e t o s u p _
port the blockaderon h2 effectively.
A n e x t r e m e l vy a l u a b lgea m e .
14 ....
Bc8-d7
15 b4-b5
Qd8-e7
16 0d1.d2!
The threatenedeGes is parriedby Od2, i.e. 16...e5?17 dxe OxcS 18 Bb4.
16 ....
Rf8-c8
17 a2-a4
Kg&h8
A f t e r 1 7 . . . e G ews o u l df o l l o w 1 8 d x eO x c s 1 9 B d 4 ( b l o c k a d ew) i t h a s u penorgame.
18 azl-as
The next two gameswill illustratea fight againsta majorityin the center.
Firsta more recentgamethat I playedin a matchagainstBrinckmannwhtch
lwon4-0.
No.6
P l a y e da t K o l d i n gD
, e n m a r k1 9 2 3
White: N imzowitsch
B l a c k :B r i n c k m a n n
1 d2"d4
d7.d5
2 Ns1-f3
c7-c5
3 c2-c4
e7-e6
4 e2-e3
Ns&f6
5 Nb1-c3
Nb8-c6
The normalpositionof the Oueen'sGambit,which I like to plav.
6 Bt1-e2
Bf&d6
Purists(= straightline pseudo-classicists)
willfeel that Be2 leavesthe
straightpath (Bd3). But that isn't the casebecause
Be2fits betterthan Bd3
in somepawnpositjonsarisingout of laterpawnexchanges,
i.e.when d5 becomesisolated.
7 0.o
o0
I b2-b3
c5xd4
Heretoo the puristwould not be ableto concealany longerhis discontent
that b7-b6woutd be better. But after g...b6 9 Bb2 Bb7 10 c4xd5 exd l l
dxc bxc, the hangingpawnsc5 and db are not to everybody's
taste,although
Tarraschwon a - let'ssay- spendidvictory.
in Petersburg
9 e3xd4
Nf6e4
Not bad at all; this way the absence
of the bishopon d3 is beingexplorred.
10 Bc1"b2
Ne4XCJ
11 Bb2xc3
NcdeT
But hereb7-b6wasbetter.
I z ct+c5
BdGcT
13 b3b4
T h e q u e e ns i d em a i o r i t yt o w h i c hB l a c kw o u l dl i k et o c o u n t e w
r i t h t h ec e n ter malority.
13....
Ne7-96
14 Rfl-el
.
O n ec a l l st h i sa f i n e r o o k m o v e ,u n a s s u m i nagn dv e r s a t i l e. 1
:d
irected
a_
g a i n set G e 5 2
, . c o n s e r v i nt h
g e B e 2a g a i n sNt f 4 ( 1 4 . . . N f 41 5 B f l ) .
42
aH.t/&
A,
Diagram
30
z +,%t"'ua
% %
]I
2 ',x(
7t
18....
From hereon e6-e5is a constantthreat,
19 a5-a6
t7.t6
b7-b6
Bd7-e8
pawn.
White hasconvertedhis mobilemajority into a protectedpassed
Howeverthis one hasbeenstoppedand at presentWhite hasno realtargetin
the enemvcamp. D id the conversion
of the majorityperhapsproceedtoo
q ui c kl y?
21 Be2-t1
Be&17
22 h2-h4
Bc7-d6
23 S2-53
Ae7-c7
24 BI'l-h3
Rc&e8
25 Rel-e3!
Whitehaspreventedthe breakthroughin a fine, combinational
way; if now
25...e&e5then 26 hb Nf8 27 dxe lxe 28 Rael d4 29 Nxd4 exd 30 Oxd4
a n dW i n s .
25 ....
NgefS
26 Rae1
Re8-e7
27 Bc?b4!
Ra8-e8
28 Qd2-c3t,
W i t h t h e i n t e n t i o no f p l a y i n gO a 3a n dt h u sf o r c i n gB l a c kt o p l a y B x b 4 ,
t h u sg a i n i n g
domination
o f t h e d i a g o n aal 3 - e 7 .
20 c5-c6
28....
Bd6xb4
29 Oc3xb4
Kh8-gB
e6-e5wasimpossible
due to the x-rayattackb4-f8.i,e.29...e5 30 dxe fxe
3 1 N x e 5B x e S 3 2 R x e 5R x e 5 3 3 O x f Sm a r e .
43
Bh3.f5
&
.eatl
,t t7:;t"lfr
t 2 '.&,
t %a%
%
'Eia'r,tu
7z
,l&
Diagram
31
i.r'4,
,gt
I
/&trz,
t)L
D iagram32
t'%ztt
'/&%
/&
7z
% %a
%72
After 43 Oa3
% % t & :
30....
Bf7-96
Blackhasdefendedwell but now he hadto play eGebwith probableequalItV.
31 Bf5xs6
Nf8xg6
32 h4h5
NsGfS
33 Nf3-h4!
Now e6-e5would be answered
by Nfs.
33 ....
Ks8-f7
34 Ks1-92
Suchlittle movescharacterize
the master.Whiteassumes
therewill be an
eventualopeningof the h file. and in that casehe wantsto be readvtor battle
(Rel-hl).
34....
97-96
Correst;it wasin the air.
35 h5xg6
h7xg6
36 12-14
Only now the Blackpawnmajority (in the center)appearsto be paralized.
36
Oc7-d8
37 Nh4f3
Od&c7
38 R e ' l - h 1
Kf7-98
39 R e S e l
6e t-n I
40 R h1 x h 7
NfgxhT
41 Rel-hl
N h7.f8
Rh 1-h6
To jnduceKg7 which would makethe plannedoppositionbV Reg-e7-h7
m o r ed i f f i c u l t ,i . e . 4 2 . . . K g 74 3 R h 2w i t h e v e n t u adlo u b t i n g
o n t h e h f i l e ,p e r hapsafter Od2 and g394-95.
42....
Re&e7
43 Ob&a3
(SeeDiagram32 at the top of the next page)
The way to victory ;s very interesting.lt climaxeswith a knight sacrifice
o n . . . b 6 ! T h e p r o c e d u ries a sf o l l o w s W
: h i t ep l a y st h e q u e e nt h r o u g hc 1 t o
h1. But beforethat he brings93 to 95 forcibly creatinga holeon eb. There4A
aiterWhite caneitherforcethe exchangeof rooksor the exchangeof queens,
i.e.43 Oa3 Od8 44 Oc1 Oc7 45 g4 Od6 46 95 f5. The positionthus arrived
the White knightwill moveto a4,
at can be easilywon without queensbecause
WhitemovesRhl-a1 at the lastmoment(the Blackking is heldtied down on
and the intendedknight sacrificeon b6 de'
the king wing as longas possible),
Black
queenswithout rooks(because
with
plan
even
easier
works
cides.The
the
at
Rh7)
and
then
through
rooks
of
exchanging
has
the
capability
always
thus:
right momentthe queenwill enter. The actualgameproceeded
Re7-97
quicklv.
finished
him
off
White
AJterthls move
Kg8xh8
44 Rh&h8t
Kh&h7
45 Oa3xfSt
Ac7-e7
46 Of8xf6
Kh7-h8
47 Nf3g5t
After Kg8follows48 Oxe6t Oxe6 49 Nxe6 Rg8 50 Nc7.
zltl Of&e5
Ae7'c7
Ac7'e7
49 Oe5xe6
Resigns.
50 Oe6h3t
follows:51 OcSt Of8 52 OxfSf Kxf8 53
After KgBa generalexchange
Ne6t, after which the c-pawnbecomesa queen.
that the procedureoutlinedin the note to move43 (93'94-95
lf we assume
then we candescribethe gradualparalyto forcef6f5) had actuallyhappened,
sisof eOor of the majority in the centerasan instructiveexampleof a fight
againsta centermajority.
operativesquareb6
combinationon the paradoxically
The breakthrough
marksthis gameasan extraordinaryaccomplishment
Now for a gamefrom an earlierdatewhich howeverappearsremarkablebe'
causeit is the prototypeof a variationwhich wasbelievedto be deadbut
which I revivedto a new life. Not withstandingthe variation,the gamerepresentsunchartedterritory insofaras herefor the first time it will be shown- that it is not essential
whetherone
and latercopiedbv the other l\,4oderns
pawns
pawns
has
in the center,the primaryobjectis the dominationof
or no
the center,which meansthe hamperingof the enemycenterwith a blockade
t o f o l l o wa sa c l i m a x .
45
N o .7
KarlsbadTouroament1 9 11
W h i t e :N i m z o wt s c h
Black:Salu,,l
1 e2-e4
2 d2.d4
3 e4-e5
e7-e6
d7d5
U p u n t i l t h e n b e l i e v e dt o b e a b s o t u t e l yu n p l a y a b l e .I w a s l a t e r t o l d S a l w e
s a i da f t e r e 4 e 5 t h a t I m u s t h a v et h o u g h t I w a s p l a y i n ga g a m ea t r o o k o d d s l l
4 c2-c3
E l \ l^ 1 - + ?
6 Bfr-d3
firstby c5xd4.
It wasbetterto exchange
c7-c5
Nb8-c6
od8-b6
Bc8-d7
7 d4xc5
Bf8xc5
8 0-0
17.r6
B l a c ki s a b o u t o e l i m i n a t h
e i so p p o n e n t 'cse n t e rp a w n so n ea f t e rt h e o t h e r ,
but this canbe of advantage
to him only if he could therebysecurethe mobil.
ity of his own center,but aswe shallsoonseetherewill be plentyof counter.
actionagainstthat.
I b2-b4
Bc5-e7
f6xe5
10 Bc1-f4
11 Nf3xe5
Nc6xe5
'12
Bl4xe6
Ng&i6
T h e p o i n t i s t h a t t h e a t t e m p t o n e u t r a l i zteh e b l o c k a d i nBg e sb y B f 6
w o u l df a i l d u et o t h e c h e c ko n h 5 , i . e .1 2 . . - B f 61 3 O h s t 9 6 ? 1 4 B x g 6 1h x g
'l5Oxg6t
K e 7 1 6 B x f 6 t N x f 6 1 7 O g 7 t . B u t a f t e r1 2 . . . N f 6 t h e" b l o c k a d e
ring" remainsintactso far.
1 3 Nb l . d 2
0-0
t7z..A 'r.f,.
tx
W 7 r'taarr&
D i a g r a m3 3
7Z
%t
ltfu "/7.27z
+ d
z z
.a 'fut
7t'//,:'8
B u t h o w e a s i l yt h i sr i n gc o u l db e b r o k e na t t h e s l i g h t e sr te l a x a t i obny
W h i t e ;i . e .1 4 O c 2 N g 4 ! 1 5 B x h T t K h 8 1 6 B d 4O c 7 1 7 9 3 e 5 . T o u n d e r .
standthe positionwe must realizethat freedomto maneuveris necessary
for
t h e b l o c k a d ae sw e l l3 sf o r e v e r yo t h e ra c h i e v e m e nFt .r e e d o m
to maneuver
hereconsistsof the squares
d4 and e5, which WhitecanoccupVwtth pieces,
a n do f t h e s q u a r ecs2 a n de 2 f r o m w h i c ht h e q u e e nc a no p e r a t e T
. h et r i c k
n o w i s t o m a k eu s eo f t h e s ep o i n t se c o n o m i c a l l y
14 Nd2-f3!
and
P r e v e n tBsb 5 b e c a u steh e nw o u l df o l l o w 1 5 B d 4O a 6 1 6 B x b s O x b S
t h e P e 6f a l l s .
Be7-d6
14 ....
15 Odl-e2
e 2 a n dc 2 a n ye a r l i etrh a na b s o '
ne t w e e n
W h i t ed i d n o t m a k eh i sd e c i s i o b
This is what wasmeantby economicaluseof thesesquares.
lutely necessary.
Ra8-c8
tc _.._
16 Be5-d4
the blockade
J u s t ; n t ; m e b e c a u s en o w N e b w i l l h e l p t o i n c r e a s e
ObGcT
to....
Bd7-e8
17 Nf3e5
Bd6xe5
18 Ra'l'e1
19 Bd4xe5
T h e d a r ks q u a r eb i s h o pd o m i n a t e s .
Oc7-cG
19 ....
20 Be5'd4!
To forcethe bishop,which waseyeingboth sidesof the board,to makea
decision.
Be&d7
20....
2'l Aez'czl
A c l e a r i nm
g o v ef o r t h e R e 1a n da t t h e s a m et i m e a i m i n gd e c i s i v e layt h 7 .
Rf8-f7
21 ....
b7-b6
22 Re1-e3
Kg8'h8
23 Re3'93
7.2.A'////E"t&
tg
Diagram34
ta
t
A
I A
"/t87t
T
E
tfu.t
eGe5
24 Bd3xh7l
O n 2 4 . . . N x h 72 5 0 9 6 v t i n s .
Rt7-e7
25 Bh7'g6
QcGd6
26 Rf1'el
d5d4
27 Bd4'e3
28 Be3g5
the pau/ndeficitand the
The free centerdoesn'tmeanmuch herebecause
for.
two bishopscannotbe compensated
HCT'XCJ
Rg3xc3
Oc2xc3
a2-a3
Bs5-h4
BsGf5
d4xc3
Kh8-98
Ks8-f8
Bd7-e8
od6d4
34 Oc3xd4
35 Re1xe7
36 Bf5-d3
e5xd4
KfBxeT
36....
37 Bh4x{6
38 Ksl-f1
39 h2-h4
Ke7-d6
g7xf6
Be8"c6
Resigns.
29
30
31
32
33
B93wasthreatened.
T h eb l o c k a d e !
ln the sametournamenta few roundslaterI playeda gamein which the
sameideawasevenmoresharplyprominent,namelyapparentlygivingup the
centeronly to occupyit {blockade)latermore strongly.
No. 8
B l a c k :L e v e n f i s h
White: N imzowitsch
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
e2-e4
d2-d4
e4e5
c2-c3
Ngl-f3
Bfl-b5
G0
O r 7 . . . N x e IS N x e sB x b 5I O h s t
8 Bb5xc6
9 esxfo
10 Nfle5
11 d4xc5!
e7-e6
d7-d5
c7 -c5
Nb8-c6
17.t6
Bc8-d7
od8-b6
b7 xc6
N98x{6
Bf8-d6
Bd6xc5
why I had
After the gameLevenfishtold me that he couldn'tunderstand
completelygivenup the center.
12 Bc1'g5l
The explanation!The next Blackmoveswereforced
ob6d8
12....
Od8xf6
13 Bs5xf6!
14 Od1-hst
s7-so
15 Oh5-e2
Now the Whiteplan- blockadeof the Blackcenter- is clear. Therefollowed:
Ra8-d8
15 ..".
00
16 Nb1-d2
Rf8'e8
17 Ra1'el
Bc5'd6
18 Kgl"hl
48
19 f2.f4
to White.
with advantage
"Blockade" did not contain the remainingmovesof the game,they
While
ate added here for the benefit of the reader wishing to play through the game
to tts concluston.
19
cG c5
20 cgc4l
BdGf8
2 1 c4xd5
Bd7-c8
OfGsT
22 Nd2-e4
d5xe6
Bc8xe6
Oe2-aG
Ks8-h8
BeG98
25 R e l - d1
b2-b3
Rd8-d4
27 R d l x d 4
c5xd4
Re8-c8
2A OaGa5
29 R f 1 - d 1
Rc8-c2
As7-b7
30 h2"h3
3 1 Rd1xd4!
Bf8'c5
5Z Oa5-d8!
BcSeT
od8.d7
Ob7-ao
6el.t6
34 Rd4d3!
35 Ne5'f7t
&8xf7
36 Ad7xl7
Rc2-cg
37 RdldT
Resigns.
In conclusionI givea gamein which restraintoccursonly in the broadest
senseof the word. Pawnswill not be touchedat all by restraintin this last
exampleE
, v e r y t h i nggo e so n - s ot o s p e a k- i n v i s i b l y .L i n e sa n ds q u a r e s
serveasobjectsof the restraint,and only at the end all of the enemypieces
"freightening"way.
arestalemated
in a most
No. 9
TournamentCopenhagen'1923
lnternatlonall\,4aster
White:Siimisch
Black: N imzowitsch
1 d2.d4
Ns8-f6
2 c2"c4
e7-e6
b7-b6
3 Ng1-f3
4 s2-s3
Bc&b7
5 Bf1-s2
Bf8-e7
6 Nbl-c3
7 0-0
8 Nfles
o0
d7.d5
c7-cG
S t r o n g etrh a nO c 8w h i c hS A m ; s chha dp l a y e da sB l a c ki n t h i s p o s i t i o n .
c6xd5
9 c4xd5
10 Bc1-f4
a7-a6l
In orderto play bGb5 and preparefor the invasionof c4 by the Nb8. The
squarec4 constitutesherethe squarefor an outposton the c'file.
49
11 Ra1-c1
12 0d1-b3
b6b5
Nb&c6!
Threatensto gallop with acceleratedpace (NcGas) to c4. Therefore the
e x h a n g es e e m ss u f fi c i e n t l y m o t i v a t e d .
13 Ne5xc6
Bb7xc6
O n t h e o t h e r h a n d B l a c k h a sg a i n e dt i m e t h r o u g h t h e e x c h a n g eb e c a u s et h e
"tempo swallower" Ne5 had himself exchangedagainstthe harmlessNc6.
14 h2-h3
15 Ks1-h2
od8.d7
NfGh5!
C o m b i n e dp l a y o n b o t h w i n g s . O n t h e q u e e ns i d ea l o n et h e g a m ew o L r l d
haveto be continuedby Ob7 and NfGdT'bGc4.
l7-t5l
16 Bt4-d2
17 0b3d1
b5-b4!
Bcebs
18 Ncgbl
19 Rf1-91
O n ec l e a r l yf e e l sh o w W h i t e ' sd o m a i ni s s h r i n k i n g .
19....
Be7-d6
20 e2-e4
t4xe4l
Diagram36
g
t
t
'A
t : t: . 8 t
t tt
4:
ai
lt\a
t\
Alter25...h6!
as 8t
(
/\
&
w , A
|
Ll
r=
F?
a counterpart
calleda beautifulaccomplishment'
Laskerin a Dutch magazine
" Therethe maximaleifect of the "sacrifice"'here
'ii.tt".,
Game
i"ii"
"
that of the zugzwang"'
tt
'/.17.,.
/L,,//./t.
//.t
A
,
t
t
A //L,,t
7.t''tp. 7
..-fu,
t2
///,
/i
7z/:N.
..EL
Diagram
35
]I '/.ty
of examplesof my own practice,
With this I concludemy demonslration
for
'""0"t *irr soonfind the desiredopportunitv
."il;;il".;;;r,irnoiv
p
r
i
n
c
i
p
l
e
s
'
s o m eo f t n e s er u l e sh, i n t so r
applying
A Nimzowitsch
aNt
a)
21 Odlxhs
Rf8xJ2
The ideaof the sacrificeis that White,who ownsneitherlinesnor squares,
will becomecompletelytied up. The occupationof the enemy'ssecondrank
hasa paralyzing
effect,especially
in conjunctionwith the stronglyposted
Bb5 (preventsRfl ). On the other handWhite'squeenwing is alwaysindirectly threatened,
and the configurationof the Whitepiecesis insoluble,
22 Qh5-g5
Ra8-f8
23 Kh2-h1
Rf&f5
24 Os5-e3
Bbsd3
2 5 Rc 1 " e l
h7.h6!!
A brilliantmovewhich declarcs
zugzwang,
(SeeDiagram36 at the top of the next page)
Whtteis in zugzwangl!With a f ull board!!
Whitehasno moves,i,e.on Kh2 follows Rf5-f3,and the sameafter 93-94.
This unusuallyb\llianl zugzwang-mechan
ism makesthis game,which Dr.
50
5 l
AppendixOne
The New Syrtem
by A. N imzowitsch*
Chessstrategyassuchtoday is still in its diapers,despiteTarrasch,s
state.
m e n t" w e l i v et o d a yi n a b e a u t i f ut li m e o f p r o g r e si sn a l l f i e l d s . ' ,N o t e v e n
the slightestattempthasbeenmadeto exploreand formulatethe lawsof
chessstrategy.Tarrasch's
postulates
suchas,,theacceptance
of the gambitis
p r i n c i p a l l1y ! ) ( t h e [ ] l i s f r o m m e .A . N . )e r r o n e o ubse c a u s e. ., d a n g e r o u s , , l
r e a l l yc a n n o ct l a i mt o b e s u c h a
; t b e s tI w o u l dc a l l t h e m, , p r a c t i c ahli n t so t a n
experjenced
housewife."
From this perspective
my presentattemptto formujatethe resultsof rny
many yearsof explorations
oughtto be ableto openup a new era in chess,
l\4ycongenitalinclinationto searchfor rulesurgedme to do this.
What I want to demonstrate
hereis a harmoniouslybuilt up setof lawsof
chessstrategy.
I k n o wv e r yw e l l t h a tr n y a t t e m p w
t i l l n o t f a j l t o p r o v o k ea s t o r mo f a n g e r
amongtoday's"theoreticians"and that they will fight my systemwjth every
m e a n se, s p e c i a l m
l y i n i m e a n s ., . O . K . C o m eo n l
And now, without further ado, let,sbegin!
l. About the Center- Pieces
and Pawns- The Conceptof the Characteflslrc
Positionin the Center
The pawnsform the skeletonof the game,the piecesarethe other parrs,
t h e i n n e ro r g a n s l
s u s ts t a n di n l i v i n gc o n n e c t i ow
T h ep i e c e m
n i t h t h e ( p a w n , c) e n t e r .
'//;,,
D i a g r a mI
/l:;t
2
,L 7/tt.
'77,
lL.
/l:,: lt
72fr7t
lt,'//t/...2/7,.
7
First,Whitewill post hjs piecesin sucha way that his centere4 is well pro_
tected,secondhe will directhis forcesagajnstthe threateningenemy
advance
*
52
WienetSchachzeitung,October I gl3
d 5 o r f 5 w h i c hw o u l dL r n d e r m i nhei sc e n t e r .H e w i l l m e e tt h e s ee n e m yt h r e a t s
p a r t i a l l yd i r e c t l y( b y p r e s s u roen d b a n df 5 ) , p a r t i a l l yi n d i r e c t l y{ t h r o u g ht h e
the moved5 or f5 respectively
with e4-e5or also
intentionof answering
throughthe intentionof parryingthesemoveswith e4xd5or e4xf5 respectivel y i n o r d e rt o i n i t i a t ep l a yo n t h e e f i l e . F r o mt h i st h e l a wa r i s e s :
The movesot the piecesaredictatedby the livingdemandsof the cenler.*
As we haveseen,the missionof the piecesis a doubleone:
Fjrst,the piecesmust "protect" the center,i.e,keepit well guarded,
second,they must "support" it, i.e.they must be directedagainstthe exoectedadvancein the center.
T h e f i r s td e m a n dm u s tb e f u l f i l l e de v e nw h e no n es t a n d vs e r yw e l l i n t h e
center,i.e.regardless
of how wellone standsin the center,one must take care
of its defense.
So much aboutthe structureof the center. Now we will talk aboutthe
"use" of the center. Firstwe
shouldmentionthat we call everyscheme(as
for instanceshownin Diagraml) which represents
the nucleusof the position,
positionin the center." This lastone will alwaysbe the starta "characteristic
ing point of our calculations.
l l . A b o u tt h e l v l a n a g e m e( nUtt i l i z a t i o no)f t h e C e n t e -r O p e nF i l e sa n dT h e i r
Laws- About the LatentCooperationof the Center.
The centershallbe viewedas havingstability,i.e.the characteristic
posrt i o n s h a l lb e u t i l i z e di n t h e s h a p ei t i s i n { w i t h o u tb e i n gc h a n g e d ) .
The positionin the centermust not be modifiedconstantlv,oncethe characteristicpositlonis taken up, it must be maintained- at leastfor a very long
time. One must try to fortify it and to post one'spiecesaccordingto the
position.
characteristic
Frequentlythe attackplaysby itself,i.e.with purely passive
helpfrom the
center.it shiftsto the wings.
An example.After the moves1 e2-e4e7-e5 2 Ngl-f3 Nb8-c6 3 Bf1,b5
d 7" d 6 4 d 2 - d 4B c 8 - d 75 N b 1 - c 3N g 8 - f 66 G 0 B f & e 7 7 R f 1 - e le b x d 4 8
Nf3xd4 (now the characteristic
positionseenin DiagramI, pawne4 againsr
p a w n sd 6 a n df 7 h a sb e e nr e a c h e dN) c 6 x d 4 9 O d l x d 4 B d 7 x b 5 1 0 N c 3 x b 5
) f G d T 1 3 B g 5 x e 7R e 8 x e 7
0 - 0 1 1 B c 1 - 9 5R f 8 - e 8 l 2 R a 1 - d 1( " s u p p o r t s "N
Whitemust not operatein the centerlt2-t4 e+e'), on the contrary.he must
s t a ye n t i r e l yn e u t r atl h e r e .W h a th e m u s td o i s c a r r yo u t o u r l a wo f " p r o t e c t i n g " a n d" s u p p o r t i n gt"h e c e n t e ri,. e .1 4 N b 5 " c 3( O c 3i s a l s og o o d )N d 7 - b G
15 Re1-e3
O d 8 - d 7 1 6 R d 1 " e 1R a 8 , e 8i 7 R c 3 - g 3 A
. l r e a d yt h i s l e a d sr o a
weakeningo{ the king'swing,which success
may be considered
a resultof
"
t i s u n d e r s t a n d i nIgnso, t et h a t f o r d i d a c t i cr e a s o nIsa s s u m e
T o p r e v e nm
f o r t h e t i m e b e i n gt h e c e n t e a
r ss u c hc o u l db e o c c u p i e d
b y p a w ne x c l u s i v e l y .
I n d e e dt h e c e n t e fr o r m st h e d o m a i no f t h e o a w n s .
53
o u r m a n a g e m eonft t h e c e n t e r .
new aovanlagel
The cooperationof the centerhasbeendocumentedhere
1. throughthe latentthreatof the advancee4e5,
2. throughthe maneuverRe3-g3(a consequence
of the spaceadvantage
pro.
ducedby the further advanced
center),
3 , t h r o u g he n a b l i n ug st o p l a yo n t h e d f i l e t t h e c e n t e sr e r v eassa s u p p o r r
f o r o p e r a t i o nosn t h e d f i l e .
T h i sl e a d st o a n e x a m i n a t i oonf t h e o p e nf i l e !
T h e o p e nl i n en e e d sa " s u p p o r tp o i n t " a n da n " e n t r y p o i n t . "
lL
'l/t './2...
% ,L ,//t ./.
tlZ 2
V:t:..,
%'^-7 tt %
7,2 %
% % z
l/.z
71.,.H'/2:,'
,.//,./,
llz //e,
/,f,,fr
vt '/1.'
'tfr,ft%
lt
7tfr7it
2 't/./,2,
%'/.2
72
7t Z
,
I Entry point on the d file
I Entry point on the h file
2 Support point on the d file
2 Support point on the h file
T h e " s u p p o r tp o i n t "o f a f i l e i s o n e ' so w n p a w no n t h e n e i g h b o r i nf g
i l e ,i . e ,
p a w ne 4 f o r t h e d f i l e i i n D i a q r a mI l ) o r p a w n9 6 f o r t h e h f i l e { D i a g r a m
llt) the point respectively
thus producedis our protectedentry point. dS in Diag r a ml l , o r h 7 i n D i a g r a m
lll.
Lawr The utilizationof an openfile consistsin the occupationof the entry point {by pieces).
a) lf it is a centerfile, the entry point is bestoccupiedby a knightwhich
w i l l t h e nh a v ea n u n e q u a l l erda d i u so f a c t i o n ,
b ) l f i t i s a f i l e o n t h e r i m ,a r o o k w j l l b e s e l e c t etdo i n i t i a t ed o u b l i n g( c o n queso
t f t h e f i l e )a n de v e n t u aeln c j r c l e m e n t .
I n c a s eb ) ( D i a g r a m
l l l i W h i t e m o v e sR h 7 ! [ = O c c u p a t i oonf t h e e n t r y
p o i n to n t h e r i m f i l e w i t h a r o o k l l , i f t h e i n v a d i n rgo o k i s e x c h a n g ebdy a n
o p p o s i negn e m yr o o k ( t o p r e v e ndt o u b l i n gt)h e p a w n9 6 w i l l b e c o m ep a s s e d
and a powerfulforce, Because
of this therearisesa peculair
Chango
e f a s s i g n m e n tFs irr s t( b e f o r eR h 8 s h 7t)h e p a w n( q 6 )s u p p o r t e d
t h e r o o k ,l a t e r( a f t e r, . . R h 8 x h 7
g 6 x h 7f o l l o w e db y R a1 - hj , t h e r o e k5 u p p 6 r 1 5
t h ep a w n ,
I n c a s e( a )t h e l a w f u lo c c u p a t i oonf t h e e n t r yp o i n t b y a k n i g h tr e s u l t isn a
54
The Outpost.
conditionedoutpostexertsa permanentpressure
thanksto
A strategically
its greatattackingradius.
ln our exampleit fixesthe pointsc7, e7, f6. The newly producedattack
producedby the outpost,establish
possibilities.
the further consequences
of
p l a yi n t h e l i n ei n q u e s t i o n( d f i l e ) D i a g r a ml l .
The law o{ the outpostcanthus be formulated:
in conqueringthe openfile and entrench.
Oncethe attackerhassucceeded
ed himselfon the entry point the consistentcontinuationof the attackis formproducedthereby.
ed by the utilizationof the attackingpossibilities
Biackmust driveawaythe outpost(Nds) with c7-c6sooneror later,but
that will renderthe d-pawnbackwardand a targetfor attack. The gameenlersa new srage,
lll. The BackwardPawnasTargetof the Attack - The Conceptof the "Direct" and "lndirect" Attack Againsta BackwardPawn- The Hole,
The positionof the pawnd6 (afterc7-c6)is weak but not hopeless
because
- in spiteof enemyobservation
of the point d5 - therestill existsthe possibility of the advanced&d5. The situationis differentwhen the c-pawneither
doesnot existany moreor alreadvstandson c5. In this casewe haea classi'
cal exampleof a backwardpawnon an openfile - absolute.In that casethe
p o i n td 5 { a f t e rc 7 - c 5D i a g r a ml l ) c a nb e c a l l e da h o l e . T h e m o d u so p e r a n d i
now consistsof maneuvering
againstthis pawn,identifiedby the fact that the
oawn is weakand that there is a holeon d5.
The backwardpawn- in our cased6 - will be attackedone way of the
other. The intent is to forcethe guardingpiecesinto uncomfortablepositions,
The d-pawnshouldnot only be exposedto frontal attacksbut alsolateral
attacksand if possibleattacksbv encirclement.The basefor thesemaneuvers
is the hole,formerly our "entry point" d5.
W ef o r m u l a t et h u s :
1. All piecesmust be directedtoward the entry point {hole)to maintain
the pressure
and eventuallyto invadethe enemycampacrossthis point.
2, The entry point (especially
one which has"progressed"
to the designation hole)shallif possiblebe occupiedby differentpiecesone by one.
t f t h i sm o d u so p e r a n dai g a i n sot u r t a r g e o
T h er e s u lo
t f a t t a c kw i l l e i t h e r
c o n s i sot f d i r e c tc o n q u e sot f i t o r i t w i l l l e a dt o a d e c i s i voep e n i n go f a f i l e .
T h e l a s tm e n t i o n e d
m a n e u v ecro n s i s tosf t h e f o l l o w i n g :A f t e r t h e g u a r d i n g
piecesareforcedinto uncomfortableposition(seeabove)White plavse4-e5
) h ; c hm e a n st h a t h e r e n o u n c et h
s e d i r e c tc o n q u e sot f t h e g o a lf o r
{orc4-c5w
w h i c hh e w a sl i g h t i n ga n dt a k e sa d v a n t a goef t h e r e s t r a i not f t h e g u a r d i n g
e n e m yp i e c e fso r a d e c i s i vber e a k t h r o u g(hl n v a s i o inn t o t h e 7 t h o r 8 t h r a n k ) .
T h i ss t a t e m e nbtr i n g su st o t h e c o n c e pot f d i r e c ta n d i n d i r e cat t t a c ka g a r.r1
t h e e n e m yp a w n . I c a l li t d i r e c tw h e ni t j s a p l a i na t t a c kb y p i e c e si ,n w h i c h
casethe aim is the directconquestof the objectof the fight.
I c a l l" i n d i r e c t "t h e a t t a c kb y a p a w no n a p a w n( e 4 - e 5 l ) i, n t h a t c a s et h e
alm is not the conquestof the objectof the fight but the conquestof the r er_
rain.
of the pawnpositionc5,
Beforewe turned our spotlighton the weakness
presents
attack
objectwhich howeveris
a
sufficient
c6.
d5
naturally
but
d6;
harderto exPlolt.
ef
W ec o n t i n u en o w w i t h a g a m ei n w h i c hw e e x p l a i ni n d e t a i tl h e s c h e m o
gamesbe'
Tarrasch's
on
of
We
selected
demonstrated.
principles
we
have
the
causein its motivesit is simpleand claer.
R u YL o P e z
B l a c k :J o h a n nB e r g e r
White: Dr. Tarrasch
t
t
rg
At
g
t
t
t
**" //z'i'7L
,r.
6'/t t llzA
tL
2ttu,7r7t
'ttu
zaTt
/Lz"r.fu^,
a
:
The characteristic
position
p o s i t i o no f a g a m eN i m z o witsch-Shories
Ostende1907.
1e2-e4e7-e5 2 Ng1-f3Nb8'c6 3 B{1'b5a7'a6 4 Bb5'a4Ng8-f6 5 Nb1'c3
Bf8-b4 6 Nc3-d5 Bb4e7 7 d2-d3 d7'd6.
positionW: e4 and d3 againste5 and d6. The
We havethe characteristic
positione4, d4 againste5, d6 l
characteristic
into
the
is
to
transfer
tendency
" A t t a c k p o s i t i o na g a i n sDt e f e n speo s i t i o n
t i oc s i t i o n
c a l l t h el a t e rc h a r a c t e r i s p
in the Center,"
I Nd5-b4Bc8-d7 9 Nb4xc6 Bd7xc6 10 Ba4xc6t b7xc6
tL%/z
Directattackagainst
the pawne5 (Oc7,Nc6, Nq6).
tt
VII
i
gl
./t
it
ft.
r l
'&t% '/2
/:t
aaz
rt grt
tndirectattackagainstpawne5.
SeeDiagramlV' The direct {= attackwith piecesagainstthe pawna5)
would be hereNf3-d2,b3.
The indirect(= pawnattack)howeverwould consistof b2,b4, ln the first
casethe objectof the fight is conquered;in the secondcaseterrain{the pawn
becomespassed).
T h i sg i v e st h e f o l l o w i n gr u l ef o r , ' d i r e c t ,a, n d , , i n d i r e c ta, t, t a c k :
As a generalrulethe directattackshouldbe appliedfirst; asa consequence
the opponent'sguardingpiecesareforcedinto uncomfortableposilions.On_
ly then is the indirectattacklaunchedin orderto conquerterrainbV renounc_
ing the direct conquestof the objectof the batrle.
56
t
t t
,7z,)/flr%
t z
Due to the doublingof the c'pawnthe characterof the positionhasessen'
position{e4,d3, c2 against
of the characteristic
tially changed,The weakness
for action
e5, d6,c7, c6) showsup for Blackwhen we examinehis possibilities
p
l
a
y
N
o
w
h eh a s
d
&
d
5
.
h
e
w
i
l
l
e
v
e
n
t
u
a
l
l
y
t
h
a
t
i n t h e c e n t e r :l t i s a s s u m e d
pawns
will
be isolat'
(but
c7
c6,
the
doubled
possibilities:
then
Either
dxe
two
or d5-d4. This move(d4),aswe will eventualed and certainlya disadvantage)
presents
the attemptto transler
ln the lawsoi transferance,
ly demonstr€te
with
c6c5-c4
following
up
by
namely
the attackfrom e4-d3,
l f t h e b - p a w ni s s t i l l l i n e du p o n i t s o r i g i n afli l e ,t h e nW h i t ec o u l dn o t p r e Blackgetssupportby b7ventthe movementof the c-pawnby b2-b3because
c"pawn
is impeded.From
possible
the
any more,and
b5. But herethis lsn't
o
f B l a c k ' sp o s s i b i l i a
d
i
m
i
n
u
t
i
o
n
c
6
,
c
a
u
s
e
s
c
7
t h i so n es e e st h a t t h e d o u b l i n g
in
the
center.
of
action
ty
11 0-0 0-0 12 Qd1-e2cEcE
In orderto utilizethe former b-pawn(now pawncO)which aimsat preventing d3'd4. Howeverit wasbetterto omit cocs in orderto giveup the center
after d3-d4. In that caseBlackwouid havethe e file and the compact,pawn
57
m a s sw o r k i n gt o w a r dt h e c e n t e a
r sc o m p e n s a t i o n .
26...Rc6c5 27 Nc3d5 OfGdS 28 Rb1-cl Rxcl 29 Rdlxcl
The most importantfunctionof the pawnc6 consistsin the fact that it imp e d e tsh e e n e m y ' su t i l i z a t i o o
n f t h e d f i l e ( w h i c hm e a n sN d 5 ,s e eo p e nf i l e s ) .
Now Oc6 is threatened.lf Nc5 then Oc6 Ra7e4"e5l Aqainthe latentcooperationof the center.
13 c2-c3
29-..c7-c5
t i oc s i t i o ns h a l b
l e
N o t q u i t et i m e l y ,i t s i n sa g a i n sotu r l a w :T h e c h a r a c t e r i s p
u t i l i z e da t f i r s ti n t h e f o r m i n w h i c hi t i s . T h e r e { o rfei r s tt h e k n i g h tm a n e u v e r
f3"d2-c4-e3
that Steinitzalsorecommends
shouldbe played, lt is interesting
"to
of the double
the samemaneuver let Blacksufferwith the disadvantage
pawn as long as possible." (To be found in Tarrasch's"300 ChessGames",
page231.) This deepstatementcontainsthe first bud of my systemof the
position.
characteristic
But now d6 is back\,vard,
and the point d5 gainsin importance{seeour explanations).
13...Nfed7 14 dld4 e5xd4 15 c3xd4 Be7-f6 16 Bc1-e3c5xd4 17 Be3xd4
Rf8-e8 18 Oe2-c2.
positione4 againstd6, c7, f7 finds in the weakThe favorablecharacteristic
nessof the c-pawn{a backwardpawnon an openfile!) a new momentumin
f a v o ro f W h i t e . B u t t h e a d v a n t a gi seo n l y m i n i m a l
18...Bf6xd419 Nf3xd4 Nd7-c5
In gamesof that time a frequentexampleof salvationof a backwardpawn
b e h i n da p i e c ee, s p e c i a l bl ye h i n da k n i g h t .
20 12.t3
Safeguards
the centerwhich shallbe the supportfor the laterutilizationof
t h e d f i l e ! l f n o w i t r e m a i ns t a t i ci,t w i l l s t i i l b e m o s tn o t i c a b l teh r u t h e l a tent threatof an advance(e4-e5)duringthe entirecourseof the game{seemy
l a w sc o n c e r n i nt gh e c e n t e r ) ,
20...Od8-f621 Rt1-d1Be8-bg 22 Ral-b1 a&a5 23 Kgl-h1!
A splendldiliustrationof our dogmaof the latentcooperationof the cen"
ter.
B e c a u soef t h e a d v a n cee4 - e 5 !O
! x e SN c 6w h i c hn o w w o u l dh a v ef a i l e do n
accountof the queen'scheckon e3.
This threat,respectivelV
the latentcooperationof the center,inducesthe
o p p o n e ntto b r i n gh i sp i e c e isn t o a l l k i n d so f u n n a t u r apl o s i t i o ntso c o u n t e r act the danger,
23...Rb8-b6!
T h e r ew e h a v ei t !
24 Nd+e2l
30 Rcl-dl Need4! 31 Oa4c4
The pieces- accordingto our law - aim at the entry point. This indicated
indicatedthroughthe weakness
of d6 and d5 is now apparent,
maneuvering,
"changeof place"illustrates
alsoour law connamelyNe3,Od5, Nc4. This
cerningthe alternatingoccupationof the point of entry by differentpiecesl
31...Ra8-b832 b2-b3 Rb8-c8?
A mistake,which forcesthe gameout of the train of logicaldevelopment.
The latterconsisted,
asstated,in maneuvering
againstd6 (whichpawnshallbe
attackedfirst one way then anotherway) which would haveforcedthe enemy
piecesinto uncomfortablepositions.lf therewasn'tanythingbetter,then the
d-pawncould be attackedafter exchanging
the Nd4 by Nd5c3-e2. Then it
only seemsthat attackand defensehold eachother in the balance:queenand
rook versusqueenand rook. In realitythe e-pawnwill be the third attacker,
namelye4"e5at the right moment,and wins, And so the threateningadvance
- madea reality- would havebroughtaboutthe decision.
After the text moveblunderWhite doesnot havean easvbut forcedwin.
He plays
33 Rxd4 cxd 34 Nd5e7t! (not OxcSOxcB 35 NeTt K8 36 NxcSd3 and
Blackwins)34...Oxe735 OxRcSt Of8 36 OxfSt lQf8
a n dW h i t ew i n sd u et o h i sd i s t a n p
t a s s epda w n ,T h i se n d i n gi s u n i m p o r t a n t
right now for "our system".
(Nimzowitschdevelopedother Doints in further articles which would take
us far beyond our subject, I append the remainingmovesof this game,)
37 Kgl Ke7 38 Kf2 d5 39 e5 Ke6 40 Ke2 Kxe5 41 Kd3 h5 42 a3 h4 43
b4 axb 44 axb Kd6 45 Kxd4 Kc6 46 b5t? Kxb5 47 Kxd5 Kb4 48 Kd4
KbS 49 Ke5 Kc4 50 K{4 Kd4 51 Kg4 Ke5? 52 Kxh4 Kf4 53 Khs Kf5 54
s3 Kf6 55 Kg4 Ks6 56 Kf4 KfO 57 Ke4 Ke6 58 Kd4 Kd6 59 Kc4 KcG 60
f4 Kd6 61 Kd4 Ke6 62 Kcs Ke7 63 Kd5 Kd7 64 Ke5 Ke7 65 f5 f6t 66
Kd5 Kd7 67 h3 Ke7 68 Kc6 Ke8 69 h4 Ke7 70 Kc7 Ke8 71 Kd6 Kd8 72
Ke6 Ke8 73 h5 Kt8 74 h6 Resigns.
A i m sa t d 5 , u t i l i z a t i o n
o f t h ed f i l e .
24...Nc5-e625 Ne2-c3Rb0c6 26 Qc2-a4
N o t o n l y a t t a c k tsh e r o o kc 6 , b u t a l s ot h e p o i n tc 6 c o n t a i n i ntgh e t e n d e n c y t o i m m o b i l i z teh e o b j e c to f t h e a t t a c kf i x e db y N d 5 ,a n d i m m o b i l i z iet
througha laterOc6.
58
59
:.:t 6
APPendixTwo
A ModernFantasyAbout a TschigorinTheme*
(1 e2-e4e7-e6 2 Ae2)
by A. Nimzowjtsch
As is so often the case,the suddengroMh of the seeminqly
sterilevariation
Oe2wasa consequence
of an awareness
which in itselfis to be takenasneithef
importantor completein any way. The DanishanalystDr. Krausenoticed
d u r i n go n eo f h i ss a f a r itsh r o u g ht h e l a n do f o p e n i n g
t h e o r yt h a t T s c h i g o r i n ' s
variationI e4 e6 2 Oe2c5 3 d3 with a laterf4, wasalsoplayablewithout
Oe2. As one will admit without ado,this realizationis not exactlyearthsnaKing, Also it only concernsone detail,which is the questionasto how the
pawnstructured3, e4, f4 shouldbe preparedin the besttechnicalmanner.
Dr. Krauseand I did someexploratjonwith respectto this discovery.The
resultshoweversurpassed
all expectations
and gainedundreamed-of
impor,
tancefor the wholeof chesstheory,especially
for the Dutch and SicilianDefenses.In the followingparagraphs
I will presentsomegames,which I analyze
in detailto clearlyelucidatethe development
of the new variation(onecouro
actuallysay its embryology).
ln the internalionalmastertournamentat Copenhagen
in 1923,J. Moller
surprisedme with the followinginnovation.White: NimzowitschBlack:J.
Mdler. 1d2-d4r7-t5 2 c2-c4Ng8-f6 3 Nb1-c3d7-d6. One is definitetyinc l i n e dt o a g r e ew i t h T e i c h m a n (ni n t h e t o u r n a m e nbt o o k )i n c a l l i n gt h i s m o v e
inferior. Therefollowed4 Ng1"f3Nb&c6! Now Blackapparentlywantsto
play e7-e5because
Oe7 aspreparationfor this positionis entirelyunnecessary
detailof Krausel).Thereis indeedno apparentadvantage
{the interesting
for
Whiteafter 5 92-93e7-e5 6 dxe dxe 7 Oxd8t KxdS or 6...NxeSand the loss
o{ castlingis morethan compensated
for by the two pawnse5 and fS. Tnerefore I decidedto play 5 Bc1-f4and therefo owed5...h7-h66 h2-h4Nfeg4.
A l l o f t h i sa c c o r d i ntgo D r . K r a u s e A
, n d n o w - w i l l y n i l l y - | h a dt o m o v e
7 d4-d5. ln this criticalpositionl\46llermoved7...Nc&esafter which the answerI e2-e4would havegiventhe advantage
to White,i.e.I e4 fxe g Nxeb
d x e 1 0 B g 3{ i n t h e g a m et h e s o m e w h awt e a k e Ir B x e sd x e g e 4 e 6 l 1 ON h 2
(still the best becauseit threatensBc') was playedafter which, insteadof the
4
d u b i o u sa c c e p t a n c' 1e0 , . . O x h 1
1 N x g 4 l ,t h e s i m p l er e t r e a 1
t 0 . . _ N f 61 1 8 d 3
BcS(dxe?f4)would havemadeBlack'spositionsafe.).
In a correspondence
gameagainstme Dr. Krause(seeDiagraml) played
muchstronger;he played7...e7-e5!This moveimprovesthe wholevariation
i m m e n s e l{ys e eD i a g r a mI l ) .
*
60
Kagan'sNeuesteSchachnachtichten,Januarv l92S
I
L
t L
/:/:
,/,
A
.,:a
./,
a,i&
ILE
t rr, ;.1 .L
'/t::,6'L //:':
ft tL l'.:,:l:,,
/.:/./
AA
7t7:,,
'.h) 'r/zd't':lzt
lt
2"',,fu. a
,l:\
't&
?1'
+ +
A A A
7.2
.*\ A
,a
\39
The pawn sacrificeinvolvedin 7. .e5 I dxc6 e5xf4 9 cxb BxbT 10 Od4
after the waitingmove10 'Od7 lf White
seemsto offer Blackgoodchances
7 l l o w e db y B f 6 r e s u l t isn a t r e m e n '
n o w p l a y sa t o n c e1 1 O x { 4t h e n 1 ' 1 . . . B ef o
to
movesomethingelsefirst (to keep
wants
if
White
douspoiition. However,
possible)
then he is at a lossfor a move
as
position
as
long
queen
central
the
(artifi'
11 GOO leavesf2 unprotectedand after 11 Rd'1a6 12 Rh3
because
Be7
threatens
already
GGo
go
side)
the
other
to
cial,but the rook wantsto
wjth
Bh4t
Nxf2
Kxf2
the
combination
of
account
fails
on
OxgT
because
Oxg7.
in the abovementionedpositign7..'e7-e5seemsnot onFor thesereasons,
even
completelysound. In the mentionedcorrelpon'
ly to be playablebut
jence game.there
followed (from Diagramll) Sd5xe6e p After 8"'Bc8xe6
t h e g a m ec o n t i n u e d :
Black: Krause
White: N imzowitsch
9 g2-93!
whosepoint lies
This in any caseextraordinarilyinterestingpawnsacrifice,
12, comI
1,
and
of
moves
maneuver
bishop
appearing
in the secessionistic
prisesthe only hiddenway to breathlife lnto the game;in similarpositions
c4
therehad beenmuch lesscolorfully playedafterthe moves:I Nf3 f5 2
the
Bxe6,
ep'
Nc6 3 d4 d6 4 Bf4 hO 5 h4 Nf6 6 e3 Ng4 7 db e5! 8 dxe
Tournament
Nordicl\4aster
move9 Nc3 {the gameBrinckmann-Krause,
'12
N x e 6O x e 6 1 3
B
e
2
B
g
7
1
1
N
d
4
O
d
7
1
O
1 9 2 4 ) ,T h e r ef o l l o w e d 9: ' . . 9 6
p
r
e
f
e
r
a
b
l
e
?
)
1
5
B
93Nf6! 16
(
p
e
r
h
a
p
s
1
4
O
a
4
w
a
s
9
5
!
NdsO0-0 14Rbl
N x f 6 B x f 6 1 7 K f l B e 5 1 8 B h 2 B x h 2 1 9 R x h 2N e 5 ! T h i sc e n t r apl o s i t i o n
is definitelydecisive.20 Od4 Kb8 21 b4 Rd'18 22 +4 Nc6 23 Od2 94 24
Bd3 d5 27 c5 d4 28 Rh'e2
93 Rf-d8. White standsinferior. 25 b5 Ne7 26
occupationof e3 or c3 bv
won
through
Black
e5
and
30
6os 29 e+ Oxcs
moves.
few
a
more
in
the Ne7
gametherefollowed:
In the correspondence
Be6xc4
9 ....
0d8-d7
10 Nfld4
11 Bfl-h3!!
s7.s6
12 Bh3's2ll
in the variationl2 d5
The forcedmove97-96weakensBlack'sresources
(
d
u
e
O
d 4 w o u l dw i n a p i e c e ' .
t
o
n
o
w
b
e
c
a
u
s
e
9
6
)
1
4
b
3
B
b
4
?
b
x
c
13Nxc6
The questionis thereforeimportantwhetheror not 97-96rn spiteof every
t h i n gs h o u l dh a v eb e e no m i t t e d .O f c o u r s et h e t h r e a tw a s1 2 N x f s O x f 5 1 3
r l a c kw o u l db e a b l et o d e f e n dh i m s e laf g a i n st th a tw i t h 1 ' 1 . . .
e 2 - e 4h, o w e v eB
N x d 4 1 2 O x d 4B e 6 1 3 B x g 4f x g l 4 O G 0 a n dn o w 1 4 . . . a o
6 r 1 4 . . . b 6 .H e r e
alsothe Blackpositionis severlvthreatenedbecause
e2-e4will makethe Black
p a w nm a j o r i t yi l l u s o r ya, n dt h e W h i t er o o k s- a f t e rK b 1 a n d R d 3- w i l l b e
very mobile.
12 ."..
d6d5
13 Nd4xc6
b7xc6
14 b2-b3
Bc4-a6
15 Ra1-c1
Whitehasconstructeda threateningpositionon the c file and therefore
forcesthe oooonentto act.
B{8-c5!
gGs5!
16 0-0
"aLg2 7i,
L "r/;;
A
':/7-
r//Z 7t
N 1 7 ' t'.L
'//':z
/z/2.
rat
t a.,,
AA
.'tu,
t //,7..z,z,,lt+ A
17 Nc3xd5!
I hadfiguredthis out before.
B a dw o u l dh a v eb e e n1 7 h x g h x g 1 8 B x q sb e c a u soef R h 5 1 9 B h 4 ?R x h 4
20 hxg Od6.
17....
95xf4
18 Rclxc5
GOot!
E x c e ! l e n t lpyl a y e d !A f t e r ' 1 8 . . . c x d1 9 R x d 5O e 6 2 0 O d 4 G 0 2 1 R d 7
OfO{21...Nf6?22 Bdsll 22 8xa8 Oxd4 23 Rxd4 Rxa8 24 Rxf4 White has
t h e a d v a n t a gie. e
. .2 4 . . . R e 82 5 R e l l
19 Rc5xc6
The startof a beautifulcombination.Badwould be 19 Nc3 because
of
Oe7and if 19 Ra5 Bb7 20 Nc3 Og7 2'l Ocl fxg and wins in rhe attack.
19....
Bb7
2O Ad1-c2
Bb7xc6
21 Qc2xc6
Od7xc6
22 Nd5-e7l
Kc8-b7
23 Ne7xc6
Rd8-d2
24 g3xt4
Kb7-b6
25 a2-a4
Rd2xe2
62
is shownby the above
That e7-e5is feasibleand defiesall counter-pressures
game;this raisesthe questionasto whetherone shouldpermit
very interesting
the movee5. This experimentoccurredin the game:
B l a c k :K r a u s e
'1924
Copenhagen
1d4t5 2 c4d6 3 Nf3 NcG 4 Nc3 Nf6 5 e3 e5 6 q3 Be7 Correct here is 96.
7 Bg2 0-0 8 a3 Timely here was00 for exampleI O0 Ne4 I Nxe4 fxe l0
Nd2 exd 1 | Nxe4 Bf6 12 f4 with sombplav for White. 8.'Qe8 Here Ne4,
as follows in the gamea move later, wasimmediately indicated. The queen
witl be able to go to e7 later on. To understand the position requires the fore
sight to grasp the knowledge that the possible push e4 or d5 rcspectively can
only occur after suitablepreparationstakeplace. 9 b4 Ne4! 10 Bb2 Nxc3
11 Bxc3 Bf6 12 O0 95? Positionalmeasureswere, in my opinion, indicated
before all otherc. i.e. 12.,.Nd8then Nf7 and Be6 or 72...8d7or finally even
12.,.exdexd. Af7, Od3, Re8. 13 b5? Unnecessaryweakening. Why not sim'
p$ Ad2? On 13...94there follows Nel or even Nh4 with a later push f3.
Generallyhere gS hasweakenedthe Black king wing without accomplishing
anything on the other side. After 13 Ad2 and Bacll White hasstrongpressure
on the position in the centerand the advantage' 13'.Ndg 14 dxes dxes 15
e414 16h3 Kh8 17 g4! h5 18 Nd2? The acceptedmarchingroute wasself'
evidently Nf&el-d3 and eventuallyfurther after b4 and d5. 18,,,K97 An un'
realizabledream of attack: much better wascompletingdevelopmentby Nf7
and Be6, 1913cF The preferenceisstill Nf7 then Be6. 20 bxc6 e.p. Nxc6
21 Rabl a5? An ugly nove and thoroLrghlywithout basis! 21',.b6 then Be6
or Ba6coulctstitlbe otaved. 22 Rb5 Oe7 23 Oa1! Be6 24 Rlbl RabS 25
BxaS With this, Black is /ost. 25...Nxa5 26 Rxa5 Oc7 27 Rbs Bd7 28 Rds
Bc6 29 Rd3 Be7 30 Oc3 Bcst 31 Kh2 Rag 32 Rb3 Rf6 AgainBlack lets
himself be led astray from the mating attack. By Rfde he had a good chance
of drawing the game, Whlte can only havea good chanceof winning if he can
b ng the knight to d5. After RfdS this knight position could not be reached.
33 Nb1! Rh8 34 Oc1 Oc8 35 Nc3 hxq 36 fxg Oxg4 37 NdS Rfh6 38 Oc3
Oe6 39 OaS Be3 40 OcTt lt6 41 NeTt White letshimself be bluffed! 41
Nxe3 won easily,i.e. 41...Rxh3t l<gl etc. 41.-.Kt6 42 Rd6? Black setsmate
in 4 movesby Rxh3t, Bxh3, Rxh3t, Kg2, f3t!and Rhl tnate. A piquant
White: Lowenborg
I
l
26 b7b4l
gameis continuingfrom this position. The chances
The correspondence
and an attackagainstthe
are abouteven. Whitehasa pawnfor the exchange
t o t a k ei n t o c o n s i d e r a t i o n
W
i
t
h
o
u
t
w
i
s
h
i
n
q
r
e
d
u
c
e
d
m
a
t
e
r
i
a
l
.
d
e
s
p
i
t
e
t
h
e
king
herethat the en passant
the final result,we havealreadythe firm impression
captureon moveI leadsto a positionin which Whitewith quiet play - if he
protectsthe c4 pawn by e3 - getsinto an inferiorposition,and furthermore
that by ignoringthe c4 pawn,the fianchetto9 92-93bringsabouta picture
full of imaginat;onwhich howeverwith correctcounterplaydoesnot produce
a win,
63
(Notesfor the following gamesare omitted due to spacelimitations)
Nimzowitsch- Krause,Copenhagen
1924: 1d4 f5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 Bf4 d6 4
e 3 h O 5 h 4 N c 6 6 d b e 5 7 d x c l e x f 8 B b 5b 6 ! 9 e x f d 5 ! 1 0 G 0 B c S 1 19 3
N e 4 1 2 K s 2 9 5 1 3 N e 5 !G 0 ! 1 4 h x g !h x g 1 5 O h s O f 6 1 6 t 3 ! l N d 6 1 7 N c 3
'18
Be6
fxg! Oxe5 19 Og6t Og7 20 Oxe6t Q+7 21 AxfTI KxfT 22 Bd3 Bd4
2 3 N x d 5B x b 2 1 4 R a e l R a e S2 5 N x c TR x e l 2 6 R x e ' lR c 8 2 7 N d S l R x c 6
28 ReTt Fbsigns28...K96 29 Nf4t Kxgs 30 Be6 threatensmate Bf6 3l c4!
Nimzowitsch- Anton Olson,Copenhagen
1924: 1 14 c5 2 e4 Nc6 3 d3 96
4 c 4 l l B s 75 N c 3 b 6 6 N f 3 B b 7 7 s 4 !e 6 8 B s 2N e 7 9 N b 5 l ! d 6 1 0 G 0 a 6
1 1 N a 3 O 0 1 2 A e 2a d i 1 3 B e 3N b 4 1 4 N c 2 !B x b 2 1 5 R a b l B c 3 1 6 N x b 4
Bxb4 17 Bc1| f6 18 Bb2 e5 19 95 Nc6 20 gxf Og4 21 fxe dxe 22 Oe3 Ohs
23 Ng5 Bc8 24t7J Kg7 25 Of4l Kh6 26 Ne6t exf 27 Bg7 mate.
INDEX
Blockade
Supplement
1913
Appendix One: The New System,WienerSchachzeitung,October
Two: A l\4odernFantasvAbout A Tschigor;nThere.
Appendix
'
January 1925
Kagan'sNeuesteSchachnachrichten,
5
23
52
60
GAIVES
1924
Brinckmann- Krause,Copenhagen
1924
Kinch- Nimzowitsch,Copenhagen
1924
Copenhagen
Krause,
Lowenborg
Amateur,Riga1910
NimzowitschBernstein,Karlsbad1923
Brinckmann.KoldingI 923
1924
Giersing,CoPenhagen
1913
Gregory,St. Petersburg
Krause,Correspondence19245
1924
Krause,CoPenhagen
1
191
Karlsbad
Levenfish,
1923
Moller,CoPenhagen
1924
Nilsson,CoPenhagen
1924
Olson,CoPenhagen
Salwe.Karlsbad1911
1923
CoPenhagen
Sdmisch,
Shories,Ostende1907
Stockholm1920
SPielmann,
1923
Tartakower,CoPenhagen
1923
Copenhagen
Nimzowitsch,
56misch
Tarrasch- Berger,Breslau1889
1923
Tartakower- Nimzowitsch,Copenhagen
1907
Ostende
vanVliet- Nimzowitsch,
b l
17
63
5
20,27
42
t5
34
64
48
3 1 ,6 0
21,64
J1
56
38
11
21
23
65
64