BLOCKADE

ves Perspecti New by

Aron Ninrzowitsclr

I Transated by P Dr. Joseph latz tus MasterEmeri USCF

1980 1NC EN C H E S S T T R P R I S E S ,. IA PENNSYLVAN CORAOPOLIS,

n s C o p y r i g h1 9 8 0 ,1 9 8 3b v C h e s E n t e r p r i s el s ,c ' t E d i t o r : B . G . Du d l e y 4 t s B N 0 - 93 ' 1 6 2 ' 0 7 - X , D C o v e r e s i g n :E - F . W i t a l i sJ r . lnc' WitlalisBurkeAssociates, PA Pittsburgh, Thisis an Engtishtranslationof the 1925 B' Kagan' Berlin, eclition, This 1983revisionis the third pflnttng, Publisher's Foreword d r n a T h i s i s N i m z o w i t s c hf'is s t p u b l i s h eb o o k ,a p p e a r i nig B e r l i n n d L e n i n y w 1 S , h g r a d e d i t i o n s i n 9 2 5 . H i s c h i e f o r k , l v l y y s t e ma p p e a r etd e s a m e e a r quickly overshadowed smaller this work. Copies the originaledition of and very scarce the book had neverbeentranslated and into English. havebecome Platz,readilyagreed to I wasvery fortunatethat my goodfriend,Dr. Joseph from his nativetongueinto English.Nimzowitsch is the handle translation verve and complexidiomaticconwell known aswriting with considerable ev . s t r u c t i o nw h i c hm a k et r a n s l a t i o n s 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 r . s P l a t z a sh a n d l e d i sc h a i l e n g i na s ka d m i r a b l y . h h tg makesreference "Blockade"to threeof his contemporary in Nimzowitsch his transla' magazine articles further elucidate points. We haveincluded to to to to tionsfrom thesearticles permittoday'sreader havereadyaccess these materials. suoplemental prior to this book writing My System SinceNimzowitsch had completed thereis naturallysignificant I congruityin concepts.However, am certain that today'schess will welcome opportunityof further study of students the the writingsof the chess master who hasbeenproperlynamed"The Fatherof ModernChess". With reference the variedspellings the author'sname, of the useadopted to i n t h e o r i g i n a"l B l o c k a d e " a sb e e n o n t i n u e dn t h i se d i t i o n . h c i

I obstruction an enerny of By blockade referto the mechanical pawn by a restriction forwardprogress accomplished of piece.This mechanical is b, jn one'sown pieceon the square immediately front of the pawnto be placing in the blockaded.For example, the diag.am, Blackpawnon d5 is beinqorocK_ adedby a White knight on d4.

1 Diagram

A
:

It is customary at least _ amongmasters to blockade enemvpasseo an pawn;but to my knowledge attempthasbeenmadeto justify the necessity no of this measure a theoretical on basis.To find sucha justification would mean solutionof the problemt,,Blockade,,. the Onegetsa little closer an understanding the problemto which I have to of just referred when one delves into the essential behavior the pawn. Unof doubtedly one of its specific characteristics its tremendous to expand, is lust the desire storm forward. The free centerclearlydemonstrates to how thts tendency the pawnto gainin importance advancing of by works. For example, us examine followinggameplayedat odds,which let the incidentally waspreviously unpublished. White: A. N imzowitsch B l a c k :A m a t e u r P l a y e d t R i g ai n 1 9 1 0 a ( R e m o v W h i t e ' s a1 , a n dp l a c e h e p a w na t a 3 ) e R t 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 l 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 . u t s , B t h e nt h e W h i t e center becomes mobilized.Therefore would havebeenmore prudentto it 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 to the pawnon a3. This fact weakens due ",^1,!," !,quKs.oerense. the pawnhad tt beenon a2, this checkon b4 would give o r a c ki m et o c a p t u r e h i t e ' s a w n t p W 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 _ movement because as I usedto sayjokingly wnllein pain- yearsof experience proven has that a deadparn _ "r*o,

I
.7.

a d v a n ca n 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 e setsitselfinto motion. 7 d+d5 NcGeT , I n s h o w i n gh i s l i t t l eg a m ew e n o t o n l y e l u c i d a to n t h e p a w n ' su s tt o e x . t e l pandbut we alsohave the opportunityof seeing what is meantby its possible Hadthe knight retreated b8 or movedto a5, it would havebeen advance. to thrown back.or elsehavebeendisplaced. Thuswe note: ( a ) t h e t e n d e n c t o a d v a n co r i g i n a t ep a r t i a l l yr o m t h e w i s ht o d e m o b r y e s f l i z et h e e n e m y . (b) the intentionof storming forwardwith the pawns, order- to get in r i d o f t h e m . A l m o s ta s u i c i d i a e n d e n c y .o n ' t y o u t h i n k ? N o , n o r a I tl d all, because pawnin its essence alsoa blockingunit, it stands the is in the way of its own pieces.lt robsthe pieces their routesjnto enemv of territory,and therefore its advance, tendency by its toward self-destruc. tion is accomplished throughstrength and self-assertiveness.summaTo rize (b): it is the wish to gain linesfor the pieces (rooks!)which were postedin hometerritory by advancing a breakthrough. for And finally (c) it is alsopossible form a wedgeby advancing pawns. to the Now to continuewith the game: 8 e4-e5 The pawns'lustto expand. especially centerpawns, so strongthat it the is completely surpasses another very importantprinciple, that of development (for instance, Nc3). Nc3 would of course weakbecause the answer by be of d7-d6and the centeris restrained, since the most that could be initiatedis a ljne clearance, mentjoned under(b). 8ut this would be too little sinceWhite is entitledto play for a wedge(c) which might leadto a breakthrough. There followed: 8.... Nf6e4 p B l a c k l a y s o r m a t e r i a l a i nw h i l eW h i t ef o l l o w s n i d e a l i s t ic o u r s eh e f g a c , wantsto hinderthe development his opponentby d5-d6,and thus virtually of kill the b;shop c8. In the ensueing on struggle between two vital forcesof the world, the latterconceptwins out, remarkable enoughbut, as I usedto say jokingly.yet explanatory because gamehad beenplayed- beforethe the w a r ! " N o wl p l a y e d : I dsd6 c7xd6 10 e5xd6 Ne4xf2

Position after Black's 11th move:

Diagram2

tT t tt'& .N z t "/Z.z '& '4.t % 72A7, %tt4t % ,x

+
1t od1.b3! 12 Bc4xlTt

Nf2xhl Ke8-f8 13 Bc1-95 Resigns. The pawnwhich imprisons opponent the wasthe main actor in this smatl drama. But it wasnothingelsethan the wedgeresulting from the pawnmarch e4e5. d4-d5d6. etc. To summarize fundamental the motives the pawnadvance the center: of in (a) demobilization the oooonent of (b) opening f lines o throughwedge-formation {c) restraint Now let us look at a differentkind of pawn,an extremelymobileone.the passed pawn, Whileit seems difficult to hamper free centerin the longrun, a it is much easier restrain marchof a passed to pawn. In anv case ii the it mucheasier set rulesfor the lattercase to than for the first one. Whv? Wetl the free (mobile)centeris only a single case a ,,pawnmajority". iheoretiof callywe may talk about a pawnmajority jn the center, therebeingno reason why we can only speak a playerhaving pawnmajoritvon one of the of a wrngs,lf, however. definitionof the free centeris trulv equivalent a our to pawnmajority in the center. then therewould be - for purpose instrucof tlon - the way to "restraina free center,,, very complicated a process involvIng:

(1) How doesa pawn majoritywork? {2) How doesa passed pawnarise out of sucha majority? {3) How doesone defendagainst majority? a {4) What is the reason the greater for strength a centermajority? of (5) Speciat measures against centermajority. a we questions these let'sput the passed pawn underthe mag^,.B.efore answer "r rylngglass bit because passed a pawn is the crystallized the productof a pawnmajority and assuchit can be understood moreeasilythan the more elastic and complicated pawn majority.

position arisen. andthecritical has

the at {See diagram 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.

A s I m e n t i o n e a t t h e b e g i n n i no f t h i sd i s c u s s i oin ,i s f a i r l yw e l l k n o w n d g t pawnshaveto be stopped that passed although theoretically therehasbeenno reason it. I havesucceeded findingone,and althoughI hadoriginarry for in planned not to publishthis discovery until it appeared my book My Syste4 in I shallnow reveal in the interest this treatise.Therearethreereasons: it of ( 1 ) L e t ' sl o o ka t t h e f o l l o w i n gy p i c a J a s s ep a w n p o s i t i o n : p d t

a
D iagram 3

us to eventhe faintest is alsothis optimismwhich gives the strength discover regardless how bad it may be. In our of of hopein everybad situation, rav pawnis undoubtedly we a for 66se instance can statethat an enemypassed s q r e a t e v f l r u s . B u t e v e n t h i s e v icl o n t a i n a 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 io pieceat the this pawnwe postthe blockading is suchthat when we blockade {rom the enemyside* in other words,the blockof the pawn- asseen back sderis safefrom frontal attack. F o re x a m P l e :

'

. :

4 Diagram

7"7<7,
% 'x 7.2

% 7272

Blackhasa passed pawn. This passed pawn is his pride,and therefore apit pears naturalthat the Blackpieces protectthis pawn (Nf6, Bb7) and support it (Rdg). Now the question arises: it sufficient hamper pu*n nV NOg ls to the and Bf2 or is the blockade the knight on d4 necessary? by Answei:Against pawn's the passed stronglust to expandmildermeasures suchas hamp"ering by pieces from a djstance insufficnet are because typically,n" pr*n "un r,ilf advance undersuchcircumstances, which case pawnwiff'pavfoi,n,, in tne uation with its life. thus d4-d5,B or Nxd4, and now the glack pieces in the back. groundsuddenly cometo life: the gb7 getsan opendiagonal directedagarnsr the enemyking,the rook obtains openfile, and,i,. tinigl,,grr, an " n"* ".* tral square.We hadfocused thjs forcefuladvance on (for tin" Jp"ning;t fin.rt before{underb), For the pawn,s lust to expandthis is an especially iharacteristicgoal. Thuswe may say,the first reason which forces the blockade logicis by this: the passed pawn- as I usedto sayjokingly_ is such, Oung"roi, "r,rninal that it is by no means sufficient haveit *.t"n.a OVtn" pofi"" tfrffrs to u"O Bf2);.no, this manshouldb in jail, therefore comptetety deprived ot'ir, ir".d o m b y t h e b l o c k a d i nk n i g h to n d 4 . g (2) The second reason, be explained to now, is strategically well asrn, as structionally greatimportance; chess, of in that whicfrOe-ciOestfrs finat in measure optimism. I meanthat it is psychologically is importantto trairr yourselfin the attitudeof feelinghappy abour small advantages. begrn. The ner enjoyshimselfonly when he callsout mateto his oooon"-nr o, o"rnuu. L l e t t es t i l l w h e nh e c a nc a p t u r e i sq u e e n b e c a u si e t h e r ( h n e y e s f t h eb e g i n n e r o this is possibly greater the success the two); the .a.tu|, how"ueris alr"aoy of pleased highlysatisfied he succeeds finding and if in evena shade an enemy of pawnweakness a nook of the left half in of the loaiO! The optimis., h"re described, formsthe indispensable psychological Oasis positionat +or piay. tt 8

passed pawn is on e4; the White blockader, Black's Ne3, ii not exposeo ro a rook attack{e8-e3) and is - so to speak safe. It is jmportantto note that the blockading piece,in additionto its obligation to blockade, usuallystands very well. lf this were not the case, would it be difficult to refutethe objection that it would be wasteful put a pieceon to ice,just to guarda pawn. ln realitythe blockade squares actuallyexcelare lent posts, first - aswasshownbefore- enemyfrontal attack is impossiore, second blockade the square often at the game is time an outposton a rook file, andthird the blockading piecekeeps enough elasticity speed an, to to '12 otherpart of the battlefield necessaryDiagram demonstrates elasif this tlcrty and its further development; herewe want to be satisfied demonstratat ingthe second case, that the blockade square and outposts coincide, In rne Q u e e n 'G a m b i tB l a c ko f t e ng e t s n i s o l a t e q u e e n a w no n d 5 , a n da l t h o u q h s p a d it seems be somewhat to restrained a White pawnon e3, we couldcalrtr by halfof a passed pawn,its lust to expanci that great;this is foundedpartially is 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 sa c c o r d i ntg m y d e f i n ; t i o n s q u a r e n a f i l e c a n e o a o only be called"fortified" when it haspawnprotection, herethe pawnat e3. A fortified point on a file shouldbe occupied an outpostiseemy articleon by openfiles in the Wiener Schachzeitung 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 no f a p a w nr e p r e s e nos l y a t o c a t g tn - llmited space measure; stopped pawnwhich wantedto advance, one a and =* A t r a n s l a t i oin i n c l u d e dn t h i sv o i u m e n A p p e n d i x n e . s i i O

s oo n l y t h e p a w ns u f f e r e d ,o t h i n g l s e .T h i sc o n c e p t i o ln c k s e p t h . I n r e a t . n e a d ity a wholecomplexof enemypieces madeto suffer,larger is partsof the b o a r d r er e m o v e f r 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 na n ds o m e t i m e s d a g, the entirecharacter the enemypositionis fixed, in other wordsthe paraly. of pawn into the terrainfurther back_| sisis transferred from the blockaded g i v e sa s i n g l e x a m p l eh e " F r e n c h "p o s i t i o n , a t

Diagram 5

'8, 7 % tz lz 71,,

t 7t % 2 t 7Z % "il. vlz t/lz,t ',Ft ,raaz ,ry

passed, is the rightful "candidate". And we giveit it Thef-pawnshallbecome givehim an academic l\4r. degree: Candidate, {Thusthat pawn in thistitle, we majoritywhich hasno opponentis the "candidate".)And from thrs a pawn has a we derivethe brief rule: the candidate preference, rule which is dictated necessity also,asyou must admit, by the duty of pobut only by strategic not (Thusunforgettable everybody for who callshimselfa polite man, 1;1eness, it all do that.) To express exactlyscientifically presents this itselflike andwe of is the leader the advance the candidate, other pawns the only accomthis: and the stand panyit, thusf2-f4f5, then 92"94-95 f5-f6. ln case Blackpawns Diagram below)then f4, 93 (not h3 at oncebecause 7 of on 96 and hb (see of h3, ...h4with symptoms paralysis), 94 and f5. How simple! And yet how how weakerplayers. facedwith the positlonin this diagram, oftenone sees

The pawns and d5 are thoroughlyblockadecj, note that the entrre e6 and Blackpositionasa consequence an uncomfortable has fixed character, tne bishopand the rook are prisoners thejr own campl lf White had a oassed in p a w no n h 4 , h e w o u l da l m o s t a v e i n n i n g h a n c ed e s p i t e i ss u b s t a n r i a l h w c s h materialeficit! d We now askour reader turn his attentionto the pawn majority, Diagram to 6 presents sucha pawn majority. We seethreeWhitepawnsin conflictwirn

7 Diagram

% % % % %t / L % %t % "ffi' % %2.,. ',tu % %

'ztltztT"Tzrtv t
D iagram 6

'D/'".'try%% D*'.27t'r*7K

advance g-pawn the first, but then followsg7-g5and the pawnmajorityhasno value, I haveoften askedmyselfwhy the less players experienced startwlth very simply. They are uncertain whether 92-94.This fact can be explained they shouldbeginleft (f4) or right (h4) and in thjs dilemmathey decide likea goodcitizen- to choose goldenrule of the compromise, the And now let's look briefly at the extremely complicated defensive struggle against majority. a A resultof the just developed rule is that the way to counteract har. the monious pawn is to pushtowardthe candidate as development a passed of so ro makeit somewhat immobile, Oncewe havesucceeded makingthe candi" in datebackward (by forcinga companion advance) to then the blockade the of onceproud candidate cannotbe prevented longer, any and then it will not be l o n g 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 e f a f i g h t a g a i n s t m a j o r i t yI p r e s e n t u o a heremy gameagainst Tartakower from the Copenhagen N4aster Six Tournam e n t1 9 2 3 . (SeeDiagram at the top of the next page) 8 B l a c k a s2 a g a i n s1 o n t h e q u e e n i d e W h i t eh a sa p a s s ep a v v nn t h e d h t s ; i center, \a/hich however can be stronglyblockaded Bd6. (Oneshoulddifby rerentiate between strongand weakblockade.A blockader which can be e a s i l y t t a c k e d n dc a n o n l y r e c i e v le 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 a a i n a sl i t f l ee f f e d . ) 11

A pawn majorityon the king side pawn majority,but not an irregular A healthy one, must resultin a passed p a w n . " N o t h i n g a s i etr a nt h a t l " , o u r f r i e n d l y e a d ew i l l s a ya t t h e f i r s r e h r r glance Diagram Very true, but I want to be permittedin this instance at 6, ro f o r m u l a t e r u l ew h i c ha S c a n d i n a v i a u d i e n co f m i n ec a l l e d , , u n f o r q e t t a b l e ; , a n e o n ew h i c hs h o u l d t i c ki n o u r m i n d si i k ea V i e n n e sw a l t z . T h e r o a dt o r n r s s e r u l el e a d s y w a y o f a s m a l d e f i n i t i o no f t h e t h r e eW h i t ep a w n s n t h e k i n g b l r o , t s r d ea t p r e s e nn o n ei s " p a s s e d ,h , w e v eo n eo f t h e m i s u n d o u b t e d lly s s , o r e hampered than the others. I referto the f-pawn;at leastit hasno opponent. 10

':,.1 W h i t e :
/,- '.,//,.

Diagram 8

t,/t / 1 X g ',t l:z

lr '..t'I

N imzowitsch

*+

t5

Bl a c k I Tartakower

po f T h e r e o l l o w e dr o m t h e d l a g r a m m e d s i t i o n : f a6a5 23 Nagc2! 24 a2-a3 of is The advance the candidate beingthwarted. 24 .... Ne7-f5 2 5 R d1 . d 3 1 with Rd3'b3; the ideal against candidate the To continuethe pressure (a5'a4) then the to since would naturallybe to coaxthe a-pawn advance hereit would be unrealistic to blockade b4 would be possible.However on pawnwill play for that. The realistic procedure to "hope" that no passed is time still be prepared the eventthat a passed in be created and at the same pawndoescomeabout. Therefore Whitepieces standreadyin an emerthe pawn b4 if it shouldarise gency blockade Rb3 the passed anyway. by to Rb8-c8 25 .... y h a W i t ht h e i n t e n to f d r i v i n g w a yt h e N c 2s o a st o e f f e c t i v e lp l a c e i so w n pawnby Nd6. of knighton d4; but correctwasthe blockade the White passed Rc8xc2 26 Bflg4! bSb4 27 Bg4xl5 Therefollowed: by The blockade Bd6 wasnecessary. . a5xb4 28 a3xb4 29 d$d6, pawn'slust to expand, The passed which herehascreated more fortuia namelythe fact that the Rc2 is hanging. tous basis, Rc2-c3! 29 "" b4xc3? h c . h T h e d e c i s i vm i s t a k e ; e b i s h o p h o u l d a v e a p t u r e dB l a c ks h o u l d a v e e th s pawnon the b file and not on the c file; the further course the of a passed g a m e i l l s h o ww h y , w

time prepares actionwhich uproots an holdsbackthe c-pawnand at the same pawn on the b file this possibility on wouto the blockade d8. With a passed to not havebeenavailable him. Therefollowedl 35.... h7"h5 to The king threatened marchto h6r Kg2-f3-94-h5-h6. 36 h3h4 Rd8-s8 37 Rcel-c8 Rs8-d8 3l2-t4l Be5d4 39 g3g4 h5x94 40 h4h5 T b T h eu p r o o t i n g ! h e B l a c k l o c k a d e r s a n d R ) w i l l n o w b e d e c i s i v e d i lv {K pawnon h5. virtedby the passed 40 .... Bd4b6 41 h$h6 Ke7-f8 42 Rc8xc3 Kf8-s8 43 Rc3c8 Kg8-h8 44 Kg2.s3 Rd8.s8 To makethe blockade moreeffective Bd8, by 45 Rc8-eg Slippingbehindthe barrier which Blackhad hopedto erectby Bd8. Now mateis threatened hGh7, and therefore by Tartakower resigned. With a bold leapwe'll turn our attentionnow to the fight against major. a ity in the centerwithout bothering with the restof the "majority" problems this {otherwise writing would extendinto infinity). Heretoo, aswith every othermajority,we seeourselves threatened with the possibilitv the formaof tion of a passed pawn. To makethingstougher. new threatsappear, bethe ginning an attackagainst castled of the king {the centerasa weaponof aggress i o n ! ) n t r o d u c etd r o u g h e d g eo r m a t i o n r o p e n i n g f ! i n e s n dd e m o b i l i . i h w f o o a zation. I believe followingpositions the mainactorsarecharacterislc. the of

'&t %g'tzt
Di a g r a m 9

of etc. Not Bxd6because Rxd6, 30 Rd3xc3

% 'lfut ',r41 t7z %

7l

31 dedT

Ks8'f8

7,2 7 % 7t 72.., ,ry, 7,2 7 % + t %a7z

./ HH

32 Rb1-b4! Bd8-a8 It makes difference; no whatever Blackdoeshe 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 ste eW h i t er o o k c a nk i l l t w o b i r d s ; t h o n es t o n e .l t h w 12

W h i t en o t o n l y t h r e a t e nts e u s u a l f o r m a t i oo f a p a s s ep a w ni t h r o u g n o d h n a vance the candidate of e5-e6) but alsothe wedgeformationf5-f6. This wedge on f6, after the reply would have the disastrous effectfor Blackthar 97.96, I h ec a s t l e p o s i t r o n o u l db e c u t o f f f r o m d w 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

f f , t o f t h e p o i n t s 7 a n d h 7 ) . T o a v o i d h i sw e d g eo r m a t i o nB l a c kp l a y s 7 - f 6 , 9 pawnon e6 andtherebyobtainsa powerfLr a afterwhich Whitecreates passed Io t p o s i t i o n a ld v a n t a g e .s I s a i d t t h e b e g i n n i n g , n l y m a r k e dh e p o s i t i o n f o A a a on the most importantactors.Thus,if there had beenmore pieces the board, the Blackpawnon f6 could be usedasa targetin orderto force openthe g o )h c e e f i l e ( g 2 - g 4 - q 5T . e r e f o rw e e a s i l y o n c l u d t h a t i t i s n o t d e s i r a b lfe r B l a c k to to to oermitthe two pawns advance the sth tank; they shouldhavebeen on stopped the 4th rank.

in Neueste Schachnachthe brilliancyGiersing Kmochpublished Kagan's the ichten!) and I reached followingposition:

g
'11 Diagram

r *u
t, t t .

Bl a c k : Giersing

Di a g r a m 0 1

7; ''::/../z ,'../z /2 lt

'tta

.L :.2.:t.

7/., % 7,t

...
Wh itei Nimzowitsch

t t'/& , t ,/./l ',///z t//.. "t/.2 "//.,, /./.2.: t:

Whiteto moveand win Whitedoesnot havecomplete material for piece, compensation the missing superiority so greatthat one is definitelyinclined pruis but his positional to passed pawnon e5 and the strongpositionof the fer White. Besides protected the positional the White king in the center, advantage primarilyin the sad lies position the Blackrook. This rook is chained a pawnand therefore of to senpassivity.I applieda procedure to tenced complete involving combinations whichdoesnot represent strongest the continuation.To judgethe text continuationfrom the point of view of our book we will analyze very briefly it before showthe positional we way to victory. T h eg a m e o n t i n u e d : c 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 makes possible combination the whjch 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 tts e p a w n6 1 . . . 8 x b 6h e n6 2 e 6 t K x e 6 6 3 R h 6 1 . h t 62 Ke4d5 Rf7-e7 63 e5-e61! Compare note to White's61st move, the 63 .... Kd7c8 64 Rh2-t2 Re7-e8? This attemptto separate king and pawnfrom eachother endsfataily,jusr asin a moviebecause theretoo the attemptto separate two lovers narshthe is l y p u n i s h e dT h i s i s n a t u r a l l y n e c e s s i t yso t h e r w i ste e a u d i e n cw o u l oa s x . a a h e 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

t 1 o I n t h e p o s i t i o n f D i a g r a m 0 ,w h i c ha g a i n n l y s h o w sh e m a i na c t o r s , o fixed the candidate e4. Without hopeof everbeing on Blackhasmoreor less f4-f5, Whitedecides "sacrifice"his majority. He moves to ableto forcee4-e5, knights entrench themselves e5 and e6. With many on and now the respective pieces the boardthe knighton e6 could initiatea strongattack.but posion g a g t i t i o n a i l y h e B l a c k a m e s g o o d , n dt h e b l o c k a d i nk n i g h to n e 5 i s v e r yp o w ' of in sinceit prevents approach the the erful (see explanation (2) above) my preventing queenfrom goingto 94 or forces, instance for the Whiteattacking a rook to f3, etc. in a We haveseen everyfight against pawnmajoritythe first stepis hampert l s i n g , F i n a l l y h e i d e a c o n s i s to f a b l o c k a d e . however, The desire stop a mobilepawnmass in itselfunderstandable; to is pawns which are aloccasionally necessary blockade to the fact that it seems . y s t m o s ti m m o b i l es p u z z l i n gT h i sh a p p e np a r t i c u l a r lw h e no n ew a n t s o i 1 m a k e u c ha p a w nt h e t a r g e t .l s e eD i a g r a m l ) , s A n d n o w I w i l l g i v e o u r e x a m p l ets i l l u s t r a tw h a t I h a v e a i di n t h i s m o n f o e s o g r a p h . l l f o u r e x a m p l ea r ed e r i v e f r o m m y l a t e s p r a x i st,h e N o r d i cl \ 4 a s A s d t it A i t e r T o u r n a m e n n A u g u s t 9 2 4( C o p e n h a g e n )l.t h o u g h t w a sv e r vs t r o n g 1 w h o o n l y r e c e n t l w o n a h e a d f R u b i n s t e ia n dT e i c h m a n in B e r l i n , y o n n Johner, w a st h e r e f u r t h e r l l a nN i l e s s o nh e g e n i atlh e o r e t i c i a nr . K r a u s e , e s o l i c l A t, D th , y o u n gm a s t e rK i n c h ,K i e r ,e t c .- | s u c c e e d en w i n n i n g i t h 9 % p o i n t s u t s id w o t o f 1 0 ! | b e l i e v i n a l l s i n c e r e tty a t t h i sg r e a v i c t o r vh a st o b e c r e d i t e do m V e h t d e e p eu n d e r s t a n d i o f t h e e s s e n c e t h e b l o c k a d e I n e v i t a b l iy h a p p e n e d r ng of l t s 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 r o b l e me n c o u n t e r e d o o o c c a s i o n a lfla i l e . i , e It y b u t t h a t h a p p e n ev e r yr a r e l ya c t u a l l y n l y i n t h e f o l l o w i n g n d g a m e . d , o e o I n t h e s e c o n do u n dt h e e x c e l l e nm a s t eG i e r s i f l(g n eo n l y h a s o t h i n k o i r t r t 14
L.-

68 Rf7-d7mate. e t, wo b I n s t e a o f 6 4 . . . R e 8 ?o u g hr e s i s t a n c e u l dh a v e e e np o s s i b lw i t h 6 4 . . . d r h w D 1 K d 8 ;h o w e v eW h i t ew o u l dh a v e a da c l e a r i n ( s e e i a g r a m 1 ) i f h e h a d with 58 Rh2-h6. Therecould havefollowedl blockaded 58.... Kdl-e7 g6xf51 59 f4-f5 60 Kert-f4!! g A n d B l a c ki s h e l p l e s sg a i n s t e t h r e a t 6 t , f o r e x a m p l e : a th 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 example showshow much the blockader ableto keepits elasticis ity.

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 o s i t o i n . p it As far asthe other rook is concerned, is very happyon a5 because has it and may very well marchoverto the f file at the right mokept its elasticity c m e n t . B u t i t w o n ' t e v e n o m et o t h a t . T h e R a 5a n dt h e B l a c k - r o o k o l d a h therefore Whitef-rook only hasto deajwith one other in balance; the each (with one rook) and hereit proves itselfto be the stronger counterpart one, because already it occupies f file and partiallybecause is suppartially the it point out is the readiness portedby the king, But what I want to especially its positionand go onto the f file as of the Whitea"rookto leave blockading The soonas it is necessary. fight for the f file revolves aroundthe conquest of 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 T h ee n t r y . ( O r i g i n a l lW h i r eh a dp l a n n e d S h 6 . H a dB l a c kp l a v e d 9 . . . h 3 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 Ra5xa6 and won in b4 moves. In the followingvery instructive example failureto establish blockade the a is punished free play of the pieces. by white: Kinch Black: imzowrtscn N Playedin the Nordic lVaster Tournament 1924 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 g e w m o v e j h e t o o k t h e k n i g h t n ^ og5xf6 e7xf6 and made a regLllar gdmbit out of the game,

Di a g r a m 2 1

t % 7t % t /tut 'rfu. % 7z

'/z %e '/Lt
.Fr

Bl a c k I A l l a nN i l s s o n

% 7'.

t"/2, ltu 'r& lz 71,,

n,
White: N imzowitsch

pawnweaknesses; White hasthe betterpositionasa5 and d5 are vulnerable the first one paralyzes mobility of the Blackrooks,the latterthe mobility the o f t h e B l a c k i n g ( t h eW h i t er o o k p o s i t i o n5 f o r c e sh e d e f e n s i vp o s i t i o n k f t e Kc6, not Ke6which would be wreckedby Re5t). Thuswe must makeuseof greater the correspondingly mobility of our own forces. lt is clearto every e n d g a mp l a y e r 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 na c t i v i t y n t h e k j n g e t g o wing,but what happens with the Whiterooks? Shouldthey occupythe f file? W e l l , h e nt h e b a c k w a r a - p a w n i l l a d v a n c e ,n d i n t h i sw a y B l a c k i l l r i d t d w a w himselfof his weakpawnand willeven get a passed pawn. lf however one wantsto useone rook to blockade a5, then the other rook could hardly on w i n a n y l a u r e lo n t h e f f i l e c o u l di t ? s 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

5 Bg5xf6 6 Bfl-c4 7 Ns1-e2 P r e f e r a b il s N h 3 . e

e7xf6 f&f5

7 .... 8 Bc4-b3 9 a2xb3

Ncdas! Nasxb3 Od8-s5

17

9...d5would be refutedbY Nt4.

r':/t , LtL'.,/t .?.

1 Di a g r a m 3

/.a.a.15]!L

B l a c kI Nimzowitsch

2 .7,:z '//r.t /rrrrrrrrrrrrt. E 7,,, .fl,,t2 t t a lt /2..;, ;tu l.:.zEsl,fu t

K i n c ht o m o v e

Whitel S. Kinch

the positionWhiteculd play to blockade Blackpawn In the diagrammed with establishing through 10 93 together majorityon the king'swing,perhaps f 4 , f o r e x a m p l 1 0 9 3 B e 71 1 N f 4 G 0 1 2 A d 2 d O 1 3 G 0 - 0 a n d e t a k n i g ho n be winningchances in spiteo{ the extra h2-h4;then wherewould Black's by pawn? Perhaps an attemptto breakthe blockade 97-95?(After 10 93 in poup it Be7 1'1Nf4Oh6 12 Ad2 s'.l Hardly,because would loosen Elack's was which we havesuggested the the blockade sitiontoo much. Therefore r i g h tw a y t o e q u a l i z e . goodand which takesplacein the gameis likewise The flankingmaneuver fine. Bf8-e7 10 0-0 0-0! 11 t2]131 f5xe4 12 f3xe4 k7xl8 13 Rflxfgt 14 Nc3xe4 t h t b W i n n i n g a c kt h e g a m b i p a w nb u t l e a v i ntg e o p p o n e nw i t h t h e b i s h o p pair and the freergame. Therefollowed: 14.... 15 Ne4-t2 e N o t d 7 - d 5w h i c hw o u l dw e a k e n 5 . Og5-e3t d7.d6!

23 b3xc4 Ba6xc4 24 Nd3-c1 Bf&b4! than Ba6 but alsoin conformitywith the requirements Not only stronger "calls or mobility." w f o f t h ep o s i t i o n h i c h Re&f8t 25 Ra7xb7 , b t, B s H e r e l a c k t u m b l e s 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 s y the force,which makesit a sin against spirit of the blockade,(As waspointed free play with the pieces shouldperish throughBlack's out,White logically t h t W h i t ep e r m i t t e dh r o u g h i sf a i l u r e 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 which play with the pieces Blackshouldplay (instead 25...RfSt) 25 of unrestricted mate.)26...RfSt with ...9b4-d2l 26 Kf2 (The only move,as Rfgt threatened king hunt, 27 Kg3 Bel l 38 Kh3 BeOt 29 94 h5 30 Rb5 (30 RxcT? a decisive 31 Ks2 Bdst 32 Ksl Bf2t 33 Kfl Bq3t) 30..,Bxs4i 3'l K92 Bxe2 hxqt 32 Nxe2 Rf2t 33 Kgl Rxe2,etc. We returnto Diagraml4 after White's25th move,

l D i a g r a m4

E.L '% % 7,, 7z% '"/.H.N& t4, "'/r. ",/&, 7Za

Re8-f8t

Bc8-d7 16 Ne2-93 17 Ks1'f1 themselves. assert Probably better Od3although too the bishops was then
Ra8-e8! 17.... j t t e r B e c a u se a r l i eW h i t ef a i l e d o b l o c k a d t h e o p p o n e nh e i s b e i n g u s t l y e s g m p u n i s h e id s ot a r a st h e o p p o n e n t 'p i e c e h a v e r e a t o b i l i t y , s n 18 Ra1xa7 Bd7-bst Bd$a6 19 c2-c4 dGds 20 Ng3-e2 Qe3xd3 21 Dd1-d3 d4xc4 22 N{2xd3 18

played: As stated before, Black 25 .... 26 Kfl-sl And now,justa littlelate: 26.... T h e r eo l l o w e d : f 27 h2-h3 28 Ne2xcl 29 Ks1-h2 3 0 Rb l x c T Black has win, hardly a forced 30 .... 31 Kh2's3 32 Rc1xc2 33 Ks3-f4 34 Kf'l-es 35 d4-d5?

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 logical connections the blockading of events manifest themselves extrao r d l n a r i l ym p r e s s i v ei ln t 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 i y , ment".) Beforewe get to the next example will first givean explanation we which shouldclarifythe meaning the qualitative of majority. A majority,suchas threepawns against two, must,of course, impeded; this sense we be in too mustcall a majorityof thosepositions which the pawnmajorityon one in wing is of a subjective nature, l n m y g a m e g a i n s t e r n s t e ia t K a r l s b a 1 9 2 3{ l h a dt h e W h i t ep i e c e s ) , a B n d 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

forcefulthan an atly go overto the attackwith f5, 95, f4 which is much less formation (through a tackwith a realmajority. Therethen threatens wedge of conquest the "laterally" of t+f3l and opening lines{by f4xf3) with possible Pe3, However recognize majorityassuchmeans to a (not frontally)denuded something against Theretherefore it. followed: to undertake 12 Nf3.h4! Nd7-b8 To preventNf5. 13 q2-s3! Nfde8 14 Nh3s2! f7.f5 15 h2.h4 king side,which is seemingly readyto march,is paralyzed. And Black's Afthe impediment had beenconsolidated into a blockade ter a few more moves {bv N f4} I althoughmore difficult,wasthe case the gameNimzowitsch in Similar, from the Nordic Master Tournament.After 1 f4 c5 2 e4 Nc6 3 d3 q6 Olson wasreached, which, including e7-e6and d7-d5,wascalledby a position "the battleof the king'swing versus queen's the wing". Whitehas Schmidt position the in d3, e4, 14 a k ind of side-center, opponenthasa corresponding on the left wing. Therenow camemy entirelyrrnprecedented attemptto immediately hamperthe mobileenemyqueenwing (thrcugh4 c2.c4)because I recognize wing asa majority(of the subjective this typc). For a detailed explanation this surprising of move I may be permittedto referto the January issue Kagan'sNeuesteSchachnachrichten." ol The followingexample. which by the way actuallyhappened, showshow difficult problemsofrestriction canbe. In his new booklet,lndisch,Dr.fartakower presents game a which wasplayedbetween in the Copenhagen us '1923.(Whiter l,ilasters Tournamentin Tartakower, Black: Nimzowitsch) I d4 Nf6 2 Nc3 d5 3 Bg5Nc6, and he makes followingremarkr"Typica! the ly Nimzowitsch!Seemingly anti-positional Pawnopenbecause the Oueen's in Ingthe importantc-pawnis blocked, but this strategy the spirit of lively in playwith the pieces cannotbe simplybrushed aside." To this I would like to saythe followingrNc6 wasnot at all playedpertaining "play with the pieces".The movewassolelyto counteract to the a d v a n ce 2 . e 4 h i c hw o u l do p e nl i n e s n dt h u sf r e eW h i t e ' s a m e .H a dI e q w a translationof that note follows: 4 c2.c4 this move is not inspircd by the hope of preventingd7-cl, or only of ^-As '"dKtngit 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's wing 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 seems be nonessential. to 'A

'15 Diagram

r g a ',,& Ilflt 72t7z x, 2 /,fl.t //z

+ + /
f,Y

lH

a q * ttu fr.&
A p o s i t i o n a sb e e n e a c h e id w h i c hW h i t eh a sa s u b j e c t i vm a i o r i t y n h r n e o the queenside,BJack the king side. Why? Because pawnon e4 is on the "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 k f r e eh a n d , e w o u l dq r a o u a r a h 20

6lZ

.a

21

played4...e7-e6 once,e2-e4could be the response. at Thus,the strategy of I obstruction How interesting that this motivecould have escaped Tartakower who plav\ with so much routineand battleexperience. could it be just the fault ot Or the "routine" that he missed "finer" pointsin this instance? the

SuPPlement

who is so well publisher B. Kagan, Mrthe Following wish of my esteemed relating the blockade to world, l'll add somegames in the entirechess known procedures. of After the next moves, e3 e6 5 Nf3 Be7 6 Bd3 h6! 7 Bh4 b6! the trencl 4 andalsosomenew examples my at playedin the master tournament Ostende which wasdirected e2-e4 wasfurther strengthened. O0 Bb7,and against 8 I beginwith an oldergame, of examples the pell-mell now I threaten combinational the moveNe4with interesting to I consider be one of the most pronounced combi1907,;hich majority' of impediment a qualitative 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 arrived the end of our explanations. lookedat the at We c7'c5 2 Ngl't3 problemof obstruction from differentsides and we became convinced how e7'e6 3 e2'e3 muchstrategy represented a fight between is by mobility on one sideand the Ng&J6 4 b2'bg tendency obstructon the other, to Nb8-c6 5 Bf1'd3 y d T h e p h j l o s o p hh e r e e v e l o p eid e n t i r e l y o v e a n d i t i s t h e r e s u l o f m a n ! s n l t B{8-d6 6 a2'a3 years research, applies of this especially the justification the duty to to of 7 Bc1'h2 b l o c k a d e F i n a l l y w i s ht o g i v et h i sg u i d i n g r i n c i p l t o t h e a l e r tc h e s s p l a y e r i . I p e freeingadvance an agalnst intended is The White development directed Stop everypawnwh ich wantsto advance pretext,every underthe sl;ghtest into that this latercrystallizes a blocke6e5. Thusobstruction. No wonder passed pawn,everypart of the center, everyquantitative qualitative or majorin on (A White knight laterposted e5) Because the spirit of our essay ade. ity, stopthem! Firsttry it goodnaturedly. (as with mild measures 3...Nc6for is lightobstruction only an introductorystep,but the climax is the blockade' instance my Copenhagen gameagainst in your Tartakower). after that let G0 7.... rightous chess-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 wing by recognizing pawns on counterplav the queen's Blackestablishes 'i924 qualitative thereasa majority. Dresden 12 d4xc5! An excellent movewhich had only the one iault that van Vliet didn't un' A. N imzowitsch book alsosuffered tournament derstand But the annotator the Ostend of it. con' Teichmann a slmilar gave text movea ? Apparently the fate. Teichmann siders incriminating of moveasa surrender the center. But that is not the the case, correctly. only White shouldhavecontinued Bd6xc5 12 .. NfGdT 13 0d1-f3 to moveis not apparent me. Blackwantsto A betterand more consistent getrid of the blockader Ne5 in orderto mobilizehis own centerpawns Bb7xc6 14 Ne5xc6 ( S e e i a g r a m6 a t t h e t o o o f t h e n e x t p a g e ) i D 15 Of3g3 This and the next moveare mistakes. c , W h i t es h o u l d a m o e t h e B l a c k e n t e rw h i c hc o u l db e a c c o m p l i s h e d h r p t h r o u g h 5 b 3 - b 4 !B b 6 1 6 N d 2 - b 3 n dB d 4 o r N d 4 T h e b l o c k a d e o s i t i o n a 1 23

22

'A c.9,

Diagram 6 1

ltall,, 1.7.,/.. 7 /,t '/..,t t,,,gt /, /t llz lt t",za 7//. ,f,w .Hfr.8 t t'/,tu
/t*'t

7/tA7,zt L t .

i *-6 1 a r eo p i n i o n sn c h e s s l l ' 19 ele4 with e6-e5l 94-95 ln orderto answer 20 Rd1-el 21 l4-ts After 14,..Bxc6

od8-d7 e&e5!

1 Diagram 7

with a pieceon d4, thus achieved, would not be easilyshaken by f7-f6 ancl off e6-e5because after f7"f6, Ohs, or Oh3 would become unpleasant. the On other handthe Blackb-pawn, which wasfixed by b3-b4,could become tara get for an attack. For instance b3-b4Bc5-b6 16 Nd2-b3Od8-e7 't7 15 ( N b 3 - d 4 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 b e c a u so f t h e d o u b l e i s h o p a c r i f i co n h 7 a n d9 7 ,t h u s :2 0 B x h T t K x h T e b s e 21 Oh5t Kg8 22 BxgTKxgT 23 Og51 Kh8 24 Rt3l ot l7...Bb6xd4instead of BcGbT 18 e3xd4. ln the positionthus reached pawnon c2 is backthe ward and not worth much,the same applies Bb2 but these to weaknesses couldonly be uncovered the maneuver the knightd7 overb6 to a4 or by of c 4 ,a n dB l a c k d u et o h i so w n u n s a f e i n g ' s o s i t i o n W h i t e ' e f i l e a n dm o ( s p k b i l i t y o n t h e k i n g ' s i n g iw o u l dh a r d l y a v e i m ef o r t h a t . T h e r e e m a i ntsh e w h t r posting the knighton e4 which however of after Bd3xe4would leadto orroositecoloredbishops. Therefore Whitecould haveequalized d4xc5 in connection by with the artempt to impedethe enemycenter. After his 16th moveWhite is at a disad, vantage, although one hasto admit that Black's play hasto be extremely risky In orderto expose disadvantage, the II ...Nd7.f6 16 Ral-d1? With still betteraccess than on the previous moveWhitecould haveqone t h r o u g h i t h t h e a b o v e e n t i o n eo b s t r u c t j o nT h u si 6 b 3 - b 4B c b - b 61 7 w m d , Nd2-b3and B lackmust be carefulin orderto equalize. 16 .... a6a5! Now pawna3 is a weakness, Whitedoesnot reachthe abovementionand ed obstruction. 17 Os3h3 h7-h 6 T h e B l a c kp o s i t i o n a nt o l e r a t eh i sw e a k e n i n g l c t 1g g2-s4 d5-d4 A deeplyconceived move.which already shows the intentionof blockadi n gt h e W h i t ea d v a n c i nm a s s n dt h e f l i g h to f t h e B l a c k i n g . A c c o r d i n go g a k t my teachings other moveis out of the question any because obstructton the of the Whitepawn mass the most urgentorderof the hour. The fact tnar is T e i c h m a nc a l l s 5 - d 4a m o v e f " d u b i o u s a l u e ,s h o w s o r , w i d e l vd i v e r n d o v , h v 24

z % t%a%"lt
7Nt,.X,
-

2*71,t "4.Allt t 'L x i"..& t ''/Lt

majorjtyon the king'swing Threat:94-95after a Whitehasa qualitative moveand h2-h4. oueen NfFhT 21 .... The plav which now follows,i.e.to Jorcea delayof 94-95(afterh2-h4) a example the fight against qualita of untilthe king hasfled is an admirable tivepawnmajority. Od7-e7 22 Nd2-t3 R{&e8 23 Oh3-93 t7.t6 24 h2.h4 25 Re1-a1 move. Whiteto makea defensive This weakness a3 forces on 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 plan of defense all its depth becomes evident:after g5xf6 Now Black's in the answer and the king finds satety can alwaysbe g7xf6. f6 is well defended on d6. 31 g5xf6 safety. the Whitebegins battlebeforethe king hasreached g7xf6 31 .... 32 N{3-h4 a Not a bad idea. White wantsto establish strongoutposton the g file. Rag-98 32 .... Rh8-h5 33 Nh+s6 Nd7,f8 34 Ks2-t2 Now a terrific battlewill ragefor the outpost96. On the wholethe out' postappears be {airly strong. lf despite it that strength cannotbe held, to

25

t h e r e a s o ni e si n t h e w e a k n e s s t h e W h i t ep o s i t i o nn a m e l y n t h e f a c tt n , , I , of i 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 eb y B c 6a n dO b 7 ,b u t a l s ob y t h c S " i ' d w h i c hi s b u r n i n go g i v e d i s c o v e r e d e c k . t a ch 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 l W h i t eh o l d s 6 . . . y 9 'lo ab7-s7 4O Re2-92 Rs8-h8 41 Ah5-e2

d qudlitiitiv{ d m u t L a l 5 ob c c o n s r d e r Y d 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 a n d c r o w n c dw ' l h t h e 2 n d b ' 1 1 ; a n c v , , . , 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"

/ize' Nimzowitsch White:

No.2 1Ng1-f3 2 d2-d4 3 c2'c4 4 Nb 1 - c 3 5 e2-e3 6 a2-a3

B n B l a c k : e r n s t e i{ A m e r l c a ) Nq8-i6 d7-d5 Bf8-e7 0-0 a7-a6

'/:
/t::

7:/

' D i a g r a m1 8

7.zzA.l/, 11fr /,,

//.2 g

I C4'Ct B l a c k p a w n h a so e e n c h a i 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 F o r m sa p a w n a r e l h e p a w n sd 4 a n d c 5 "O'f"l "Of The Wh;te links;n the chain ,aii.i !vhite plan for attack in the realm of the rhe Black ones are db and cb. I ne

/::/ t,g '/t L tt tlt lz /lz t fr72a Nfr,/. wtHta

is b7xc6 forced' after b5xc6 which * lll'l ili, o" """1i n2'oq, "q'.b4-b5' the base the Blackpawn ot pawnon c6' which {orms in o,t'rr *orOr, the
movement to -h"in \ ill he exoosed an altacKTromthe sideand an enveloping

ill'il

41 .... Rh8_h4! S t a r t s d i v e r s i oa g a i n sP e 4 , n dt h i s i s d e c i s i v e ,a m e l yo r t h e f a t eo t a n t a n f P g 6a n dt h e r e f o ra l s of o r t h e r e s u l o f t h e g a m e . e t 42 Bb2-c1 At lastthe bishop, which wascut off for 24 moves, dares comeout intc to u t h ed a y l i g h tb u t h e a r r i v ejs s t i n t i m e t o w i t n e s t h e c o l l a p so f h i sf o r c e s . , s e Attet 42 Rg4,which Teichmann recommended here,would havefollowecl R x g 4 4 3 O x g 4B c 6 , d 7a n d B d 7 - e B n dB l a c km u s tw i n . ! a 42.... Rh4xe4! 43 Ae2-d2 Re4-h4 44 Ad2xa5 ag7-d7 T h e b l o c k a d i nq u e e n e a v eh e rp o s t . W h e n n ec o n s j d e r s a t b l o c k a d i n g g l s o th i s u s u a l l yh e t a s ko f t h e m i n o rp i e c e s ,n em u s ta d m i tt h a t t h e q u e e nw h i c h t o , i s n o t u s e d o t h i st v p e o f w o r k ,h a s o n ea t e r r i f i c o b . t j d 45 gdgTl K8-s8 N o w h i sm a j e s t y a s a k e no v e rt h e b o c k a d e i m s e . h t h f 46 ad3c4t b5xc4 47 Oa5xc5 T o s w e e ph e b l o c k a d a w a yw i t h O f g t . t e 47 "" R h 4 - h 1 !t Resigns.
t T h i s g a r n e( a g a j n sv a n V l i e t ) , w h i c h r e m a i n e d e i a t ; v e l y n n o t i c e c l , s o n e r r i o f m y b e s ta c c c m p l l s h m e n t s .

td d a l W e h a v e l r e a d v ; s c u s s eh e i n t i " " " , i " i t i . r l a c o n s i so f R b 1 - b 7 - c 7 x c 6 part of lhis book in moves the theoret:cal iti"al c7"c6 7 .,' Nb8-d7 h2'b4 a Od8'c7 9 Bc1'b2 e&e5 10 od1'c2 11 0-0'0! of asa refutati'on Up until now the pushin the centerhasbeenconsidered p e r c e p t i o ne G e 5i s l u r t t . - " l " i r " i u . " " t t r o m t h ef l a n k A n e n t i r e l V n f o u n d e d -n"trinu hassomeabilr.."ctionto c4-c5which iJ the Whitecenter ""r" ii" more' su i t y t o r e s i s-t e q u a l i z e b , t n o t e5-e4 11 "'

";;;i;1'L

the while enverop' be would bv Rb6' (tnesioe attack

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 h efalte a c K I n g p o . t p l a yo n t h e e i e t , i t i o n. g r i " , t l a * o u i d c o n s i so f t h e e x c h a n ge 5 x d 4 'a n d

'-\14 or ii'""ni"n"ii*o estootirn.""ta1oJtoost H?Ylll: i".':li: n::r e t b e f i l P\ ' ! o u l d e l o n g o v v L

se e t e m p ti s n o i p r a c r i c a l llV a sb l eb e c a L r t h e e t o d o e x c e pt o s d e v e i o p m e n T h e r ef e m a i n n o t h i n s l s e t ;;;kr;" ;it;;;|. f r o m d 4 o n t o t h e n e wb a s e tn n , t ar t O +t , u n t o u c n a Oae dt r a n s f etrh e a t t a c k f7-{5'{4x h t " g * i i n . s . + . W h i t et h e nh a s h e t a s ko f h a m p e r i ntg e m o v e m e n t 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 T o p r e v e nN f 5 .

26

i a m e a n sn c l a s s i c s l v l e ' t d T h e o b s t r u c l i o v v 6 5 2 r ' r i eo u t b y qh e s i m p l e s t n 6 " b a r o u e " t b j z a ( t eb u t t h e r n o v e o n s i s t s c ' o O t c l u r s " f Z N h 4 c o u i da p p e a r Therefore n al 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 p e r a t l o o f o b s t r u c i i o n 2,7

13 s2-93 1 4 Nh 4 ' g 2 15 h2-h4

NfGeS t7-r5

m y e s t e e m e d e a d e r i l l f i n d i t u n d e r s t a n d a b lw h e n I h a v eo n l V a p i t i f u l r w e 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 Morecautious wasBe2then Kd2. After this development comoleted is W h i t e o u l db e a b l et o b r i n gt h e a r t a c k 2 - a 4 n db 4 - b 5 o a , r c c e r r f u l " o n w a a t clusionwithout any greater effort. to.... b7.b6! W e l lp l a y e d l U s u a l l yh e c o u n t e m o v e m e no f t h e m i n o r i t yo n l y g i v e s t r t an advantage the attacking to side(in this case. White). However, prJsence the o1 the Whitemonarch makes Whitemajority in a certainsense comprornisthe a ed one,and therefore pushb6 is sufficientlymotivated. the 17 h4b5

20 Diagra.r'

, 'N. z.& t2,

a gt T A %tzt% "/z''.rfur'./,fu.
/,NWWA1&.

'/a /,r. 7:./Lt

Diagram 9 1

ttt ttt

/&. ^ '&8/lz, 'rfua &,trltgt

Ne8-f6

t '& r

./,

17.... 18 Ns2-f4 The blockader!

18.... a6xb5 19 a4xb5 Ac7-17 20 Bt1-e2 Bd8-c7 21 c5xb6 Bc7xl4 After 21...Bxb6Blackwould soonhavehad markedweaknesses, for in_ s t a n c e 1 . . . 8 x b 62 2 K c 1 . d 2 n dW h i t ew i l l o c c u p y h e a f i l e 2 a t a n dm a i n t a i n threats against base the chain,d5 (afterdisappearance tte proiecrrng the of o+ c6). zz gJxf4 Now the obstruction the B lackpawn mass the king of on sideis absolute. 22 -... Bc8-d7 23 Kc1-d2 c6xb5 24 Rdl-a,t! Whiteforcespositional advantages the queen,s on wing, 24.... Nb&c6 25 Be2xb5 NcGa5! 26 BbS"eZ Rfg_b8 E l a c kh a s e f e n d ee x c e l l e n t la n o i s n o w a D o u t o e q u a l i z e . d d y 28

27 Nc3-a4 only the simple27 Ra3 elegant combination.Otherwise An exceedingly i t t o b e c o n s i d e r e d. ,e .2 7 R a 3R x b 6 2 8 R h 1 - a 1 N a 5 - c 42 7 B x c 4 R x a 3 had 30 Rxa3 (Bxd5would simplifytoo much and resultin a draw due to the op' 30...d5xc431 Ra3-a8tand after 31...8e8 32 Ba3 Rb3 color bishops) oosite for combinational reason the the hasless than nothing, Besides specific White for text move,there is alsothe intentionof makingit asdifficult aspossible without however insisting material to theopponent win backthe sacrificed to too stronglyon holdingon to that material 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 case Blackcould erecta firm blocka d e - w a l l od 5 . n

Z .%t8/fr} ' H . % 6 7
Diagraml 2

/Z.z t"%t'% '/&'t1.f,. % ',l.f, AlH 7 "ZW'&,har.ft'.

30 Oc2xb3!

p d i s , T h i ss a c r i f i c e ,r e p a r eb y 2 7 N a 4 ,i s e n t i r e l y n t h e m o d e r n p i r i ti n t h e oest meaning the word. (Compare noteto Black's 31st move.) the of Rb6xb3 30 .... NfGeS 31 Ra4xaSl And now one expects quick participation the other rook. All of the of the . h e a v y i e q qa g a i n stth e f r a i la n dp i n n e d n i g h t .A t t h a t t i m e o n ec a l l e dh a t : p s k t 29

\-

e l e g a np l a y l H o w e v etrh i s b r u t a l p p r o a c d o e s o t g o w i t h m y n a t u r ea n d t a h n , b e s i d e st,w o u l db e a b i g m i s t a k ei , e .3 2 R h1 - a 1 ? I 7 . c 7 ! 3 3 R x e 8 l K f 7 , i . Q a n dW h i t eh a ss p e n t i m s e la n ds h e d t e a r s f r e p e n t e n c e . o , t h e R a l r sn o r h f s o N in a hurry "to take part", on the contrary.with a tired gesture like someone bored,it permitsbanishment, other words: it staysin the background. in 32 Be2-d1t! T h e p o i n t :W h i t ed o e s o t f e a rt h e a n s w e3 2 . . . R b ' 1 , n r 32.... Rb3xc3! And again the talented American master findsthe strongest move. 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 e ry a w h o l et e m p ot h a n b R x e S t ) . n do n t h e o t h e rh a n dt h e r e t r e a3 2 . . . R b 6 o u l db e i n s u f f i c i e n te . a t w b cause 33 Ba4 Re6 34 Rb1 (onty now the rook appears) of 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 e n dW h i t ew i n s . a D o e s n 'tth e l a t ep a r t i c i p a t i o n t h e m a i na c t o r ,R h 1 ,r e m i n d so f h o w of u the "hero" of a dramais usually"jntroduced":first comes old servant an who tellsa story.then two other "characters" steponto the stage and makeus cur_ iousaboutthe "hero", and at last"he" appears person and becomes in the c e n t e o f a l lh a p p e n i n g s . r 33 Kd2xc3 Qf7-c7t 34 Kcgd2 Ke8-f7 Now a positionhasbeenreached which canonly be won throughattackin the classical style. The old picture:at first positional advantages won by are modernplay,then these advantages utllizedthroughold-fashioned, are ctass. cal chess!

41st move Seethe note to White's ab2-b7 44 .... Ab7'b2 45 Ra2-a7 46 Kfl-92 t h t h T h e k i n gd e c l i n ets e h e l po f h i sr o o k s ; e d o e s n 'n e e d h e ma n y m o r e . Ne8-f6 46.... N{6h5 4 7 R a l - h1 t zl8 Be2xh5 g6xh5 Blackevenhasa Passed Pawn. Now 49 Rhl-a1! r o Thetheme { thereturnl Black esigns pawnsasa havepassed known gamein which both sides I giveherea lesser Danishmaster the playedthis gameagainst outstanding turtherexample. I 1923tournament. at Mdreller the Copenhagen No.3 Black:lvldeller White:N imzowitsch 't t7-15 d2-d4 Ns8-f6 2 c2"c4 d7-d6 3 Nbl'c3 Schach' Neueste oI As wasshownin my articlein the Januaryissue Kagan's and myself,is perfectlyplay' by this nachrichten, move,discovered Krause in able. (This article appears Appendix Two.) Nb8'c6 4 Ngl-f3 h7-h6 5 Bcl-t4 NfGs4 6 h2-h4 l e7 w T h r e a t e n i n g - e 5 i t h c o m p l e t ei b e r a t i o n . NcGeS 7 d+ds article e7'e5. Seethe abovementioned Preferable the combinational was (Appendix Two). 8 Bf4xe5 e2-e4 oncewasmorecorrect. at d6xe5 8 .... e7'e6 9 e2"e4 10 Ni3-h2 Bc5. Something to be doneagainst has Od8xh4 10 .... 11 Nh2xg4l N A A s o u n d a c r i f i co f t h e e x c h a n g e . f t e r O x h l t h e r e{ o l l o w s x e 5w i t h a s e verystrongattack. Oh4xg4 11 .... Bf&e7 12 Od1'b3 13 c4c5 T h e m o b i l e u p e r i otrV l s 0'0 13 .... 14 d5xe6

35 Be2-hst 36 Rhl-a1!

s7's6

Classical the watchword, rook becomes is the touqh. 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 ew i t h e v e r y t h i ne l s e u t t h e s a f e t y f h i sk i n g ,b u t h e r e h e j u s t d g b o t m e n t i o n e m o t i f f o r m st h e m a i ni n c e n t i vo f a l l t h e a c t i o n ! d e

40 ....

obeb3

41 h4h5! N o w t h e p l a nb e c o m ec l e a ra f t e rh 5 x g 6h 7 x g 6 h e B l a c kk i n gw i l l b e a t s ; t tractivelyembraced oncefrom the h file and oncefrom the 7th rank. S h o u l d h e r eb e a d i s t r a c t i na t t a c k y t h e q u e e n i . e . O b 2a f t e rK g 2 )t h e t g ( , b d o u b l e d o o k s i l l a l s oh a v e w o r d t o s a v( R a 5 - a 2 ) , r w a

T h er e s o u r ca rs b e i n g o b i l i z e d . ee m 42 Ras-ao 43 h5xs6 44 Rada2l 30

Nc7-e8 ob3b2 h7xg6

31

G e n e r a l lo n eh a st o t h i n k t w i c eb e f o r e n ed e c i d ets c h a n g a " m o b i l e y o o e pawnbecause majority" into a stoppedpassed that would meangivingup . d r e a m o 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 . s n a n c e f t h e b l o c k a d b y t h e o p p o n e ns h o u l d e q u i r e a n yp i e c e s ,n d i f o e t r m a there is a possibility awakening new life the "sleeping of to beauty" {the passed pawn),then the heroicattemptmay be justified. And so it is here. 14 .... f4xe4 15 Nc3d5 Og'1-95 16 Oble3 B e t t e r e e mts b e 1 6 N x c TR b g 1 7 B c 4 . o s 16.... Bc8xe6! An excellent of sacrifice the exchange throughwhich Blackgetsvaried p l a y i n g h a n c ew i t h t h e t w o b i s h o p s . c s 17 Oe3xg5 Be7x95 18 Nd5xc7 BeefT 19 Nc7xa8 Rf8xa8 20 Btl-b5 Ra8-c8 21 t 2-b4

al'as 31 Rc2'b2 pawn,which has the passed situationhascleared.Whitestill have The of whatsoever assailing hasno possibility andWhiteapparentlV l,,enstopped, l p d w h i l et h e B l a c k a s s ep a w n( t o s p e a ki k e L a s k e ri)s t i l l e d frJoto.nua.r, " . - i r h" t h r e a t e n i n gm o b i l i t Y . l(98'f7 32 Rhlh5 Bdls6 33 g2-g4

23 Diagram

7z.t ,,.
A ,

7 7t
/.Pr

7.2.

Diavam22

% 7/,

9Lfl 'rfl /L zt % 7' 7z 2 '/&.ft

t//Z '7' % % %A ,

34 Rh5xe5! the because Whiteking the Whitesacrlfices exchange A deepcombination: with his e'pawnand his own rook can invade centerand in connection the can lift the blockade.

Whitehasthe majorityon the queen's wing,but difficultiesin developing t h e k i n gr o o k b e c a u sc a s t l i n g a n e n d i n g o u l db e b a d . B u t n o w t h i n g s e t e in g w livelybecause Blacktriesto stopthe majorityonceand for all. 21 .... b7-b6 22 Bds-d7l Rc8-c7 23 c$c6 bAbs 24 Rhl-h3 e4e3! 25 a2-a4 Blackthreatened Bd5, i.e..25 fxe? Bd5 26 Rc1 Bxg2. 25 -... b5xa4 26 Ra1xa4 Bf7-c4 27 l2xe3 Bc4b5 28 Ra$a2 Bg5-e7 29 Ra2-c2 The c-pawnis the morevaluable the two, so the b-pawnmust die. of 29.... BeTxb4t 30 Ke1-f2 Bb5-d3

"strongrook" blockader, prepared from all on the Unveiling assault the "tasks" areassigned follows:the Rb5 attacks "unhappy the as sides. The to the one" from the rear(throughRb7). Of course Blackking hurries his aid the Rc7 eitherfrom d6 or d8 ln the first case, andcan protectthe attacked but check from the pawnon e4 (e4'e5t) is decisive. iJ the king takesthe more throughf4, e5 to will advance modest positionon d8, hisWhite counterpart d6 and the blockader dead. is 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 e S ,R b 7 { . . . K d 8 )K d 6 , d Bb3e6 43 Rb8-b7l Be6xd7 44 c'xdT 45 Kf4-e5 rl t A f t e r r h e s u c c e s s ta tlt a c k h e b e n e f i c i a e s t ! u Ke7-e8 45 .... Bd7xg4 46 Ke5'd6

34 .... 35 Rb2-b5 36 Rbsxes 37 Kt2-13 38 e3e4 39 Re5-b5

Bb4-c3 Bc3xe5 a5-a4 Bgec2 Bc2-b3

32

33

hGhS 47 Rb7xg7 a4a3 48 e+es 49 ete6 and the little pawntoo is The threeassailants cometo high honors, have a aboutto be promotedto become majorpiece. But Blackd;d not wait for resigned. these events unfold and therefore to conducted attackagainst A beautifulgame, and throughthe harmoniously c7 the blockader alsovery instructive. Master Tournament 1923 | playeda game of Also ln the Copenhagen pawnoughtto be interesting Semisch, which the fate of my passed in against of in the spiritof our subject.As the gameis alsocharacteristic my style,it herefor the benefitand enjoyment my friendly readers. of may be presented No.4 White: N imzowitsch 1 d2.d4 2 c2-c4 Black: emisch S

12 .... 13 d4d5 pawn, The birth of the passed

c7-c5

Ns5-f6

13.... b6b5 is which however taken noticeof by Blackwithout a signof concern.On the contrary,he is gettingrough! 14 Oa4-b3 of 14 Temptingherewasthe sacrifice the exchange 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 celebrate to so tage"doesnot appear pawn? wildly the birth of a passed 14 "" e6xd5 15 e4xd5 Be7-d6 reportsto his post. The blockader 16 Bc1-f4! who emerges with the offer of a sacrifice. His counterpart.

e7-e6 b7.b6 the the of This openingpresents ideaof renouncing establishment a mate. c i d e r i a l l yt a n g i b l e e n t e r n o r d e rt o b e s a t i s f i ew i t h a k i n d o f d o m i n a n c( t h u s d y t t h e i d e a f i n f l u e n c e )I. i n v e n t e a n dt h o r o u g h l a n a l y z e id i n 1 9 1 1a n d o r9 r m 1 9 1 2 . I n t h e P e t e r s b u 1g 1 3M a s t eT o u r n a m e nI te m p l o y e d y i n n o v a t i o n for Gregorymust be against Gregory the first time. This qame mine against of considered archetype the and I asthe inventor the opening1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 of e6 without the follow-upd7-d5.

3 Nsl-f3

'72r,
IL

A
t\Y_),

Diagram 24

'ry
% %

4 s2-s3
This is the antidoterecommended Rubinstein by sometime ago. lt is howeverfairly innocuous shownin the gameSamisch Nimzowitsch as which ( f o l l o w s N o .9 ) . 4 .... Bc8-b7 5 Bfl-s2 Bf8-e7 d7-d5 Od8"c8 I ltlfSe5 Not good, Much betterwasmy movec7-c6as in the above cited qame. 9 c4xd5 Nf6xd5 10 Nc3xd5 8b7xd5 11 e2-e4 preferable to This movecannotbe bad,however seems me 11 Bxds exd 12 Be3;after 12...4e1Ito protectd5 and thus makepossible c7.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 p , g b t h e q u e e n i s h o p 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 r e ta l o n g i t h o u i w o r t i t h e b i s h o p n 9 2 . H o w e v ea f t e r1 4 . . . 8 d 6h e s i t u a t i o ns n ' tc l e a r n a n yw a V . i 11 .... Bd5.b7 12 ad1-a4 Lookssomewhat artificial. l\4any would havepfeferred Be3 here.

6 0-0 7 Nbl-c3

s0

16 .... Oc8-c7 After 97-95the intended sequence 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 d l a c k o u l dt h e n b e i n d i r e B w straits because after fxgst he captures pawn he will be in a matingnet if the after Kh1 and Rg1. lf however to {afterf4xg51)the king retreats 97,White woulddecidethe gamewith 17 Oc31 Kg8 18 Bh3 and Be6or (instead of Bh3) positionally Re1and f2-f4. The pawnmass connection by in with the e file {square would be of decisive e6) importance. 17 Ne5-d3 Againa combinational move. 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 basic combin a t l o n + c 4 1 9 O a 3 l !w h i c hw a sp l a y e d e r e b u t a l s ob e c a u ste e o p e n i n g c h , h of the a file serves positional purpose which is still very much hidden. a 18 .... c5-c4 19 Ob3-a3! Bd6xl4 20 Nd3xf4

34

35

p r Ih id h T h r o u g h e c u i a ic o m b i n a t j o n s a v e u c c e e d en e l i m i n a t i ntg e b l o c k . s s f a d e r r o m d 6 . T h e n e x tb l o c k a d ei r t 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

'2
Di a g r a m 5 2

g,A'W .L t

'z "/a/l
Tl

7 z % alv. ',tu /4t

7Z
s

t 7,,n727z 7zt./z *) /.*.

32 Nb5-d6 but Whitesacrifices of ice! Not of material course beautifulsacrif A very on h ; < d v a n t a g e t h e7 t h r a n k ' s" nl) a Nc6xa7 Z2 ,.,. 33 Nd6xe8 for with knightsis lavorable White The ending ' Nc7'b5 33 .... Ks8-s7 Ne8-f6t 34 35 NfGds for shallremainreserved the White king' that ' Not to e4 because square t7-t6 35 ....

g
2 Diagram6

presents explanation to why Whitesoughl The positionthus reached as the the opening the a filer everything ot wasdonesolelywith regard the passed to pawn. The situationis that the queenwould like to be firmly posted e7 be. on fore d5-d6is played. However with a closed file the queencouldn'tremain a therelongbecause would chase awayat once. The situationis entireReB her ly differentwith an opena file. After 22...Ra-e8 Ob4 would follow, and 23 Whiteobtainsby Ra5 (afterQb6) play on the a file. And thus Blackmust tal(eother measures.

a,/6 t/ , / , / t

i : t

Kg7'17 Nb5'd4t Nd4b3

The "darling" wantsto be protected and supported. 25.... Ra8xal 2 6 R d1 x a 1 Od8xe7

22.... 23 d5.d6 24 Kg1xgz 25 Rf1.d 1

Oc7-d8 Bb7xs2 Nd7-f6

27 d,6xe7 Nowhehas advanced. White's labor rewarded. is

27 "" Ri8-e8 28 Ra'l-a7 Now White's advantage clear. is 2A .,.. s7-s5 29 N14-e2 Nt6d5 30 Ne2-d4 Nd5xe7 grief. However A deathcreates thereare many raysof light present because after 31 Nd4xb5 W h i t eh a ss u p e r i o r i tb e c a u so f t h e d o m i n a t i o o f t h e 7 t h r a n ka n dt h e y e n pawnon c4, exposed 31 .... Ne7"co 36

Nb3d2 fFf5 40 hz'h3 Kf7-{6 41 Ncldl Nd2-e4 42 ltld1'e3 Ne4xt2 43 Ne3xc4 44 b2'b4 lt willwrn d y d T h i sp a s s ep a w ni s s p l e n d i d ls u p p o r t e b y k n i g h ta n dk i n g 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! c5 Destination: . NfGdT 49.... Kc8'd8 50 bGbTt Now the Nd7 is the onlv piececontrol" attemptat blockade. Unsuccessful 37

36 Kg2-f3 37 Nd5-c3! 38 Kf3e4 39 Ke4d5 positionis decisive. The White king

lingb8.

51 52 53 54 B e c a L r Ne 5i s f a t a l . se

Kc6do Nd3-b4! Nb4c61 KdGcT

Nd7-b8 Nb8-d7 Kd8-e8 Resigns

d ( T h e f i r s tp a s s ep a 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 sh i sa d v a n c e p e t o d 6 w a sm a d e o s s i b lb y v a r i o u o f f e r s l s a c r i f i c e s da l s o h r o u g h h e s o an t t m o v e m e n tf 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 e d e x t r a o r d i n a r y . o by ef f o r t s( t h es e e m i n g lu n m o t i v a t eo p e n i n g f t h e a f i l e ) . T h e nt h i sp a s s e d y d o pawndied by the handof an "assassin", out of its ashes new passed but a pawnemerged on the b file - which advanced with irresistable energy. P e r s o n a ltlh e g a m e s c h a r a c t e r i s w ct h a m i x t u r e f i m a g i n a t i oa n ds v s . y i ti i o n p g t e m a t i c l a n n i n t y p i c a o f m y s t y l e , n d i t e x c e l sn a k n i g h te n d i n g l a y e d p l a i i n t h e c l a s s i c s tl y l e , a d T o c l o s e h e " p a s s e p a w n "c h a p t e lr' l l g i v em y g a m e g a i n sS p i e l m a n n t a t f r o m t h e S t o c k h o l m\ , 4 a s t eo u r n a m e n1 9 2 0i R e s u l t : . B o g o l j u b o1 2 1 l , ; l T r t l v l l . N i m z o w i t s c1 2 ; l l l . O l s o n ; l V . S p i e l m a n6 l l , jt h e r ef o l l o w e d e n d e t . h 8 n W J a c o b s o n .V h o l mS v a n b e r g T)h e g a m e e p r e s e nas i f f i c u l tp o s i t i o n a l N , . r td struggle minuteadvantages. the passed for pawnonly appears and later. l-tow. e v e r h e m e t h o d f s t o p p i n S p i e l m a n ss e m i n g lu n s t o p p a b pe s s ep a w n t o d g 'e y la m a k e sh i sg a m e v e r y i n s t r u c t i ve x a m p l en t h e s p i r i to f o u r s u b j e c t . t e a l No.5 B l a c k : p i em a n n S l 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 oo f 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 aa s a i n s t n rg the pawnc5) is lhe bestmove,then the Blackpositionmust be characterized y a sw e a k . P r o b a b l B d 7 i s p l a y a b l e . 7 c3xd4 N98'h6 8 Nb 1 - c 3 NhGfS 9 Nc3a4 C o m b i n a t i o n aG o o de n o u g hs B b 5 . l, i 9.... QbGa5t 1O Bc1-d2 Bf8.b4 11 Bd2-c3 Characteristic this kind of attackis the fact that evenNc3 would have of s a f e g u a r d h e p a w n s , 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 ted i. 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 t h r o u g h p p o s i t e o l o rb i s n o p s e o c and posting pieceon d4. a 11 .... Bc8-d7 38 W h i t e :N i m z o w i t s c h

1 1 O r 1 1 . . . 8 x c 31 2 N x c 3 O b 6 ( O b 4 ? 3 a 3 ! )1 3 8 b 5 0 - 0 1 4 B x c 6 Q x b 2 e t n O b 4 t 1 6 O d 2a n do c c u p a t i oo f c 5 ( s q u a r c 5 i s w o r t h a t l e a sa s lb Na4 h a sa P a w n e r e ) , 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 1 i f a i l sb e c a u so f 1 7 g 2 ' g 4 , . e .1 7 . . . h 5 x 9 4 8 h 3 x g 4N h 4 e N o w9 7 ' 9 6 fo 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 g e r W h i t e . Od8'b6 17 Ral'd1 18 Rfl-e1 the overprotects pointsd4 how Whitesystematically shouldobserve One " l m p o r t a n ts t r a t e td e o a n de v e n 5 a c c o r d i ntg t h e r u l ew h i c h I e x p r e s s e h u s : gicalpointsmust be overprotected." Na5'c4 18 .... Rc8xc4 19 Be7xc4 20 Nc3-e2 N k h T o e x c h a n gte e s t r o n g n i g h to n f 5 t h r o u g h 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 b ; th w N o w t h e c a v a l r y i l l g o a g a i n s t e s t e r i l e i s h o p N e 3i s i n t e n d e d . Bc4xl1 25.... NgGeT 26 Re1xf1 GO 27 R11-c1 t N s a o S p i e l m a nd e c i d ets c a s t l e n y w a y i n c e f 5 w i l l p r o t e c e v e r y t h i n gI.n n h r t t h e m e a n t i m - a sa r e s u l o f a l l h i sm a n e u v e - sW h i t eh a sc o n q u e r etd e e c file. Ne7-f5 2A b2.b4 ObOa6 29 Rcl-c5 Oa&e2 30 Od2-c3 id g t n W i t h g r e a s k i l lS p i e l m a nh a ss u c c e e d en o b t a i n i n c o u n t e r c h a n c e s of p a b t h r o u g h i si n v a s i o in t ot h e W h i t ec a m p , r i m a r i l y y t a k i n g d v a n t a g e h n the weakness b2 and lateron a3. on 2 l S e eD i a g r a m 7 a t t h e t o p o f t h e n e x t p a g e ) 31 Oc3-c2!! s o W A f t e r l o n gd e l i b e r a t i o n h i t ed e c i d e d n t h i sq u e e n a c r i f i c e . Nf5xd4 31 .... 32 Qc2xe2 w W r o n g 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

Diagram27

'..& tfu. ,fl 7,/' W /lD7/t

',, '//, ltt2 'Ht':fl.A/,tt

'E&'," :,/.' I 'l/.2:,1L, t',/Z

A f t e r3 0 . . . O e 2

7 ltg"tuA..t
33 Ks1-f1 pawnahead. Blackis a passed 34 Fc5-c7 Perhaps b7-b6wasmore prudent. Ne2-f4 b7.b5

45 Ke2 g5xh4 46 g3xh4 Rg4xh4. 43 .... 95xh4 44 g3xh4 Rg4xh4 rts Rcl-bl An elegant backward movement the rook a7,c7"c1,b1, of expecially when that the obligatory one considers drop of poisonisn't missing all because at the positionof the rook on b'l gives pawnthe - lust to wander, the rts .... Rh4h3t

46 Ketd2
On detours, one couldsaythat by tiring detours White king hasreached the position. the blockade 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 advance without beingstopped, 53 RcSt Kg7 54 b5-b6Ra2t b5 i.e. Kc3 Ra3t 56 Kc4 Ra4 57 KbS and wrns. 50 bsb6 Nd7-c5 51 bAbT Rf3xf2t Please observe with what finesse Blackmakes of his dying knjghtflgnr use up to its lastbreath, Now therecomes excitingdance an aroundthe pawnd3.

Nt4d3 36 Kf1-e2 Nd3b2 37 Rc7xa7 deepforesight.Blackgetsthe c tile, however White the This moverequired king is so "blockadeefficient" that the seemingly d.pawn strongly supported very well. cannotprogress Rf&c8 37.... Rc8-c4 38 Nf3d4 39 Nd4xb5 d5-d4 O n 3 9 . . . R c 2 1 0 K f 1 N d 3 4 1 f 2 - f 4w o u l df o l l o w . 4

35 s2-s3

2 7zt& % 7.zrh
Diagram8 2

fr
Daigram 9 2

a'4 /f,, '','&.ErX 7.:,t

% 7t i.tu 6 z&,&,

7; lA

tr4./ t

A t

t/,
t l z

g E

z
Rf2-e2t Nc5xb7

40 Aa7"c7 d4.d3t 41 Ke2-e3 Not to d2 because Re4. of 41 .... Rc+94 -s5 42 Rc7-c1 s7 S p i e l m a nd o e s n ' r e l a x ! n t 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 so f 4 3 , . . N c 4 1 4 K x d 3 N x e S e 4

52 Kd2-e3 53 Keld4 54 Kd4xd3!

The point, but the win is still quite difficult because h-pawnsuddenly the becomes dangerous, 54 .... Re2-92 55 Rb4xb7 h5-h4 56 Nc.zl-e3 Rs2-95 57 Kd3,d4 h4h3 41

40

58 Rb7-b2 Rs5h5 59 Rb2.h2 17"t6 60 Ne3c4 Ks8"f7 6l aga4 H e r e h e g a m e a sa d j o u r n ea n dS p i e l m a nrn s i g n ew i t h o u tr e s u m i n g t w d e d p l a y . A f t e r 6 1 . . . K f 7 . 9 0 2 a 4 a 5f 6 x e 5 t 6 3 K d 4 - c 5 g G f 5 6 4 a 5 - a 6 h $ h 7 6 K R 6 5 K c 5 - b 6 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 eu s t i n t i m e t o s u p _ K j port the blockader h2 effectively. on A n e x t r e m e l v a l u a b lg a m e . y e The next two games will illustrate fight against majorityin the center. a a Firsta more recentgamethat I playedin a matchagainst Brinckmann whtch lwon4-0. No.6 P l a y e d t K o l d i n gD e n m a r k 9 2 3 a , 1 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's Gambit,which I like to plav. 6 Bt1-e2 Bf&d6 (= Purists straightline pseudo-classicists) willfeel that Be2 leaves the path (Bd3). But that isn't the case straight because fits betterthan Bd3 Be2 in somepawnpositjons arising of laterpawnexchanges, when d5 beout i.e. comesisolated. White: N imzowitsch

14 .... Bc8-d7 15 b4-b5 Qd8-e7 16 0d1.d2! eGes is parriedby Od2, i.e. 16...e5?17 dxe OxcS 18 Bb4. The threatened 16 .... Rf8-c8 17 a2-a4 Kg&h8 s A f t e r 1 7 . . . e G ew 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 e ) i t h a s u w penorgame. 18 azl-as

Diagram0 3

2 ',x( 7t

z +,%t"'ua % %
]I
t7.t6

A,

aH.t/&

7 0.o

o0

I b2-b3 c5xd4 Heretoo the puristwould not be ableto conceal any longerhis discontent that b7-b6woutd be better. But after g...b6 9 Bb2 Bb7 10 c4xd5 exd l l dxc bxc, the hanging pawns and db are not to everybody's c5 taste,although Tarrasch in Petersburg won a - let'ssay- spendid victory. 9 e3xd4 Nf6e4 Not bad at all; this way the absence the bishopon d3 is beingexplorred. of 10 Bc1"b2 Ne4XCJ 11 Bb2xc3 NcdeT But hereb7-b6wasbetter. I z ct+c5 BdGcT 13 b3b4 T h e q u e e n i d em a i o r i t y o w h i c hB l a c k o u l dl i k et o c o u n t e w i t h t h e c e n s t w r ter malority. 13.... Ne7-96 .: . O n ec a l l s h i sa f i n e r o o k m o v e , n a s s u m i n g dv e r s a t i l e 1 d i r e c t e d _ t u an a g a i n se G e 5 2 . c o n s e r v i n h e B e 2a g a i n s t f 4 ( 1 4 . . . N f 41 5 B f l t , g t N ). 42

b7-b6 Bd7-e8 passed pawn. White hasconverted mobilemajority into a protected his However this one hasbeenstopped and at present White hasno realtargetin the enemvcamp. D id the conversion the majorityperhaps proceed of too 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! Whitehasprevented breakthrough a fine, combinational the in way; if now 25...e&e5 then 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 n f p l a y i n g a 3a n dt h u sf o r c i n g l a c k o p l a y B x b 4 , o O B t t h u sg a i n i n g o m i n a t i o n f t h e d i a g o n a l 3 - e 7 . d o a

18.... From hereon e6-e5is a constant threat, 19 a5-a6

20 c5-c6

14 Rfl-el

28....

Bd6x b4

29 Oc3xb4 Kh8-gB e6-e5wasimpossible to the x-rayattackb4-f8.i,e.29...e5 30 dxe fxe due 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

Diagram1 3

i.r'4, ,gt

% % t & :

.eatl ,t t7:;t"lfr t 2 '.&, t %a% % 'Eia'r,tu 7z

,l&

/&trz, t)L
32 D iagram

&

/& 7z % %a %72

t'%ztt % '/&

After 43 Oa3

30.... Bf7-96 Blackhasdefended well but now he hadto play eGebwith probable equalItV. 31 Bf5xs6 Nf8xg6 32 h4h5 NsGfS 33 Nf3-h4!
Now e6-e5 would be answered Nfs. by 33 .... Ks8-f7 34 Ks1-92 Suchlittle moves characterize master.Whiteassumes the therewill be an eventual opening the h file. and in that case wantsto be readvtor battle of he (Rel-hl). 34.... 97-96 Correst; wasin the air. it 35 h5xg6 h7xg6 36 12-14 Only now the Blackpawnmajority (in the center)appears be paralized. to 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 planned oppositionbV Reg-e7-h7 m o r ed i f f i c u l t , . e . 4 2 . . . K g 7 3 R h 2w i t h e v e n t u a lo u b t i n g n t h e h f i l e ,p e r i 4 d o hapsafter Od2 and g394-95. 42.... Re&e7

of of aiterWhite caneitherforcethe exchange rooksor the exchange queens, i.e.43 Oa3 Od8 44 Oc1 Oc7 45 g4 Od6 46 95 f5. The positionthus arrived because White knightwill moveto a4, the at can be easilywon without queens WhitemovesRhl-a1 at the lastmoment(the Blackking is heldtied down on on knight sacrifice b6 de' and the king wing as longas possible), the intended Black without rooks(because with queens planworkseveneasier cides.The rooksthroughRh7) and then at the of hasthe capability exchanging always thus: right momentthe queenwill enter. The actualgameproceeded Re7-97 him off quicklv. AJterthls moveWhite finished 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 exchange After KgBa general a Ne6t, after which the c-pawnbecomes queen. outlinedin the note to move43 (93'94-95 that the procedure lf we assume paralythe then we candescribe gradual to forcef6f5) had actuallyhappened, of example a fight sisof eOor of the majority in the centerasan instructive against centermajority. a b6 square operative on combination the paradoxically The breakthrough accomplishment marks this gameasan extraordinary be' remarkable appears datewhich however Now for a gamefrom an earlier to which wasbelieved be deadbut cause is the prototypeof a variation it the the which I revived a new life. Not withstanding variation, gamerepreto sents as territory insofar herefor the first time it will be shownuncharted whetherone and latercopiedbv the other l\,4odernsthat it is not essential pawnsor no pawnsin the center,the primaryobjectis the dominationof has of the center, the which means hampering the enemycenterwith a blockade t o f o l l o wa sa c l i m a x . 45

43 Ob&a3
(SeeDiagram at the top of the next page) 32 The way to victory ;s very interesting. climaxes lt with a knight sacrifice o n . . . b 6 ! T h e p r o c e d u rie a sf o l l o w s W h i t ep l a y s h e q u e e n h r o u g h 1 t o s : t t c h1. But beforethat he brings to 95 forcibly creating holeon eb. Therea 93
4A

N o .7 Karlsbad Touroament 9 1 1 1 W h i t e :N i m z o wt s c h 1 e2-e4 2 d2.d4 3 e4-e5 e7-e6 d7d5

Black:Salu,,l

U p u n t i l t h e n b e l i e v e d o b e a b s o t u t e l y 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 t u 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 first It wasbetter exchange by c5xd4. to

7 d4xc5

c7-c5 Nb8-c6 od8-b6 Bc8-d7 Bf8xc5

p e n o w i s t o m a k eu s eo f t h e s e o i n t s c o n o m i c a l l y 14 Nd2-f3! and h P r e v e n tB b 5 b e c a u ste 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 s t h e P e 6f a l l s . Be7-d6 14 .... 15 Odl-e2 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 e t w e e n 2 a n dc 2 a n ye a r l i etrh a na b s o ' squares. use This is what wasmeantby economical of these lutely necessary. Ra8-c8 tc _.._ 16 Be5-d4
t n J u s t ; n t ; m e b e c a u s e o w N e b w i l l h e l p t o i n c r e a s eh e b l o c k a d e

8 0-0

17.r6

p i B l a c k s a b o u t o e l i m i n a t h i so p p o n e n t 'c e n t e r a w n s n ea f t e rt h e o t h e r , e s o but this canbe of advantage him only if he could therebysecure mobil. to the ity of his own center,but aswe shallsoonsee therewill be plentyof counter. that. actionagainst 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 zte e b l o c k a d i nB e sb y B f 6 h g w o u l df a i l d u et o t h e c h e c k 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 o '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 eb l o c k a d e ring" remains intactso far. 1 3 Nb l . d 2 0-0

ObGcT to.... Bd7-e8 17 Nf3e5 Bd6xe5 18 Ra'l'e1 19 Bd4xe5 d b T h e d a r ks q u a r e i s h o p o m i n a t e s . Oc7-cG 19 .... 20 Be5'd4! of which waseyeingboth sides the board,to makea To forcethe bishop, decision. Be&d7 20.... 2'l Aez'czl d y t A c l e a r i n m o v ef o r t h e R e 1a n da t t h e s a m e i m e a i m i n g e c i s i v e la t h 7 . g Rf8-f7 21 .... b7-b6 22 Re1-e3 Kg8'h8 23 Re3'93

W 7 rt x 'taarr&
Di a g r a m 3 3

t7z..A 'r.f,.
+ d

Diagram 34

7Z %t ltfu "/7.2 7z

.a t 7t'//,:'8 'fu

z z

t A I A "/t87t T

tg

7.2.A'////E"t&

ta

tfu.t

B u t h o w e a s i l yh i sr i n gc o u l db e b r o k e n t t h e s l i g h t e s t l a x a t i ob y t a re n W h i t e ; . 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 . i standthe positionwe must realize that freedomto maneuver necessary is for t h e b l o c k a d a sw e l l3 sf o r e v e r y t h e ra c h i e v e m e nF.r e e d o mo m a n e u v e r e o t t hereconsists the squares and e5, which WhitecanoccupV of d4 wtth pieces, a n do f t h e s q u a r ec 2 a n de 2 f r o m w h i c ht h e q u e e n a no p e r a t e T h e t r i c k s c .

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 The free centerdoesn'tmeanmuch herebecause pau/ndeficitand the for. cannotbe compensated two bishops
HCT'XCJ

29 30 31 32 33 B93wasthreatened.

Rg3xc3 Oc2xc3 a2-a3 Bs5-h4 BsGf5

d4xc3 Kh898 Ks8-f8 Bd7-e8 od6d4 e5xd4 KfBxeT

34 Oc3xd4 35 Re1xe7 36 Bf5-d3 T h eb l o c k a d e ! 36.... 37 Bh4x{6 38 Ksl-f1 39 h2-h4

Ke7-d6 g7xf6 Be8"c6 Resigns.

a tournament few roundslaterI playeda gamein which the ln the same givingup the namelyapparently sameideawasevenmoresharplyprominent, latermore strongly. centeronly to occupyit {blockade) No. 8 White: N imzowitsch 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 e2-e4 d2-d4 e4e5 c2-c3 Ngl-f3 Bfl-b5 G0 e7-e6 d7-d5 c7 -c5 Nb8-c6 17.t6 Bc8-d7 od8-b6 B l a c k :L e v e n f i s h

19 f2.f4 to with advantage White. "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 conclusion givea gamein which restraint I occurs only in the broadest will not be touchedat all by restraint this last in sense the word. Pawns of g o L a e x a m p l e E v e r y t h i ng o e s n - s ot o s p e a k i n v i s i b l y . i n e s n ds q u a r e s , serve objects the restraint, of and only at the end all of the enemypieces as arestalemated a most"freightening" way. in No. 9 Tournament lnternatlonal l\,4aster Copenhagen'1923 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 d7.d5 c7-cG h a S t r o n g etrh a nO c 8w h i c hS A m ; s ch a dp l a y e d 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 prepare the invasion c4 by the Nb8. The for of square constitutes for herethe square an outposton the c'file. c4 49

N98x{6 Bf8-d6 Bd6xc5 why I had told me that he couldn'tunderstand After the gameLevenfish givenup the center. completely 12 Bc1'g5l wereforced The explanation!The next Blackmoves ob6d8 12.... Od8xf6 13 Bs5xf6! 14 Od1-hst s7-so 15 Oh5-e2 Now the Whiteplan- blockade the Blackcenter- is clear. Therefollowof ed: Ra8-d8 15 ..". 00 16 Nb1-d2 Rf8'e8 17 Ra1'el Bc5'd6 18 Kgl"hl 48

B O r 7 . . . N x e I N x e s x b 5I O h s t S 8 Bb5xc6 9 esxfo 10 Nfle5 11 d4xc5!

b7 xc6

6 Nbl-c3 7 0-0 8 Nfles

o0

11 Ra1-c1 12 0d1-b3

b6b5 Nb&c6!

Threatensto gallop with acceleratedpace (NcGas) to c4. Therefore the e x h a n g e e e m s u f fi c i e n t l y m o t i v a t e d . s s

13 Ne5xc6

Bb7xc6 36 Diagram

b 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 e e c a u s eh e t "tempo swallower" Ne5 had himself exchangedagainstthe harmlessNc6.

14 h2-h3 15 Ks1-h2

od8.d7 NfGh5!

g t t ' A: t: . 8 t t t tt
lt\a t\
4: ai

Alter25...h6!

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

as 8t
&
( /\ w , A | Ll

by haveto be continued Ob7 and NfGdT'bGc4. l7-t5l 16 Bt4-d2 17 0b3d1 b5-b4! Bcebs 18 Ncgbl 19 Rf1-91 f h d i O n ec l e a r l ye e l s o w W h i t e ' s o m a i n s s h r i n k i n g . 19.... Be7-d6 20 e2-e4 t4xe4l
tt

r=

F?

a calleda beautifulaccomplishment'counterpart in Lasker a Dutch magazine " Therethe maximaleifect of the "sacrifice"'here 'ii.tt"., Game i"ii" " ' that of the zugzwang"

'/.17.,.

Diagram5 3

/L, //.t A , t ,//./t. t 7.tA //L,,t 7 ''tp. ..-fu, t2 ///, /i 7z /:N.

..EL

of of examples my own practice, my With this I conclude demonslration opportunitvfor find the desired '""0"t *irr soon ."il;;il".;;;r,irnoiv principles' r , o s a p p l y i n g o m e f t n e s e u l e sh i n t so r A Nimzowitsch

]I '/.ty

aNt

a)
21 Odlxhs Rf8xJ2 The ideaof the sacrifice that White,who ownsneitherlinesnor squares, is will become completely tied up. The occupation the enemy's of second rank hasa paralyzing effect,especially conjunction in with the stronglyposted queenwing is alwaysindirectRfl Bb5 (prevents ). On the other handWhite's ly threatened, the configuration the Whitepieces insoluble, and of is 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,
(SeeDiagram at the top of the next page) 36 Whtteis in zugzwangl!With a f ull board!! Whitehasno moves, on Kh2 follows Rf5-f3,and the same i,e. after 93-94. This unusually b\llianl zugzwang-mechan makes ism this game, which Dr. 50
5 l

AppendixOne The New Syrtem * by A. N imzowitsch Chess strategy suchtoday is still in its diapers, as despite Tarrasch,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 s a l l f i e l d s . ' , o t e v e n n N the slightest attempthasbeenmadeto exploreand formulatethe lawsof chess strategy.Tarrasch's postulates suchas,,theacceptance the gambitis of p r i n c i p a l l1 ! ) ( t h e [ ] l i s f r o m m e .A . N . )e r r o n e o u se c a u s e ., d a n g e r o u s , , l y b . , r e a l l y a n n o c 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 a li n t so t a n c t ; h experjenced housewife." From this perspective present my attemptto formujate the results rny of many years explorations of oughtto be ableto openup a new era in chess, l\4ycongenital inclination search rulesurgedme to do this. to for What I want to demonstrate hereis a harmoniously built up setof lawsof chess strategy. I k n o wv e r yw e l l t h a tr n y a t t e m p w i l l n o t f a j l t o p r o v o k e s t o r mo f a n g e r t a amongtoday's"theoreticians" that they will fight my system and wjth every m e a n s , s p e c i a l m i n i m e a n s . . O . K . C o m eo n l e ly , And now, without further ado, let,sbegin! l. About the Center Pieces Pawns The Concept the Characteflslrc and of Positionin the Center The pawns form the skeleton the game, of the pieces the other parrs, are theinner rgansl o s T h e p i e c e m u s ts t a n di n l i v i n g o n n e c t i ow i t h t h e ( p a w n , c e n t e r . c n )

hi d 5 o r f 5 w h i c hw o u l dL r n d e r m i n esc e n t e r .H e w i l l m e e tt h e s e n e m y h r e a t s e t ( e d p a r t i a l l y i r e c t l y b y p r e s s u ro n d b a n df 5 ) , p a r t i a l l yn d i r e c t l yt h r o u g hh e i t { the with e4-e5 also intentionof answering moved5 or f5 respectively or thesemoves throughthe intentionof parrying with e4xd5or e4xf5 respectivep l y i n o r d e rt o i n i t i a t e 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 moves the pieces dictatedby the livingdemands the cenler. ot are of As we haveseen, mission the pieces a doubleone: the of is "protect" the center,i.e,keep Fjrst,the pieces must it well guarded, "support" it, i.e.they must be directed second, they must against exthe advance the center. in oected T h e f i r s td e m a n d u s tb e f u l f i l l e d v e n h e no n es t a n d v e r yw e l l i n t h e m e w s center,i.e.regardless how wellone stands the center, of in one must take care of its defense. So much aboutthe structure the center. Now we will talk aboutthe of "use" of the center. Firstwe (as shouldmentionthat we call everyscheme for instance shownin Diagram which represents nucleus the position, l) the of positionin the center." This lastone will alwaysbe the starta "characteristic ing point of our calculations. (U l l . A b o u tt h e l v l a n a g e m e n tt i l i z a t i o n )f t h e C e n t e - O p e nF i l e s n dT h e i r o r a Laws- About the LatentCooperation the Center. of The centershallbe viewedas having posrstability,i.e.the characteristic t i o n s h a l l e u t i l i z e d n t h e s h a p et i s i n { w i t h o u tb e i n g h a n g e d ) . b i i c The positionin the centermust not be modifiedconstantlv, oncethe charpositlonis taken up, it must be maintained at leastfor a very long acteristic time. One must try to fortify it and to post one'spieces according the to position. characteristic Frequently attackplaysby itself,i.e.with purely passive the 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 3 g 8 - f 66 G 0 B f & e 7 7 R f 1 - e le b x d 4 8 N Nf3xd4 (now the characteristic positionseenin Diagram pawne4 againsr I, p a w n s 6 a n df 7 h a sb e e n e a c h e d ) 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 d r N ( ) 0 - 0 1 1 B c 1 - 9 5 f 8 - e 8 l 2 R a 1 - d 1 " s u p p o r t s "N f G d T 1 3 B g 5 x e 7 e 8 x e 7 R R Whitemust not operatein the centerlt2-t4 e+e'), on the contrary.he must s t a ye n t i r e l y 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 n 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 o o o d )N d 7 - b G ( g 1 5 R e 1 - e 3 d 8 - d 7 1 6 R d 1 " e 1 a 8 , e 8i 7 R c 3 - g 3 A l r e a d y h i s l e a d so a O R . t r weakening the king'swing,which success o{ may be considered resultof a " t T o p r e v e nm i s u n d e r s t a n d i nIg so t et h a t f o r d i d a c t i c e a s o nIsa s s u m e n , r f o r t h e t i m e b e i n g h e c e n t e a ss u c hc o u l db e o c c u p i e d y p a w ne x c l u s i v e l y . t r b I n d e e dh e c e n t e f o r m st h e d o m a i n f t h e o a w n s . t r o

'//;,,

Diagram I

/l:,: lt 72fr7t /...2 lt,'//t /7,. 7

2 ,L 7/tt. '77,
lL.

/l:;t

First,Whitewill post hjs pieces sucha way that his centere4 is well pro_ in tected,second will directhis forces he agajnst threatening the enemyadvance * WienetSchachzeitung, October I gl3

52

53

o u r m a n a g e m eo ft t h e c e n t e r . n The cooperation the centerhasbeendocumented of here 1. throughthe latentthreatof the advance e4e5, (a 2. throughthe maneuver Re3-g3 consequence the space of advantage pro. ducedby the further advanced center), 3 , t h r o u g h n a b l i n u st o p l a yo n t h e d f i l e t t h e c e n t e s e r v ea sa s u p p o r r e g r s f o r o p e r a t i o no n t h e d f i l e . s T h i sl e a d so a n e x a m i n a t i oo f t h e o p e nf i l e ! t n " s u p p o r t o i n t "a n d " e n t r y p o i n t . " T h e o p e nl i n en e e d s p a an

new aovanlagel The Outpost. pressure conditioned outpostexertsa permanent thanksto A strategically radius. its greatattacking ln our exampleit fixesthe pointsc7, e7, f6. The newly produced attack produced the outpost,establish further consequences possibilities. by the of ( p l a yi n t h e l i n ei n q u e s t i o nd f i l e ) D i a g r a ml . l The law o{ the outpostcanthus be formulated: in the Oncethe attackerhassucceeded conquering openfile and entrench. continuation the attackis formof ed himselfon the entry point the consistent possibilities produced thereby. ed by the utilizationof the attacking or Biackmust driveawaythe outpost(Nds) with c7-c6sooner later,but the d-pawnbackward and a targetfor attack. The gameenthat will render lersa new srage, PawnasTargetof the Attack - The Concept the "Dilll. The Backward of "lndirect" Attack Against Backward Pawn- The Hole, rect" and a The positionof the pawnd6 (afterc7-c6)is weak but not hopeless because - in spiteof enemyobservation the point d5 - therestill existsthe possiof bility of the advance d&d5. The situationis differentwhen the c-pawn either doesnot existany moreor alreadv stands c5. In this case haea classi' on we pawnon an openfile - absolute.In that case cal example a backward of the p o i n td 5 { a f t e r 7 - c 5 i a g r a ml ) c a nb e c a l l e d h o l e . T h e m o d u s p e r a n d i l c D a o now consists maneuvering of against this pawn,identified the fact that the by oawn is weakand that there is a holeon d5. pawn- in our case - will be attacked d6 The backward one way of the pieces positions, other. The intent is to forcethe guarding into uncomfortable The d-pawnshouldnot only be exposed frontal attacksbut alsolateral to attacks and if possible attacks encirclement. bv The base thesemaneuvers for is the hole,formerly our "entry point" d5. W ef o r m u l a t eh u s : t 1. All pieces must be directedtoward the entry point {hole)to maintain the pressure eventually invade enemycampacross and to the this point. "progressed" the designa2, The entry point (especially which has one to tion hole)shallif possible occupied differentpieces be by one by one. t T h e r e s u l o f t h i sm o d u s p e r a n da g a i n s t u r t a r g e o f a t t a c k i l l e i t h e r o i o t w c o n s i so f d i r e c tc o n q u e s t f i t o r i t w i l l l e a d o a d e c i s i vo p e n i n g f a f i l e . t o t e o T h e l a s tm e n t i o n e d a n e u v e ro n s i s to f 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 m c s pieces forcedinto uncomfortable position(see are above) White plavse4-e5 ) t ts o { o r c 4 - c 5 w h ; c hm e a n sh a t h e r e n o u n c e h e d i r e c tc o n q u e s t f t h e g o a lf o r w h i c hh e w a sl i g h t i n g n dt a k e s d v a n t a g e t h e r e s t r a i n t f t h e g u a r d i n g a a of o p s (l n e n e m y i e c e f o r a d e c i s i vb r e a k t h r o u g hn v a s i o in t o t h e 7 t h o r 8 t h r a n k ) . e

% ,L ,//t ./.

lL

'l/t './2...

,.//,./,

% % z

tlZ V:t:.., 2 %'^-7 tt % 7,2 %

l/.z 71.,.H'/2:,'

vt '/1.'/,f,,fr lt 'tfr,ft% 7tfr7it 2 't/./,2, %'/.2 2 7 7t Z ,

I Entry point on the h file 2 Support point on the h file

llz //e,

I Entry point on the d file 2 Support point on the d file

p T h e " s u p p o r t o i n t "o f a f i l e i s o n e ' s w n p a w no n t h e n e i g h b o r i n g e ,i . e , o fil 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 ml ) 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 t ) I ll the point respectively thus produced our protected is entry point. dS in Diag r a ml l , o r h 7 i n D i a g r a ml . ll Lawr The utilizationof an openfile consists the occupation the enin of try point {by pieces). a) lf it is a centerfile, the entry point is bestoccupied a knightwhich by w i l l t h e nh a v e n u n e q u a l l erd d i u s f a c t i o n , a a o 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 etd i n i t i a t e o u b l i n g c o n ( o d q u e s o f t h e f i l e )a n de v e n t u a ln c j r c l e m e n t . t e I n c a s e ) ( D i a g r a m l i W h i t e m o v e s h 7 ! [ = O c c u p a t i oo f t h e e n t r y b ll R n 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 r o o k i s e x c h a n g e d a n g by o p p o s i ne n e m y o o k ( t o p r e v e nd o u b l i n gt)h e p a w n9 6 w i l l b e c o m e a s s e d g t r p and a powerfulforce, Because this therearises peculair of a C h a n g o f a s s i g n m e n tF i r s t( b e f o r e h 8 s h 7t)h e p a w n( q 6 )s u p p o r t e d e sr R t h e r o o k ,l a t e r( a f t e r . . R h 8 x h 7 6 x h 7 o l l o w e d y R a1 - hj , t h e r o e k5 u p p 6 r 1 5 g , f b 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 oo f 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 i n a n s 54

T h i ss t a t e m e n tr i n g s st o t h e c o n c e po f d i r e c ta n d i n d i r e ca t t a c k g a r.r1 b u t t a p t h e e n e m y a w n . I c a l li t d i r e c t h e ni t j s a p l a i na t t a c k y p i e c e s , w h i c h w b in case aim is the directconquest the objectof the fight. the of "indirect" I call , 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 eh e t alm is not the conquest the objectof the fight but the conquest the r er_ of of rain.

of on Beforewe turned our spotlight the weakness the pawnpositionc5, is a but naturallyc6. d5 presents sufficientattackobjectwhich however d6; to harder exPlolt. e i l i n W ec o n t i n u e o w w i t h a g a m e n w h i c hw e e x p l a i nn d e t a i t h e s c h e m o f games be' on We principles havedemonstrated. selected of Tarrasch's we the it in cause its motives is simpleand claer. R u YL o P e z White: Dr. Tarrasch B J Black: ohann erger

t t

rg At

,r.

g
t

t t

a
:

tL 2ttu,7r7t 'ttu zaTt /Lz"r.fu^,

Directattackagainst the pawne5 (Oc7,Nc6, Nq6).

6'/t t llzA

**" //z'i'7L

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. e5 positionW: e4 and d3 against and d6. The We havethe characteristic positione4, d4 against d6 l e5, is to transferinto the characteristic tendency " A t t a c k p o s i t i o n g a i n sD e f e n sp o s i t i o n e a t t c c a l l t h el a t e rc h a r a c t e r i s pi o s i t i o n in the Center," I Nd5-b4Bc8-d7 9 Nb4xc6 Bd7xc6 10 Ba4xc6t b7xc6

The characteristic position position f a game imzoo N witsch-Shories Ostende 1907.

tL%/z
tt
VII

t z
t

gl ./t

,7z,)/flr%

it ft.

t t
/:t

r l '&t% '/2
of Due to the doublingof the c'pawnthe character the positionhasessen' position{e4,d3, c2 against of The weakness the characteristic tially changed, for his e5, d6,c7, c6) showsup for Blackwhen we examine possibilities action y td a t h e w i l l e v e n t u a l lp l a yd & d 5 . N o w h e h a s h i n t h e c e n t e r :l t i s a s s u m e c6, Eitherdxe (but then the doubledpawns c7 will be isolat' two possibilities: or ed and certainlya disadvantage) d5-d4. This move(d4),aswe will eventualpresents attemptto transler the ln ly demonstrte the lawsoi transferance, namelyby followingup with c6c5-c4 the attackfrom e4-d3, i l f t h e b - p a w ns 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 b7of ventthe movement the c-pawnby b2-b3because possible more,and the c"pawnis impeded.From any b5. But herethis lsn't p o c s t t h i so n es e e sh a t t h e d o u b l i n g 6 ,c 7 c a u s ea d i m i n u t i o n f B l a c k ' s o s s i b i l i of action in the center. ty 11 0-0 0-0 12 Qd1-e2cEcE In orderto utilizethe former b-pawn(now pawncO)which aimsat preventit ing d3'd4. However wasbetterto omit cocs in orderto giveup the center pawn Blackwouid havethe e file and the compact, after d3-d4. In that case 57

aaz rt grt

tndirectattackagainst pawne5. SeeDiagram lV' The direct {= attackwith pieces against pawna5) the would be hereNf3-d2,b3. The indirect(= pawnattack)however would consist b2,b4, ln the first of case objectof the fight is conquered; the second the in case terrain{the pawn passed). becomes T h i sg i v e sh e f o l l o w i n g 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 : t r , ,, As a general rulethe directattackshouldbe applied first; asa consequence the opponent's guarding pieces forcedinto uncomfortable are posilions.On_ ly then is the indirectattacklaunched orderto conquer in terrainbV renounc_ ing the direct conquest the objectof the batrle. of 56

m a s s o r k i n g o w a r d h e c e n t e a sc o m p e n s a t i o n . w t t r in The most importantfunctionof the pawnc6 consists the fact that it imp e d e t h e e n e m y ' s t i l i z a t i o o f t h e d f i l e ( w h i c h e a n s d 5 ,s e e p e nf i l e s ) . s N u n m o 13 c2-c3 a o t c s l N o t q u i t et i m e l y ,i t s i n s g a i n s tu r l a w :T h e c h a r a c t e r i s pi o s i t i o n h a l b e i u t i l i z e d 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 rfer s tt h e k n i g h tm a n e u v e r a f3"d2-c4-e3 that Steinitzalsorecommends shouldbe played, lt is interesting "to of the samemaneuver let Blacksufferwith the disadvantage the double "300 Chess pawn as long as possible." (To be found in Tarrasch's Games", page231.) This deepstatement contains first bud of my system the the of position. characteristic c5xd4 17 Be3xd4 13...Nfed7 14 dld4 e5xd4 15 c3xd4 Be7-f6 16 Bc1-e3 Rf8-e8 18 Oe2-c2. positione4 against c7, f7 finds in the weakThe favorable characteristic d6, pawnon an openfile!) a new momentumin ness the c-pawn{a backward of f a v o ro f W h i t e . B u t t h e a d v a n t a g s o n l y m i n i m a l ie 18...Bf6xd419 Nf3xd4 Nd7-c5 pawn of of of In games that time a frequentexample salvation a backward , le a b e h i n d p i e c ee s p e c i a l by h i n d k n i g h t . a 20 12.t3 Safeguards centerwhich shallbe the supportfor the laterutilizationof the 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 te r u t h e l a h (e4-e5) tent threatof an advance duringthe entirecourse the game{seemy of l a w s o n c e r n i n g ec e n t e r ) , c th 20...Od8-f621 Rt1-d1Be8-bg 22 Ral-b1 a&a5 23 Kgl-h1! A splendld iliustration our dogmaof the latentcooperation the cen" of of ter. B e c a u so f t h e a d v a n ce 4 - e 5 !O x e SN c 6w h i c hn o w w o u l dh a v e a i l e d n e e ! f o of account the queen's checkon e3. This threat,respectivelV latentcooperation the center,induces the of the p n o p p o n e ntto b r i n gh i sp i e c e is t o a l l k i n d s f u n n a t u r a l o s i t i o nts c o u n t e r o o act the danger, 23... Rb8-b6! There e havet! w i 24 Nd+e2l A i m sa t d 5 , u t i l i z a t i o n f t h e d f i l e . o 24...Nc5-e6 Ne2-c3Rb0c6 26 Qc2-a4 25 N o t o n l y a t t a c k t h 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 ntg e t e n d e n s h c y t o i m m o b i l i z te e o b j e c t f t h e a t t a c k i x e db y N d 5 ,a n d i m m o b i l i z i t h o f e througha laterOc6. 58

26...Rc6c5 27 Nc3d5 OfGdS 28 Rb1-cl Rxcl 29 Rdlxcl Now Oc6 is threatened.lf Nc5 then Oc6 Ra7e4"e5l Aqainthe latentcoof operation the center. 29-..c7-c5 But now d6 is back\,vard, the point d5 gainsin importance and our ex{see planations). 30 Rcl-dl Need4! 31 Oa4c4 The pieces according our law - aim at the entry point. This indicated to indicated throughthe weakness d6 and d5 is now apparent, of maneuvering, "change place"illustrates our law conof also namelyNe3,Od5, Nc4. This cerning alternating the occupation the point of entry by differentpiecesl of 31...Ra8-b8 b2-b3 Rb8-c8? 32 A mistake, which forcesthe gameout of the train of logical development. in The latterconsisted, stated, maneuvering as against (whichpawnshallbe d6 first one way then anotherway) which would haveforcedthe enemy attacked pieces positions.lf therewasn'tanythingbetter,then the into uncomfortable d-pawncould be attacked after exchanging Nd4 by Nd5c3-e2. Then it the queenand only seems that attackand defense hold eachother in the balance: queenand rook. In realitythe e-pawn rook versus will be the third attacker, namelye4"e5 the right moment,and wins, And so the threatening at advance - 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 d a n dW h i t ew i n sd u et o h i sd i s t a n p a s s ep a w n ,T h i se n d i n gs u n i m p o r t a n t t i 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.

59

:.:t 6
APPendix Two A ModernFantasy About a Tschigorin Theme* (1 e2-e4 e7-e6 2 Ae2) jtsch by A. Nimzow As is so often the case, sudden groMh of the seeminqly the sterile variation Oe2wasa consequence an awareness of which in itselfis to be takenasneithef importantor completein any way. The Danish analystDr. Krause noticed d u r i n g n eo f h i ss a f a r its r o u g h h e l a n do f o p e n i n gh e o r yt h a t T s c h i g o r i n ' s o h t t variationI e4 e6 2 Oe2c5 3 d3 with a laterf4, wasalsoplayable without Oe2. As one will admit without ado,this realization not exactlyearthsnaKis ing, Also it only concerns detail,which is the question to how the one as pawnstructure e4, f4 shouldbe prepared the besttechnical d3, in manner. Dr. Krause and I did someexploratjon with respect this discovery. to The results however surpassed expectations gained all and undreamed-of impor, tancefor the wholeof chess theory,especially the Dutch and Sicilian for Defenses.In the followingparagraphswill present I somegames, which I analyze in detailto clearlyelucidate development the new variation(onecouro the of actuallysay its embryology). ln the internalional master tournament Copenhagen 1923,J. Moller at in surprised with the followinginnovation.White: NimzowitschBlack:J. me Mdler. 1d2-d4r7-t5 2 c2-c4Ng8-f6 3 Nb1-c3d7-d6. One is definitetyinc l i n e d o a g r e e i t h T e i c h m a n ( i n t h e t o u r n a m e nb o o k )i n c a l l i n gh i s m o v e t w n t t inferior. Therefollowed4 Ng1"f3Nb&c6! Now Blackapparently wantsto play e7-e5because aspreparation this positionis entirelyunnecessary Oe7 for detailof Krausel).Thereis indeed apparent {the interesting no advantage for Whiteafter 5 92-93 e7-e5 6 dxe dxe 7 Oxd8t KxdS or 6...NxeS and the loss o{ castling morethan compensated by the two pawns and fS. Tnereis for e5 fore I decided play 5 Bc1-f4and therefo owed5...h7-h66 h2-h4Nfeg4. to A l l o f t h i sa c c o r d i ntg 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 o , 7 d4-d5. ln this criticalpositionl\46ller moved7...Nc&esafter which the answerI e2-e4 would havegiventhe advantage White,i.e.I e4 fxe g Nxeb to d x e 1 0 B g 3{ i n t h e g a m e h e s o m e w h a t e a k e I B x e sd x e g e 4 e 6 l 1 ON h 2 t w r (still the best because threatensBc') was playedafter which, insteadof the it 'e 4 d u b i o u s c c e p t a n c1 0 , . . O x h 1 1 N x g 4 l ,t h e s i m p l e e t r e a 1 0 . . _ N f 6 1 8 d 3 a r t 1 BcS(dxe?f4)would havemadeBlack's positionsafe.). In a correspondence gameagainst Dr. Krause (see me Diagram played l) muchstronger; played7...e7-e5! he This moveimproves wholevariation the i m m e n s e l{y e e i a g r a ml ) . I s D * Kagan's Neueste Schachnachtichten, Januarv l92S

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in involved 7. .e5 I dxc6 e5xf4 9 cxb BxbT 10 Od4 The pawn sacrifice after the waitingmove10 'Od7 lf White to offer Blackgoodchances seems n b f7 a n o w p l a y s t o n c e1 1 O x { 4t h e n 1 ' 1 . . . B e o l l o w e d y B f 6 r e s u l t is a t r e m e n ' else if Whitewantsto movesomething first (to keep douspoiition. However, then he is at a lossfor a move the centralqueenpositionas longas possible) (artifi' and f2 11 because GOO leaves unprotected after 11 Rd'1a6 12 Rh3 Be7 threatens go to the other side)GGo already cial,but the rook wantsto Nxf2 Kxf2 Bh4t wjth of failson account the combination OxgT because Oxg7. not positign7..'e7-e5 seems onin For thesereasons, the abovementioned correlpon' sound. In the mentioned evencompletely but ly to be playable jence game.there ll) followed (from Diagram Sd5xe6e p After 8"'Bc8xe6 c t h eg a m e o n t i n u e d : White: N imzowitsch Black: Krause

60

whosepoint lies pawnsacrifice, interesting extraordinarily This in any case of bishopmaneuver movesI 1, and 12, comappearing in the secessionistic in prises only hiddenway to breathlife lnto the game; similarpositions the colorfully playedafterthe moves:I Nf3 f5 2 c4 had beenmuch less there Nc6 3 d4 d6 4 Bf4 hO 5 h4 Nf6 6 e3 Ng4 7 db e5! 8 dxe ep' Bxe6,the Tournament Nordicl\4aster move9 Nc3 {the gameBrinckmann-Krause, '12 N x e 6O x e 6 1 3 1 ON d 4 O d 7 1 1 B e 2 B g 7 f : 1 9 2 4 ) ,T h e r e o l l o w e d 9 ' . . 9 6 p ?) ( p e r h a p1 4 O a 4 w a s r e f e r a b l e9 5 ! 1 5 B 9 3 N f 6 ! 1 6 s NdsO0-0 14Rbl l 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 ap o s i t i o n 20 is definitelydecisive. Od4 Kb8 21 b4 Rd'18 22 +4 Nc6 23 Od2 94 24 inferior. 25 b5 Ne7 26 Bd3 d5 27 c5 d4 28 Rh'e2 93 Rf-d8. White stands of 30 e5 and Blackwon throughoccupation e3 or c3 bv 6os 29 e+ Oxcs in a few more moves. the Ne7 gametherefollowed: In the correspondence Be6xc4 9 .... 0d8-d7 10 Nfld4 11 Bfl-h3!! s7.s6 12 Bh3's2ll in resources the variationl2 d5 Black's weakens The forcedmove97-96 e b x c 1 4 b 3 B b 4 ?b e c a u sn o w ( d u et o 9 6 ) O d 4 w o u l dw i n a p i e c e ' . 13Nxc6

9 g2-93!

The question therefore is importantwhetheror not 97-96rn spiteof every t w t h i n gs h o u l d a v e e e n m i t t e d .O f c o u r s eh e t h r e a t a s1 2 N x f s O x f 5 1 3 h b o r w h f th e 2 - e 4h o w e v eB l a c k o u l db e a b l et o d e f e n d i m s e la g a i n s t a tw i t h 1 ' 1 . . . , H 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 r 1 4 . . . b 6 . e r e 6 threatened because will makethe Black alsothe Blackpositionis severlv e2-e4 p a w nm a j o r i t y 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 i , very mobile. 12 .".. d6d5 13 Nd4xc6 b7xc6 14 b2-b3 Bc4-a6 15 Ra1-c1 positionon the c file and therefore Whitehasconstructed threatening a forces oooonent act. the to B{8-c5! gGs5! 16 0-0

26 b7b4l gameis continuing from this position. The chances The correspondence the and are abouteven. Whitehasa pawnfor the exchange an attackagainst t m . d e s p i t eh e r e d u c e d a t e r i a lW i t h o u tw i s h i n qo t a k ei n t o c o n s i d e r a t i o n t king herethat the en passant the we the final result, havealready firm impression to captureon moveI leads a positionin which Whitewith quiet play - if he and furthermore protects c4 pawn by e3 - getsinto an inferiorposition, the abouta picture 9 the that by ignoring c4 pawn,the fianchetto 92-93brings doesnot produce with correctcounterplay which however full of imaginat;on a win,

is shownby the above and defies counter-pressures all That e7-e5is feasible game; as this raises question to whetherone shouldpermit the very interesting occurred the game: in the movee5. This experiment Black: rause K '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 were, in my opinion, indicated 11 Bxc3 Bf6 12 O0 95? Positionalmeasures before all otherc. i.e. 12.,.Nd8then Nf7 and Be6 or 72...8d7or finally even weakening. Why not sim' 12.,.exdexd. Af7, Od3, Re8. 13 b5? Unnecessary p$ Ad2? On 13...94there follows Nel or even Nh4 with a later push f3. the Generallyhere gS hasweakened 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

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17 Nc3xd5! I hadfiguredthis out before. B a dw o u l dh a v e e e n1 7 h x g h x g 1 8 B x q sb e c a u so f R h 5 1 9 B h 4 ?R x h 4 b e 20 hxg Od6. 17.... 95xf4 18 Rclxc5 GOot! E x c e ! l e n t lp l a y e d !A f t e r ' 1 8 . . . c x d 9 R x d 5O e 6 2 0 O d 4 G 0 2 1 R d 7 y 1 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 8 5 R e l l .. 2 19 Rc5xc6 The startof a beautiful combination.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

63

(Notesfor the following games omitted due to spacelimitations) are - Krause, Nimzowitsch 1924: 1d4 f5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 Bf4 d6 4 Copenhagen 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...K96 29 Nf4t Kxgs 30 Be6 threatens 28 ReTt Fbsigns mate 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 October 1913 Appendix One: The New System,WienerSchachzeitung, There. About A Tschigor;n Fantasv AppendixTwo: A l\4odern ' January 1925 Schachnachrichten, Kagan'sNeueste

5 23 52 60

GAIVES 1924 Copenhagen Brinckmann Krause, 1924 Copenhagen Kinch- Nimzowitsch, - Krause, 1924 Copenhagen Lowenborg Amateur,Riga1910 Nimzowitsch 1923 Karlsbad Bernstein, KoldingI 923 Brinckmann. 1924 CoPenhagen Giersing, 1913 St. Gregory, Petersburg 1 Krause,Correspondence 9245 1924 CoPenhagen Krause, 191 Karlsbad 1 Levenfish, 1923 Moller,CoPenhagen 1924 CoPenhagen Nilsson, 1924 Olson,CoPenhagen 191 Karlsbad 1 Salwe. 1923 CoPenhagen Sdmisch, 1907 Ostende Shories, Stockholm1920 SPielmann, 1923 CoPenhagen Tartakower, - Nimzowitsch, 1923 Copenhagen 56misch 1889 Breslau Tarrasch Berger, 1923 Copenhagen Tartakower Nimzowitsch, 1907 Ostende vanVliet- Nimzowitsch,
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