BLOCKADE

ves Perspecti New by

Aron Ninrzowitsclr

I ated by Trans Platz Dr. Joseph tus MasterEmeri USCF

1980 1E NS C E NTTRPRIS ,. CHES S IA PENNSYLVAN CORAOPOLIS,

n,c ' s n t e r p r i s el s C o p y r i g h1 t 9 8 0 ,1 9 8 3b v C h e s E E d i t o r : B . G . Du d l e y 462'07-X t s B N 0 - 93 ' 1 ,r. D e s i g n :E - F . W i t a l i sJ Cover lnc' WitlalisBurkeAssociates, PA Pittsburgh, Thisis an Engtishtranslationof the 1925 B' Kagan' Berlin, eclition, This 1983revisionis the third pflnttng, Publisher's Foreword do o k ,a p p e a r i nig r s t p u b l i s h eb n Berlin a n dL e n i n T h i s i s N i m z o w i t s c hf'is year work,lvly 1 9 2 5 .H i s c h i e f S y s t e ma , p p e a r etd hesame gradeditionsin quickly this work. Copies of the original edition overshadowed smaller and very scarce and the book had neverbeentranslated into English. havebecome Platz,readilyagreed to I wasvery fortunatethat my goodfriend,Dr. Joseph from his nativetongueinto English.Nimzowitsch is the translation handle verve and complexidiomaticconwell known aswriting with considerable es v 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 t r u c t i o nw s h i c hm a k et r a n s l a t i o n Platz h a sh a n d l e d h i sc h a i l e n g i n ta gs ka d m i r a b l y . makesreference in "Blockade"to threeof his contemporary Nimzowitsch his points. We haveincluded transla' magazine articles to further elucidate to permittoday'sreader to havereadyaccess to these tionsfrom thesearticles materials. suoplemental prior to this book writing My System SinceNimzowitsch had completed thereis naturallysignificant I am certain congruityin concepts.However, that today'schess will welcome students the opportunityof further study of the writingsof the chess master who hasbeenproperlynamed"The Fatherof ModernChess". With reference of the author'sname, the useadopted to the variedspellings i n t h e o r i g i n a"l B l o c k a d e " h a sb e e n continued i n t h i se d i t i o n .

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

1 Diagram

A
:

- at least It is customary _ to blockade amongmasters an enemvpasseo pawn;but to my knowledge no attempthasbeenmadeto justify the necessity of this measure on a theoretical basis.To find sucha justification would mean the solutionof the problemt,,Blockade,,. Onegetsa little closer to an understanding of the problemto which I have just referred when one delves into the essential behavior of the pawn. Undoubtedly one of its specific characteristics is its tremendous lust to expand, the desire to storm forward. The free centerclearlydemonstrates how thts tendency of the pawnto gainin importance by advancing works. For example, let us examine the followinggameplayedat odds,which incidentally waspreviously unpublished. White: A. N imzowitsch B l a c k :A m a t e u r Played a t R i g ai n 1 9 1 0 (RemovW e hite's R a1 , a n dp l a c e t h e p a w na t a 3 ) 1e2-e4 e7-e5 2 Ns1.f3 Nb8_c6 3 Bf1-c4 Bf8-c5 4 c2-c3 Ng8_f6 A sw e s h a l l s e eB , l a c ki s w i l l i n gt o g i v eu p h i se - p a w n . B u t t h e nt h e W h i t e center becomes mobilized.Therefore it would havebeenmore prudentto shout."stop!"to the White pawn-avalanche by playing4...02_aO. ifrere rof_ lowed: 5 d2-d4 e5xd4 6 c3xd4 Bc5-b6 .l:"* on b4 is nor possibte due to the pawnon a3. This fact weakens ",^1,!," !,quKs.oerense. tt the pawnhad beenon a2, this checkon b4 would give orack t i m et o c a p t u r e p a w no 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 White's '"irnce to hinderthe pawn _ as I usedto sayjokingly movement because wnllein pain- yearsof experience proven has that a deadparn _ "r*o,

I
.7.

a d v a n ca en y m o r e . B u t n o w ,a f t e rt h e m o v e6 . . . B b 6t,h e W h i t ep a w nr o l r c r setsitselfinto motion. 7 d+d5 NcGeT , e n o t o n l y e l u c i d a to In showing t h i s l i t t l eg a m ew en t h e p a w n ' s l u s tt o e x . pandbut we alsohave the opportunityof seeing what is meantby its possible Hadthe knight retreated advance. to b8 or movedto a5, it would havebeen thrown back.or elsehavebeendisplaced. Thuswe note: ( a ) t h et e n d e n ct yo a d v a n co er i g i n a t ep sa r t i a l l y f r o m t h e w i s ht o d e m o b r l i z et h e e n e m y . (b) the intentionof storming forwardwith the pawns, in order- to get r i d o f t h e m . A l m o s ta s u i c i d i a y o u te l ndency . don't t h i n k ? N o ,n o ra I all, because the pawnin its essence is alsoa blockingunit, it stands in the way of its own pieces.lt robsthe pieces of their routesjnto enemv territory,and therefore by its advance, its tendency toward self-destruc. tion is accomplished throughstrength and self-assertiveness. To summarize (b): it is the wish to gain linesfor the pieces (rooks!)which were postedin hometerritory by advancing for a breakthrough. And finally (c) it is alsopossible to form a wedgeby advancing the pawns. Now to continuewith the game: 8 e4-e5 The pawns'lustto expand. especially the centerpawns, is so strongthat it completely surpasses another very importantprinciple, that of development (for instance, by Nc3). Nc3 would of course be weakbecause of the answer 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 plays Black for materia g l a i nw h i l eW h i t ef o l l o w s a n i d e a l i s t ic co u r s eh ,e wantsto hinderthe development of his opponentby d5-d6,and thus virtually kill the b;shop on c8. In the ensueing struggle between two vital forcesof the world, the latterconceptwins out, remarkable enoughbut, as I usedto say jokingly.yet explanatory because the gamehad beenplayed- beforethe 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

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

+
1t od1.b3! 12 Bc4xlTt

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

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

position andthecritical has arisen.

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

a
D iagram 3

us the strength to discover eventhe faintest is alsothis optimismwhich gives in every bad situation, regardless of how bad it may be. In our hope of rav passed pawn we can state that enemy instance an is undoubtedly a for 66se o r u s . B u t e v e n t h i s e v icl o n t a i n a s f a i n tr a y o f l i g h t . T h es i t u a t i o n q r e a t e vf il pieceat the this pawnwe postthe blockading is suchthat when we blockade - asseen * in other words,the blockpawn {rom the enemy the side of 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 it appears naturalthat the Blackpieces protectthis pawn (Nf6, Bb7) and support it (Rdg). Now the question arises: ls it sufficient to hamper the pu*n nV NOg and Bf2 or is the blockade by the knight on d4 necessary? Answei:Against pawn's the passed stronglust to expandmildermeasures suchas hamp"ering by pieces from a djstance are insufficnet because typically,n" pr*n "un r,ilf advance undersuchcircumstances, in which case tne pawnwiff'pavfoi,n,, 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 an openfile, and,i,. tinigl,,grr, " n"* ".* tral square.We hadfocused on thjs forcefuladvance (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 by logicis this: the passed pawn- as I usedto sayjokingly_ is such, Oung"roi, "r,rninal that it is by no means sufficient to haveit *.t"n.a OVtn" pofi"" tfrffrs 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 gn i g h to n d 4 . (2) The second reason, to be explained now, is strategically aswell asrn, structionally of greatimportance; in chess, that whicfrOe-ciOes in tfrs finat measure is optimism. I meanthat it is psychologically importantto trairr yourselfin the attitudeof feelinghappy abour small advantages. The begrn. ner enjoyshimselfonly when he callsout mateto his oooon"-nr o, o"rnuu. L l e t t es rt i l l w h e nh e c a nc a p t u r e ( b e c a u si e h i sq u e e n n t h ee y e s o f t h eb e g i n n e r this is possibly the greater success of the two); the .a.tu|, how"ueris alr"aoy pleased and highlysatisfied if he succeeds in findingevena shade of an enemy pawnweakness in a nook of the left half of the loaiO! The optimis., h"re described, formsthe indispensable psychological Oasis +orpositionat piay. tt 8

passed pawn is on e4; the White blockader, Black's Ne3, ii not exposeo ro - safe. a rook attack{e8-e3) and is - so to speak It is jmportantto note that the blockading piece,in additionto its obligation to blockade, usuallystands very well. lf this were not the case, it would be difficult to refutethe objection that it would be wasteful to put a pieceon ice,just to guarda pawn. ln realitythe blockade squares are actuallyexcellent posts, first - aswasshownbefore- enemyfrontal attack is impossiore, second the blockade square is often at the game time an outposton a rook file, andthird the blockading piecekeeps enough elasticity to speed to an, '12 otherpart of the battlefield if necessaryDiagram demonstrates this elastlcrty and its further development; herewe want to be satisfied at demonstratingthe second case, that the blockade square and outposts coincide, In rne Q u e e n 'G s a m b i tB l a c ko f t e ng e t s p a w no n d 5 , a n da l t h o u q h a n i s o l a t eq du e e n it seems to be somewhat restrained by a White pawnon e3, we couldcalrtr halfof a passed pawn,its lust to expanci is that great;this is foundedpartially in the fact that the pawnon d5 is alsoa centerpawn. d4 is the blockade square. Now, White alsohasthe d file and on it a fortified square.Whichone i s i t ? W e l l ,a l s od 4 b e c a u sa ec c o r d i ntg o my defin;tion a square o n a f i l ec a n only be called"fortified" when it haspawnprotection, herethe pawnat e3. A fortified point on a file shouldbe occupied by an outpostiseemy articleon 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 gf a p a w nr e p r e s e no ts n l ya t o c a t - llmited - measure; space one stopped a pawnwhich wantedto advance, and =* A t r a n s l a t i oin sincluded i n t h i sv o i u m e in Appendix One.

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

Diagram 5

'8, 7 % tz lz 71,,

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

passed, it is the rightful "candidate". And we giveit Thef-pawnshallbecome give him an academic l\4r.Candidate, degree: {Thusthat pawn in thistitle, we "candidate".)And from thrs which has no opponent is the majority a pawn haspreference, a rule which is dictated we derivethe brief rule: the candidate you by strategic necessity but also, as must admit, by the duty of poonly not (Thusunforgettable for everybody who callshimselfa polite man, 1;1eness, it exactlyscientifically this presents itselflike andwe all do that.) To express of the pawns leader advance is the candidate, the the other only accomthis: and f5-f6. ln case the Blackpawns stand panyit, thusf2-f4f5, then 92"94-95 Diagram 7 below)then f4, 93 (not h3 at oncebecause of on 96 and hb (see of paralysis), h3, 94 and f5. How simple! And yet how ...h4with symptoms how weakerplayers. facedwith the positlonin this diagram, oftenone sees

The pawns e6 and d5 are thoroughlyblockadecj, and note that the entrre Blackpositionasa consequence hasan uncomfortable fixed character, tne bishopand the rook are prisoners in thejr own campl lf White had a oassed p a w no n h 4 , h e w o u l da l m o s t have winning c h a n c ed se s p i t e h i ss u b s t a n r i a l materia leficit! d We now askour reader to turn his attentionto the pawn majority, Diagram 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 the g-pawn 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 the goldenrule of the compromise, And now let's look briefly at the extremely complicated defensive struggle against a majority. A resultof the just developed rule is that the way to counteract the har. monious pawn is to pushtowardthe candidate development of a passed so as ro makeit somewhat immobile, Oncewe havesucceeded in makingthe candi" datebackward (by forcinga companion to advance) then the blockade of the onceproud candidate cannotbe prevented any longer, and then it will not be long u 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 o f a f i g h ta g a i n s a t m a j o r i t yI p r e s e n t heremy gameagainst Tartakower from the Copenhagen Six N4aster Tournam e n t1 9 2 3 . (SeeDiagram 8 at the top of the next page) Black da v v n h a s2 a g a i n s1 t o n t h eq u e e n s i d eW ; h i t eh a sa p a s s ep in the center, \a/hich however can be stronglyblockaded by Bd6. (Oneshoulddifrerentiate between strongand weakblockade.A blockader which can be easily attacked a n dc a n o n l y r e c i e v le i t t l eo r n o s u p p o rftr o m i t s c o m r a d e s n a sl i t f l ee f f e d . ) 11

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

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

Diagram 8

t,/t ',t/1Xg l:z

lr '..t'I

N imzowitsch

*+

t5

Bl a c k I Tartakower

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

time prepares an actionwhich uproots holdsbackthe c-pawnand at the same pawn on the b file this possibility on d8. With a passed wouto the blockade to him. Therefollowedl not havebeenavailable 35.... h7"h5 to marchto h6r Kg2-f3-94-h5-h6. The king threatened 36 h3h4 Rd8-s8 37 Rcel-c8 Rs8-d8 3l2-t4l Be5d4 39 g3g4 h5x94 40 h4h5 TheBlack blockader T h eu p r o o t i n g ! l vi {s K a n dR ) w i l l n o w b ed e c i s i v ed 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 by Bd8, 45 Rc8-eg Slippingbehindthe barrier which Blackhad hopedto erectby Bd8. Now mateis threatened by hGh7, and therefore Tartakower resigned. With a bold leapwe'll turn our attentionnow to the fight against a major. ity in the centerwithout bothering with the restof the "majority" problems this writing would extendinto infinity). Heretoo, aswith every {otherwise othermajority,we seeourselves threatened with the possibilitv of the formation of a passed pawn. To makethingstougher. new threatsappear, the beginning of an attackagainst the castled king {the centerasa weaponof aggression!) i n t r o d u c etd hrough wedge formation or opening of !ines a n dd e m o b i l i . zation. I believe the followingpositions of the mainactorsarecharacterislc.

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

of Rxd6, etc. Not Bxd6because 30 Rd3xc3

%t7z'lfut % ',r41
7l

31 dedT

Ks8'f8

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

./ HH

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

W h i t en o t o n l y t h r e a t e nts da w ni t h r o u g n h e u s u a l f o r m a t i oo nf a p a s s ep aovance of the candidate 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 dositron w o u l db e c u t o f f f r o m t h e m a i na r m v .t h e c o m m u n i c a r t o n on the 7th rank would be interrupted (the BlackrookscLrtoff from protection

13

f7-f6, f o r m a t i o nB , l a c kp l a y s t h i sw e d g e of the points 9 7 a n dh 7 ) . T o a v o i d pawnon e6 andtherebyobtainsa powerfLr a passed afterwhich Whitecreates I, theposition positiona onlymarked of A.s I s a i d at thebeginning ald v a n t a g e pieces more on the board, the most importantactors.Thus,if there had been the Blackpawnon f6 could be usedasa targetin orderto force openthe g or Black ). c o n c l u dt e h a t i t i s n o t d e s i r a b lfe h e r e f o rw e eeasily f i l e ( g 2 - g 4 - q 5T to advance to the sth tank; they shouldhavebeen to oermitthe two pawns on the 4th rank. stopped

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

g
'11 Diagram

r *u
t, t t .

Bl a c k : Giersing

Di a g r a m 10

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 the missing piece, compensation superiority is so greatthat one is definitelyinclined but his positional to prupassed pawnon e5 and the strongpositionof the protected fer White. Besides the positional the White king in the center, advantage liesprimarilyin the sad position of the Blackrook. This rook is chained to a pawnand therefore senpassivity.I applieda procedure to complete tenced involving combinations whichdoesnot represent the strongest continuation.To judgethe text continuationfrom the point of view of our book we will analyze it very briefly before we showthe positional way to victory. T h eg a m e continued: 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 the combination 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 h e p a w n6 1 . . . 8 x b 6 t h e n6 2 e 6 t K x e 6 6 3 R h 6 1 . 62 Ke4d5 Rf7-e7 63 e5-e61! Compare the note to White's61st move, 63 .... Kd7c8 64 Rh2-t2 Re7-e8? This attemptto separate king and pawnfrom eachother endsfataily,jusr asin a moviebecause theretoo the attemptto separate the two lovers is narshl y p u n i s h e dT . h i si s n a t u r a l l y yso t h e r w i ste a necessit a h e a u d i e n cw e o u l oa s x T o rt h e i rm o n e yb a c k . 65 Rr2.I7 Re8-dgt 66 Kd5"c6 Rd8-e8 67 b6b7t Kc8'd8

t h e m a i na c t o r s , 1 0 ,w h i c ha g a i n o n l ys h o w s I n t h ep o s i t i o n of Diagram fixed the candidate on e4. Without hopeof everbeing Blackhasmoreor less f4-f5, Whitedecides to "sacrifice"his majority. He moves ableto forcee4-e5, knights entrench themselves on e5 and e6. With many and now the respective pieces on the boardthe knighton e6 could initiatea strongattack.but posigame a n dt h e b l o c k a d i nk gn i g h to n e 5 i s v e r yp o w ' theBlack i sg o o d , tionaily of the in (2) above) sinceit prevents the approach erful (see my explanation preventing forces, for instance the queenfrom goingto 94 or Whiteattacking a rook to f3, etc. in everyfight against a pawnmajoritythe first stepis hamperWe haveseen t h e i d e ac l o n s i s to sf a b l o c k a d e . ing, Finally however, The desire to stop a mobilepawnmass is in itselfunderstandable; pawns which are aloccasionally necessary to blockade the fact that it seems . h i sh a p p e np y h e no n ew a n t s sa r t i c u l a r lw to m o s ti m m o b i l e i s p u z z l i n gT 1l ) , make s 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 And nowI will give f o u r e x a m p l ets o i l l u s t r a tw e h a tI h a v e s a i di n t h i s m o n ograph. A l l f o u r e x a m p l ea sr ed e r i v e f dr o m m y l a t e s p t r a x i st,h e N o r d i cl \ 4 a s )l.t h o u g h in A i t w a sv e r vs t r o n g terTournamen t August 1 9 2 4( C o p e n h a g e n w h o r e c e n t l w y o n a h e a d o f R u b i n s t e i a n n d T e i c h m a n n o n l y i n B e r l i n, Johner, w a st h e r e f A l l a nN i l e s s o n th , e g e n i atlh e o r e t i c i a D nr . K r a u s e t, h es o l i c l ,u r t h e r y o u n gm a s t e rK s i n c h ,K i e r ,e t c .- | s u c c e e d e in dw i n n i n g w i t h 9 %p o i n t s out t i c t o r vh a st o b e c r e d i t e d of 10! | believi e n a l l s i n c e r e tty h a t t h i sg r e a v to mV d e e p eu r n d e r s t a n d io nf gt h e e s s e n c oe f theblockadeI l n e v i t a b l iy t happened sn c o u n t e r e t h a t i n t h e d i f f i c u l tb l o c k a d p e r o b l e me Id t o o o c c a s i o n a lfla yi l e . i , b u t t h a t h a p p e n ev de r yr a r e l ya , ctually o n l y i n t h ef o l l o w i n g endgame. o n eo n l y h a s I n t h es e c o n d r o u n dt h e e x c e l l e nm t a s t eG r i e r s i f l(g t o t h i n ko i 14
L.-

68 Rf7-d7mate. eith 64... to we o u l dh a v e b e e np o s s i b lw I n s t e ao df 6 4 . . . R e 8 ? , u g hr e s i s t a n c r h i t ew o u l dh a v e h a da c l e a r win (see Diagram 11 ) i f h e h a d K d 8 ;h o w e v eW with 58 Rh2-h6. Therecould havefollowedl blockaded 58.... Kdl-e7 g6xf51 59 f4-f5 60 Kert-f4!! g6t, for example: A n d B l a c ki s h e l p l e s asg a i n s tt h et h r e a t 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 is ableto keepits elasticity.

35 Ra1-fl Kb7-c6 36 Rf1-f5 F i r s tW h i t eb r o u g h t h e r o o k t o f 5 a n d h i sk i n gi n t o a n a t t a c k i n g positoin. it is very happyon a5 because As far asthe other rook is concerned, it has and may very well marchoverto the f file at the right mokept its elasticity c o m et o t h a t . T h e R a 5a n dt h e B l a c k ment.But it won'teven a-rook hold therefore other in balance; the Whitef-rook only hasto deajwith one each (with one rook) and hereit proves itselfto be the stronger counterpart one, because it already occupies partially the f file and partiallybecause it is suppoint out is the readiness portedby the king, But what I want to especially its blockading positionand go onto the f file as of the Whitea"rookto leave The fight for the f file revolves soonas it is necessary. 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 h i r eh a dp l a n n e d T h ee n t r y . ( O r i g i n a l lW h S h 6 . H a dB l a c kp l a v e d 39... 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 the failureto establish a blockade is punished by free play of the pieces. white: Kinch Black: Ni m z o w r t s c 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 new movejhetook the knight ^ og5xf6 e7xf6 and made a regLllar gdmbit out of the game,

Di a g r a m 12

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

'/z '/Lt %e
.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 the mobility of the Blackrooks,the latterthe mobility of theBlack k i n g ( t h eW h i t er o o k p o s i t i o n f5 forces t h e d e f e n s i vp eo s i t i o n 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 el a y e r t 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 gc t i v i t y on thekjng wing,but what happens with the Whiterooks? Shouldthey occupythe f file? Well, t h e nt h e b a c k w a r a d- p a w n willadvance a,n d i n t h i sw a y B l a c k will rid himselfof his weakpawnand willeven get a passed pawn. lf however one wantsto useone rook to blockade on a5, then the other rook could hardly w i n a n y l a u r e lo s n t h e f f i l e c o u l di t ? H o w e v etrh e r ef o l l o w e d : 33 Ra2-a5 34 Kt2-s3 16 Kd7-c6 KcGbT

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

e7xf6 f&f5

7 .... 8 Bc4-b3 9 a2xb3

Ncdas! Nasxb3 Od8-s5

17

9...d5would be refutedbY Nt4.

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

13 Di a g r a m

/.a.a.15]!L

B l a c kI Nimzowitsch

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

K i n c ht o m o v e

Whitel S. Kinch

the Blackpawn positionWhiteculd play to blockade In the diagrammed perhaps together with establishing through 10 93 majorityon the king'swing, 1 2 A d 2 d O13G0-0and 1 1 N f 4 G 0 f 4 , f o r e x a m p l 1 e 0 9 3 B e 7 tn a k n i g ho be in spiteo{ the extra winningchances h2-h4;then wherewould Black's by 97-95?(After 10 93 pawn? Perhaps in an attemptto breakthe blockade poup Elack's it would loosen Be7 1'1Nf4Oh6 12 Ad2 s'.l Hardly,because was the which we have suggested 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 a w nb u t l e a v i ntg h e o p p o n e nw t iththebishop b a c kt h e g a m b i p Winning pair and the freergame. Therefollowed: 14.... 15 Ne4-t2 e5. N o t d 7 - d 5w h i c hw o u l dw e a k e n Og5-e3t d7.d6!

23 b3xc4 Ba6xc4 24 Nd3-c1 Bf&b4! than Ba6 but alsoin conformitywith the requirements Not only stronger w h i c h" c a l l s for mobility." o f t h ep o s i t i o n Re&f8t 25 Ra7xb7 , ew i l l b e p u t i n c h a i n s by th Black stumbles , o u g hh e w i n sa p i e c eh Here the spirit of the blockade,(As waspointed force,which makesit a sin against free play with the pieces shouldperish throughBlack's out,White logically p e r m i t t e d f a i l u r e t h r o u g h h i s t 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 W h i t e which play with the pieces Blackshouldplay (instead of 25...RfSt) 25 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 Bdst 32 Ksl Bf2t 33 Kfl Bq3t) 30..,Bxs4i 3'l K92 Bxe2 31 Ks2 hxqt 32 Nxe2 Rf2t 33 Kgl Rxe2,etc. We returnto Diagraml4 after White's25th move,

l4 Diagram

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

Re8-f8t

Bc8-d7 16 Ne2-93 17 Ks1'f1 themselves. assert Probably better wasOd3although thentoo the bishops
Ra8-e8! 17.... justly h e o p p o n e nh t ei s b e i n g t o b l o c k a dt e r h i t ef a i l e d B e c a u se ea r l i eW save great mobility, p u n i s h e id si e c e h n s ot a r a st h e o p p o n e n t 'p 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.... There followed: 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 of the blockading events manifest themselves extraordlnarily i m p r e s s i v ei ln yt h i sg a m e .( T o g i v ei t a n a m e " , C r i m ea n d P u n i s h ment".) Beforewe get to the next example we will first givean explanation which shouldclarifythe meaning of the qualitative majority. A majority,suchas threepawns against two, must,of course, be impeded; in this sense too we mustcall a majorityof thosepositions in which the pawnmajorityon one wing is of a subjective nature, ln my game agains B t e r n s t e ia nt K a r l s b a 1 d 9 2 3{ l h a dt h e W h i t ep i e c e s ) , afterthe moves: 1Ns1-f3 Ns8-f6 2 d2.d4 d7.d5 3 c2-c4 e7-e6 4 Nb1-c3 Bf8-e7 5 e2-e3 o0 6 a2-a3 a7-a6 7 c+c5 c7-c6 I b2-b4 Nb8-d7 9 Bc1-b2 Od&c7 10 Od1-c2 eGe5 11 G0.0 e$e4

forcefulthan an atly go overto the attackwith f5, 95, f4 which is much less formation (through a wedge tackwith a realmajority. Therethen threatens of lines{by f4xf3) with possible conquest of the "laterally" t+f3l and opening Pe3, However to recognize a majorityassuchmeans (not frontally)denuded something against it. Theretherefore 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 in the gameNimzowitsch 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 opponenthasa corresponding in d3, e4, 14 a k ind of side-center, on the left wing. Therenow camemy entirelyrrnprecedented attemptto immediately hamperthe mobileenemyqueenwing (thrcugh4 c2.c4)because I recognize this wing asa majority(of the subjective typc). For a detailed explanation of this surprising move I may be permittedto referto the January issue ol Kagan'sNeuesteSchachnachrichten." The followingexample. which by the way actuallyhappened, showshow difficult problemsofrestriction canbe. In his new booklet,lndisch,Dr.fartakower presents a game which wasplayedbetween us in the Copenhagen '1923.(Whiter l,ilasters Tournamentin Tartakower, Black: Nimzowitsch) I d4 Nf6 2 Nc3 d5 3 Bg5Nc6, and he makes the followingremarkr"Typica! ly Nimzowitsch!Seemingly anti-positional Pawnopenbecause in the Oueen's Ingthe importantc-pawnis blocked, but this strategy in the spirit of lively playwith the pieces cannotbe simplybrushed aside." To this I would like to saythe followingrNc6 wasnot at all playedpertaining to "play with the pieces".The movewassolelyto counteract the a d v a n ce e2 . e 4 q a m e .H a dI w h i c hw o u l do p e nl i n e s a n dt h u sf r e eW h i t e ' s translationof that note follows: 4 c2.c4 this move is not inspircd by the hope of preventingd7-cl, or only of ^-As '"dKtng it difficult, it needsa specialexplanation. Black wants to force the outld up e7.e5 d7-d5. After suchwork is done he will have thoughts of improving hisattack-formation on the qLteen's wing by an eventualNd4 in order ':,use pressure the c filel on the pawn on c2 after Nxd4 c,xd4 havebeen lin p6yed. The te^t move prevents thispossibleextensionof the play on the 'lueen's wing. The hole on d4 seems to be nonessential. 'A

'15 Diagram

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

+ + /
f,Y

lH

a q * ttu fr.&
A position h a sb e e n r e a c h e id n w h i c hW h i t eh a sa s u b j e c t i vm eaiority on the queenside,BJack on the king side. Why? Because the pawnon e4 is "more" t h a nt h e p a w no n e 3 a n do n t h e o t h e rh a n dt h e p a w no n c S i s , , m o r e t h a nt h e p a w no n c 6 , l f o n ew e r et o g i v eB l a c k a f r e eh a n d , h e w o u l dq r a o u a r 20

6lZ

.a

21

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

SuPPlement

who is so well publisher Mr- B. Kagan, the wish of my esteemed Following relating to the blockade l'll add somegames world, entire chess the in known of my procedures. After the next moves, 4 e3 e6 5 Nf3 Be7 6 Bd3 h6! 7 Bh4 b6! the trencl andalsosomenew examples at Ostende playedin the master tournament which wasdirected e2-e4 wasfurther strengthened. against 8 O0 Bb7,and I beginwith an oldergame, of the pronounced examples the most pell-mell one of now I threaten the combinational moveNe4with interesting to be I consider combi1907,;hich qualitative majority' of a impediment nations. accomplished successfully .l No. B l a c k :N i m z o w i t s c h W h i t ev : a nV l i e t d7'd5 1 d2-d4 We havenow arrived at the end of our explanations. We lookedat the c7'c5 2 Ngl't3 problemof obstruction from differentsides and we became convinced how e7'e6 e2'e3 3 muchstrategy is represented by a fight between mobility on one sideand the Ng&J6 4 b2'bg tendency to obstructon the other, Nb8-c6 5 Bf1'd3 ye r e T h e p h j l o s o p hh d e v e l o p eid se n t i r e l y n o v ea l n d i t i st h e r e s u l o t f man! B{8-d6 6 a2'a3 years of research, this applies especially to the justification of the duty to 7 Bc1'h2 b l o c k a d eF . inally I w i s ht o g i v et h i sg u i d i n g principlt eo t h e a l e r tc h e s s p l a y e r i freeingadvance an intended agalnst is directed The White development Stop everypawnwh ich wantsto advance pretext,every underthe sl;ghtest into a blocklater crystallizes that this e6e5. Thusobstruction. No wonder passed pawn,everypart of the center, everyquantitative or qualitative majorof our essay in the spirit posted Because on e5) (A knight later ade. White ity, stopthem! Firsttry it goodnaturedly. (as3...Nc6for with mild measures is only an introductorystep,but the climax is the blockade' light obstruction instance gameagainst in my Copenhagen Tartakower). after that let your 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 pawns wing by recognizing on the queen's counterplav Blackestablishes 'i924 qualitative thereasa majority. Dresden 12 d4xc5! which had only the one iault that van Vliet didn't un' An move excellent A. N imzowitsch book alsosuffered tournament derstand of the Ostend it. But the annotator con' Teichmann Apparently a ? a slmilar gave text move the fate. Teichmann siders of the center. But that is not the moveasa surrender the incriminating case, correctly. only White shouldhavecontinued Bd6xc5 12 .. NfGdT 13 0d1-f3 to me. Blackwantsto moveis not apparent A betterand more consistent getrid of the blockader own centerpawns Ne5 in orderto mobilizehis Bb7xc6 14 Ne5xc6 (See i 6 a t t h e t o o o f t h e n e x tp a g e ) Diagram 15 Of3g3 This and the next moveare mistakes. c 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 W h i t es h o u l d h a m o et rh e B l a c k position through B d 4o r N d 4 T h eb l o c k a d e a n d 1 6 N d 2 b 3 B b 6 15b3-b4! 23

22

'A c.9,

Diagram 16

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 .Lt

in chessll opinions * ' -6 1 a r e 19 ele4 with e6-e5l 94-95 ln orderto answer 20 Rd1-el 21 l4-ts After 14,..Bxc6

od8-d7 e&e5!

17 Diagram

with a pieceon d4, thus achieved, would not be easilyshaken off by f7-f6 ancl e6-e5because after f7"f6, Ohs, or Oh3 would become unpleasant. On the other handthe Blackb-pawn, which wasfixed by b3-b4,could become a target for an attack. For instance 15 b3-b4Bc5-b6 16 Nd2-b3Od8-e7 't7 ( 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 Nb3-d4 B c G b T 1 8a 3 - a 4 b e c a u so ef t h e d o u b l e bishop s a c r i f i co en h 7 a n d9 7 ,t h u s :2 0 B x h T t K x h T 21 Oh5t Kg8 22 BxgTKxgT 23 Og51 Kh8 24 Rt3l ot l7...Bb6xd4instead of BcGbT 18 e3xd4. ln the positionthus reached the pawnon c2 is backward and not worth much,the same applies to Bb2 but these weaknesses couldonly be uncovered by the maneuver of the knightd7 overb6 to a4 or - d u et o h i so w n u n s a f e c 4 , a n dB l a c k ( W h i t e 'e s f i l e a n dm o position king's b i l i t yo n t h e k i n g ' s w i n g iw o u l dh a r d l y have t i m ef o r t h a t . T h e r e r e m a i ntsh e posting of the knighton e4 which however after Bd3xe4would leadto orroositecoloredbishops. Therefore Whitecould haveequalized by d4xc5 in connection 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 the disadvantage, II ...Nd7.f6 16 Ral-d1? With still betteraccess than on the previous moveWhitecould haveqone through w i t h t h ea b o v e m e n t i o n eo db s t r u c t j o nT , h u si 6 b 3 - b 4B c b - b 61 7 Nd2-b3and B lackmust be carefulin orderto equalize. 16 .... a6a5! Now pawna3 is a weakness, and Whitedoesnot reachthe abovementioned obstruction. 17 Os3h3 h7-h 6 T h e B l a c kp o s i t i o n c a nt o l e r a t e t h i sw e a k e n i n g l 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 gass a n dt h e f l i g h to f t h e B l a c k king.According to my teachings any other moveis out of the question because the obstructton of the Whitepawn mass is the most urgentorderof the hour. The fact tnar T e i c h m a nc na l l s d 5 - d 4a m o v e of "dubious v a l u e ,s ,hows h o r ,w v i d e l vd i v e r 24

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

2*71,tt "4.Allt x 'L i"..& ''/Ltt

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 qualita example of the fight against 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 on a3 forces 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 evident:after g5xf6 Now Black's in all its depth becomes the answer and the king finds satety can alwaysbe g7xf6. f6 is well defended on d6. 31 g5xf6 safety. the battlebeforethe king hasreached Whitebegins g7xf6 31 .... 32 N{3-h4 a strongoutposton the g file. Not a bad idea. White wantsto establish Rag-98 . . . . 32 Rh8-h5 33 Nh+s6 Nd7,f8 34 Ks2-t2 Now a terrific battlewill ragefor the outpost96. On the wholethe out' postappears it cannotbe held, that strength to be {airly strong. lf despite

25

t h er e a s o n I i e si n t h e w e a k n e s ,amely os f t h e W h i t ep o s i t i o nn i n t h e f a c tt n , , t h e p a w no n e 4 i s n o t o n l y t h r e a t e n eb dy B c 6a n dO b 7 ,b u t a l s ob y t h c S " i ' w h i c hi s b u r n i n g to give a discovere cd heck. 3 5 R a1 - g l R h5-s5 36 Og3h4 Rg5xg1 37 Kt2xs1 Nf8x96 38 0h4.h5 Kt7-t8 39 f5xg6 A p p a r e n t lW y h i t eh o l d s 96. . . 'lo ab7-s7 4O Re2-92 Rs8-h8 41 Ah5-e2

d qudlitiitiv{ d s a 1 ' g h ta g a i n \ 1 m u t L a l 5 ob c c o n s r d e r Y d r"h a l o l l o w i n gg a m e 2 nd b' 11;ancv t h e w ' l h c r o w n c d a n d , , . , l t- w r s p l a v e da t K a r l s t l a o1 9 2 3

fial9ttt't"

/ize' Nimzowitsch White:

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

Amerlca) B e r n s t e i{ n Black: Nq8-i6 d7-d5 Bf8-e7 0-0 a7-a6

'/:
/t::

7:/

'18 Diagram

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

//.2 g

I C4'Ct p a w n h a so e e n w h i c h w i l l b e c o m p l e t eo n c e t h e B l a c k c h a i n F o r m sa p a w n p a w n sd 4 a n d c 5 l h e a r e "O'f"l "Of The Wh;te links;n the chain ,aii.i realm of the the in plan attack for !vhite I ne rhe Black ones are db and cb.

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

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

ill'il

41 .... Rh8_h4! Starts a d i v e r s i oa ng a i n sP t e4, a n dt h i s i s d e c i s i v e n,a m e l y f o r t h e f a t eo t P g 6a n dt h e r e f o ra el s of o r t h e r e s u l o t f thegame. 42 Bb2-c1 At lastthe bishop, which wascut off for 24 moves, dares to comeout intc u s t i n t i m et o w i t n e s t t h ed a y l i g h tb , u t h e a r r i v ejs sh e c o l l a p so ef h i sf o r c e s . Attet 42 Rg4,which Teichmann recommended here,would havefollowecl R x g 4 4 3 O x g 4B c 6 , d 7a ! n dB d 7 - e B a n dB l a c km u s tw i n . 42.... Rh4xe4! 43 Ae2-d2 Re4-h4 44 Ad2xa5 ag7-d7 T h e b l o c k a d i nq gu e e n l e a v eh se rp o s t . W h e n o n ec o n s j d e r ts hatblockading i su s u a l l y t h e t a s ko f t h e m i n o rp i e c e s o,n em u s ta d m i tt h a t t h e q u e e nw , hich i sn o t u s e d t o t h i st v p e o f w o r k ,h a s job. d o n ea t e r r i f i c 45 gdgTl K8-s8 N o w h i sm a j e s t y has t a k e no v e rt h e b o c k a d e himse f. 46 ad3c4t b5xc4 47 Oa5xc5 To sweep t h eb l o c k a da e w a yw i t h O f g t . 47 "" R h 4 - h 1 !t Resigns.
t a n V l i e t ) ,w h i c h r e m a i n e d T h i s g a r n e( a g a j n sv reiat;vely rnnoticecl, is one o f m y b e s ta c c c m p l l s h m e n t s .

th d;scusse de i n alreadv l 6W e h a v e t f Rb1-b7-c7xc i " " " , i " i t i . r l a c o n s i so part of lhis book in the theoret:cal moves 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 e G e 5i s p e r c e p t i o n l unfounded rtt.-"l"ir -n"trinu " i u . " " t t r o m t h ef l a n k A n e n t i r e l V abilhas some center White the iJ r.."ctionto c4-c5which ""r" ii" ut not more' s, i t y t o r e s i s-t e q u a l i z e b e5-e4 11 "'

";;;i;1'L

theenverop' while bebv Rb6' would (tnesioe attack

Theothertheoret]callyconceivabIeattempttostrengthenth eattacKIngpo. e5 x d 4 'a n dp l a yo n t h e e f i l e t f t h e e x c h a n ge , i t i o n. g r i " , t l a * o u i d c o n s i so

'-\14H?Ylll: i".':li: :: ora1oJtoost ii'""ni"n"ii*o estootirn.""t to vvnLre belong e f i l P\ ' ! o u l d

sh ee e a sb l eb e c a L r t t e m p ti s n o i p r a c r i c a l llV t o d o e x c e pt o else f e m a i nn sothins T h e r e d e v e i o p m e n t ;;;kr;" ;it;;;|. o n t o t h e n e wb a s e d 4 f r o m n dt r a n s f etrh e a t t a c k te n , t ar t O +t , u n t o u c n a Oa m o v e m e nf t7 - { 5 ' { 4 x t h e h a m p e r i n g o f t a s k the " g * i i n . s . + . W h i t et h e nh a s e 3 ,w h i c hw o u l de x p o s e 3 f r o n rt h e s r d e ' N d7,b8 12 Nf3-h4! t f5. T o p r e v e nN

26

i n c l a s s i cs al v l e ' t eans 6 2 r ' r i eo du t b y t h e s i m p l e sm T h eo b s t r u c l i ov nv 6 5 "baroque" c onsists r n o v e t h e b u t b j z a ( t e ' ot O t c l u r s " f Z N h 4 c o u i da p p e a r T h e refore o f o b s t r u c i i o n o p e r a t l o n 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 a l 2,7

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

NfGeS t7-r5

my esteemed reader w i l l f i n d i t u n d e r s t a n d a b lw e h e n I h a v eo n l V a p i t i f u l s m i l ef o r a s i m i l a rc r i t i c i s mb y s o m ec n | c s .

Be7-d8 16 aga4 Morecautious wasBe2then Kd2. After this development is comoleted White w o u l db e a b l et o b r i n gt h e a r t a c k a2-a4 a n db 4 - b 5 to a ,rccerrful"onclusionwithout any greater effort. to.... b7.b6! W e l lp l a y e d l U s u a l l y t h ec o u n t e m r o v e m e no t f t h e m i n o r i t yo n l y g i v e s an advantage to the attacking side(in this case. White). However, the prJsence o1 the Whitemonarch makes the Whitemajority in a certainsense a comprornised one,and therefore the pushb6 is sufficientlymotivated. 17 h4b5

20 Diagra.r'

, 'N. z.& t2,

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

/,NWWA1&.

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

Diagram 19

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_ stance 2 1 . . . 8 x b 62 2 K c 1 . d 2 a n dW h i t ew i l l o c c u p y t h e a f i l e a n dm a i n t a i n threats against the base of the chain,d5 (afterdisappearance o+tte proiecrrng c6). zz gJxf4 Now the obstruction of the B lackpawn mass on the king sideis absolute. 22 -... Bc8-d7 23 Kc1-d2 c6xb5 24 Rdl-a,t! Whiteforcespositional advantages on the queen,s wing, 24.... Nb&c6 25 Be2xb5 NcGa5! 26 BbS"eZ Rfg_b8 E l a c kh a s d e f e n d ee dx c e l l e n t la yn o i s n o w a D o u t o e q u a l i z e . 28

27 Nc3-a4 only the simple27 Ra3 elegant combination.Otherwise An exceedingly R x b 6 i . e . 2 7 R a 3 2 8 R h 1 a 1 N a 5 - c 42 t 7Bxc4Rxa3 b e c o n s i d e r e d , t o 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 the combinational reason nothing, Besides the specific has less than White for text move,there is alsothe intentionof makingit asdifficult aspossible without however insisting material to win backthe sacrificed theopponent to the end. too stronglyon holdingon to that material 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 n5 .

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

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

30 Oc2xb3!

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

\-

e l e g a np t l a y l H o w e v etrh i s b r u t a l a p p r o a cd ho e s n o t g o w i t h m y n a t u r ea , nd besides i t,w o u l db e a b i g m i s t a k ei , . e .3 2 R h1 - a 1 ? Q I 7 . c 7 !3 3 R x e 8 l K f 7 , a n dW h i t eh a ss p e n t h i m s e la f n ds h e d t se a r s . o , t h e R a l r sn o r of repentence N in a hurry "to take part", on the contrary.with a tired gesture like someone bored,it permitsbanishment, in other words: it staysin the background. 32 Be2-d1t! T h e p o i n t :W h i t ed o e s n o t f e a rt h e a n s w e3 r 2...Rb'1, 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 bry a w h o l et e m p ot h a n RxeSt). a n do n t h e o t h e rh a n dt h e r e t r e a3 t 2...Rb6 w o u l db e i n s u f f i c i e n bte . cause of 33 Ba4 Re6 34 Rb1 (onty now the rook appears) 096! 35 Rbg Oqt 3 6 B x N O x f 2 t 3 7 K c 1 ,t h e k i n gi s s a f e a n dW h i t ew i n s . n D o e s n 'tth e l a t ep a r t i c i p a t i o o f t h e m a i na c t o r ,R h 1 ,r e m i n d u so f h o w the "hero" of a dramais usually"jntroduced":first comes an old servant who tellsa story.then two other "characters" steponto the stage and makeus cur_ iousaboutthe "hero", and at last"he" appears - and becomes in person the centeo r f a l lh a p p e n i n g s . 33 Kd2xc3 Qf7-c7t 34 Kcgd2 Ke8-f7 Now a positionhasbeenreached which canonly be won throughattackin the classical style. The old picture:at first positional advantages arewon by modernplay,then these advantages are utllizedthroughold-fashioned, ctass. cal chess!

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

35 Be2-hst 36 Rhl-a1!

s7's6

Classical is the watchword, the rook becomes 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 di t h e v e r y t h i ne gl s e b u tt h es a f e t y o f h i sk i n g ,b u t h e r e t h ej u s t m e n t i o n em d o t i f f o r m st h e m a i ni n c e n t i vo ef a l l t h e a c t i o n !

40 ....

obeb3

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

T h er e s o u r ca ers eb e i n g mobilized. 42 Ras-ao 43 h5xs6 44 Rada2l 30

Nc7-e8 ob3b2 h7xg6

31

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

al'as 31 Rc2'b2 pawn,which has passed the still have White has cleared. situation The of assailing possibility whatsoever has no andWhiteapparentlV l,,enstopped, l i k e L a s k e ri)s t i l l e d p a s s ep da w n( t o s p e a k B l a c k t h e w h i l e frJoto.nua.r, " obilitY. . - i r h" t h r e a t e n i n gm l(98'f7 32 Rhlh5 Bdls6 33 g2-g4

23 Diagram

7z.t ,,.
A ,

7 7t
/.Pr

7.2.

Diavam22

% 7/,

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

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

34 Rh5xe5! the Whiteking because the exchange Whitesacrlfices A deepcombination: own rook can and his e'pawn his with connection in and center invade 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 e astling i n a ne n d i n g get w o u l db e b a d . B u t n o w t h i n g s 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 of the two, so the b-pawnmust die. 29.... BeTxb4t 30 Ke1-f2 Bb5-d3

"strongrook" blockader, prepared from all on the the assault Unveiling "tasks" the "unhappy asfollows:the Rb5 attacks sides. areassigned The to his aid the Blackking hurries one" from the rear(throughRb7). Of course the first case, ln the or d8 from d6 Rc7 either andcan protectthe attacked but iJ the king takesthe more check from the pawnon e4 (e4'e5t) is decisive. throughf4, e5 to will advance modest positionon d8, hisWhite counterpart d6 and the blockader is dead. Kt7'e7 39 ..'. Ke7-d8 40 Rb5-b7 lG8-e7 41 Rb7-bgt Rc7xd7 42 Kttt4 W h i t et h r e a t e n eK , d6 d e S ,R b 7 { . . . K d 8 )K Bb3e6 43 Rb8-b7l Be6xd7 44 c'xdT 45 Kf4-e5 re l st! thebeneficia A f t e r r h e s u c c e s s ta utlt a c k 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 havecometo high honors, a majorpiece. But Blackd;d not wait for aboutto be promotedto become resigned. these events to unfold and therefore conducted attackagainst A beautifulgame, and throughthe harmoniously c7 alsovery instructive. the blockader Master Tournament of 1923 | playeda game Also ln the Copenhagen pawnoughtto be interesting Semisch, in which the fate of my passed against of my style,it in the spiritof our subject.As the gameis alsocharacteristic herefor the benefitand enjoyment of my friendly readers. may be presented No.4 White: N imzowitsch 1 d2.d4 2 c2-c4 Black: Semisch

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

c7-c5

Ns5-f6

13.... b6b5 is taken noticeof by Blackwithout a signof concern.On which however the contrary,he is gettingrough! 14 Oa4-b3 of the exchange 14 OxbS Ba6 15 Ob3 Temptingherewasthe sacrifice "advanB x f l 1 6 K x f l b u t a f t e r1 6 . . . 8 f 61 7 N c 4e x d 1 8 e x d N d 7 t h e W h i t e quite convincing. ls it reallynecessary to celebrate so tage"doesnot appear pawn? wildly the birth of a passed 14 "" e6xd5 15 e4xd5 Be7-d6 reportsto his post. The blockader 16 Bc1-f4! who emerges with the offer of a sacrifice. His counterpart.

e7-e6 b7.b6 the ideaof renouncing the establishment of a mate. This openingpresents center i n o r d e rt o b e s a t i s f i ew d i t h a k i n d o f d o m i n a n c( et h u s r i a l l yt a n g i b l e d n dt h o r o u g h l a y n a l y z e id t i n 1 9 1 1a n d theidea o f i n f l u e n c e )I. i n v e n t e a rg 9 1 3M a s t eT r o u r n a m e nI te m p l o y e d my innovation 1912.In the Petersbu1 for the first time. This qame Gregorymust be against Gregory of mine against considered the archetype and I asthe inventor of the opening1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 without the follow-upd7-d5.

3 Nsl-f3

'72r,
IL

A
t\Y_),

Diagram 24

'ry
% %

4 s2-s3
This is the antidoterecommended by Rubinstein sometime ago. lt is how- Nimzowitsch everfairly innocuous asshownin the gameSamisch which ( N o .9 ) . follows 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 me 11 Bxds exd This movecannotbe bad,however seems 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 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 g e ta l o n g bishop t h eq u e e n withoui o n 9 2 . H o w e v ea r f t e r1 4 . . . 8 d 6 t h es i t u a t i o n i s n ' tc l e a r t h eb i s h o p i n a n yw a V . 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 Nh6t! Kg7 l9 gxf Kxh6 20fxgSt. Indeed Black w o u l dt h e n b e i n d i r e straits because if after fxgst he captures the pawn he will be in a matingnet after Kh1 and Rg1. lf however to 97,White {afterf4xg51)the king retreats woulddecidethe gamewith 17 Oc31 Kg8 18 Bh3 and Be6or (instead of Bh3) positionally by Re1and f2-f4. The pawnmass in connection with the e file {square e6) would be of decisive 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 combinatlon c + c 4 1 9 O a 3 l !w h i c hw a sp l a y e d hereb , u t a l s ob e c a u ste heopening of the a file serves purpose which is still very much hidden. a positional 18 .... c5-c4 19 Ob3-a3! Bd6xl4 20 Nd3xf4

34

35

p e c u i a ic ro m b i n a t j o n Is have in heblock. Through succeede d e l i m i n a t i ntg st 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 f r o m d 6 . T h e n e x tb l o c k a d ei r ader 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 25

g,A'W t .L

'z "/a/l
Tl

alv. 7z% ',tu /4t

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

7Z
s

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

g
26 Diagram

presents The positionthus reached asto why Whitesoughl the explanation the opening ot the a filer everything wasdonesolelywith regard to the passed pawn. The situationis that the queenwould like to be firmly posted on e7 be. fore d5-d6is played. However with a closed a file the queencouldn'tremain therelongbecause ReBwould chase her awayat once. The situationis entirely differentwith an opena file. After 22...Ra-e8 23 Ob4 would follow, and 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 is rewarded.

27 "" Ri8-e8 28 Ra'l-a7 Now White's advantage is clear. 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 ye c a u so ef t h e d o m i n a t i o o n f t h e 7 t h r a n ka n dt h e 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 d y k n i g h ta n dk i n g l t w i l l w r n yu p p o r t e b da w ni s s p l e n d i d ls T h i sp a s s ep 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! c: 5. Destination NfGdT 49.... Kc8'd8 50 bGbTt is the onlv piececontrol" Nd7 the Now attemptat blockade. Unsuccessful 37

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

lingb8.

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

Kc6do Nd3-b4! Nb4c61 KdGcT

Nd7-b8 Nb8-d7 Kd8-e8 Resigns

da w nh a da c a r e erri c hw i t h d r a m a t i c o n f l i c t s ( h i sa d v a n c e T h e f i r s tp a s s ep p o s s i b lb ey v a r i o u o t o d 6 w a sm a d e s ffers ol sacrifice as n da l s o through the movemen otf 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 bd y extraordinar ey f. f o r t s( t h es e e m i n g lu yn m o t i v a t eo dp e n i n g o f t h e a f i l e ) . T h e nt h i sp a s s e d pawndied by the handof an "assassin", but out of its ashes a new passed - on the b file - which advanced pawnemerged with irresistable energy. P e r s o n a ltlh yeg a m e i sc h a r a c t e r i s w tic itha mixture o f i m a g i n a t i oa nn ds v s . p l a n n i nt g tematic played ypicao l f my style, a n di t e x c e l s i n a k n i g h te n d i n g i n t h e c l a s s i cs atl y l e , d a w n "c h a p t e lr' l l g i v e g a m e To close t h e " p a s s ep my a g a i n sS t pielmann f r o m t h eS t o c k h o l m l\,4ast T eo r u r n a m e n1 t 9 2 0i R e s u l t : l . B o g o l j u b o1 v2 1 l , ; l l . N i m z o w i t s c1 h2 ; l l l . O l s o n 8 ; l V . S p i e l m a n6 nl l , jt h e r ef o l l o w e d Wendet. Jacobson N.V h o l mS , v a n b e r gT . )h e g a m e r e p r e s e na ts d i f f i c u l tp o s i t i o n a l struggle for minuteadvantages. pawnonly appears and the passed later. l-tow. ever themethod of stoppinS a s s ep da w n g p i e l m a ns 's e e m i n g lu yn s t o p p a b p le makes t h i sg a m e ex a m p l e a v e r y i n s t r u c t i ve l n t h e s p i r i to f o u r s u b j e c t . No.5 Black: lmann Spie 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 ( t h ep a w nc 3 d i s a p p e aa l f t h i se a r l yl i q u i d a t i oo nf t h e W h i t ec e n t e r rs gainst the pawnc5) is lhe bestmove,then the Blackpositionmust be characterized y d 7i sp l a y a b l e . a sw e a k . P r o b a b l B 7 c3xd4 N98'h6 8 Nb 1 - c 3 NhGfS 9 Nc3a4 C o m b i n a t i o n aG l , o o de n o u g h isBb5. 9.... QbGa5t 1O Bc1-d2 Bf8.b4 11 Bd2-c3 Characteristic of this kind of attackis the fact that evenNc3 would have safeguard ee dp a w n s th i, . e .1 1 N c 3 N x d 4 1 2 N x d 4N x d 4 1 3 a 3 N x e 2 1 4 a x b N x c 3 1 5 B x c 3o r R x a 5a n da d r a w i s p r o b a b l t e hrough opposite c o l o rb i s n o p s and posting a pieceon d4. 11 .... Bc8-d7 38 W h i t e :N i m z o w i t s c h

1 3 a 3 ! )1 3 8 b 5 0 - 0 1 4 B x c 6 Q x b 2 12 N x c 3 O b 6 ( O b 4 ? O r 1 1 . . . 8 x c 31 e5 i s w o r t h a t l e a sa ts o f c 5 ( s q u a rc O d 2 a n d o c c u p a t i o n O b 4 t 1 6 lb Na4 h e r e ) , a a s P a w n much Bb4xc3f 12 a2'a3 h7-h5 13 Na4xc3 Ra8'c8 14 0'0 Oa5'd8 15 Od1-d2 T o f o l l o wu p w i t h 9 7 ' q 5 . l',lcGas 16 h2-h3! '19 g 2 ' g 4 , 1 8 h 3 x g 4N h 4 i . e . 1 7 . . .h5x94 o f 1 7 f a i l s b e c a u s e N o w9 7 ' 9 6 fe or White. N x h 4R x h 4 2 0 K g 2w i t h 2 ' 1R h l a n da d v a n t a g Od8'b6 17 Ral'd1 18 Rfl-e1 the pointsd4 overprotects how Whitesystematically observe should One " l m p o r t a n ts t r a t e th du s : e 5 a c c o r d i ntg o t h e r u l ew h i c h I e x p r e s s e a n de v e n gicalpointsmust be overprotected." Na5'c4 18 .... Rc8xc4 19 Be7xc4 20 Nc3-e2 N93 k n i g h to n f 5 t h r o u g h h es t r o n g T o e x c h a n gte 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 i s h o pN ; e 3i s i n t e n d e d . tt hesterile w i l l g oa g a i n s N o wt h e c a v a l r y Bc4xl1 25.... NgGeT 26 Re1xf1 GO 27 R11-c1 t v e r y t h i n gI.n Nf5will protece since anyway o castle S p i e l m a nd ne c i d ets he c o n q u e r etd W h i t e h a s h i s m a n e u v e r s r e s u l o t f a l l t h e m e a n t i ma s a e c file. Ne7-f5 2A b2.b4 ObOa6 29 Rcl-c5 Oa&e2 30 Od2-c3 in go u n t e r c h a n c e s t k i l lS p i e l m a nh dobtaininc na ss u c c e e d e W i t hg r e a s oe f primarily advantag by taking through h i si n v a s i o in n t ot h e W h i t ec a m p , the weakness on b2 and lateron a3. 2 7 a t t h e t o p o f t h e n e x tp a g e ) l S e eD i a g r a m 31 Oc3-c2!! sacrifice. o n t h i sq u e e n 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 Nf5xd4 31 .... 32 Qc2xe2 w o u l db e 3 2 N x d 4O e l t 3 3 N h 2 O x e s t Wrong 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 of the rook a7,c7"c1,b1, expecially when that the obligatory one considers drop of poisonisn't missing at all because the positionof the rook on b'l gives the pawnthe - lust to wander, rts .... Rh4h3t

46 Ketd2
On detours, one couldsaythat by tiring detours the White king hasreached 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, i.e.53 RcSt Kg7 54 b5-b6Ra2t b5 Kc3 Ra3t 56 Kc4 Ra4 57 KbS and wrns. 50 bsb6 Nd7-c5 51 bAbT Rf3xf2t Please observe with what finesse Blackmakes useof his dying knjghtflgnr up to its lastbreath, Now therecomes an excitingdance aroundthe pawnd3.

Nt4d3 36 Kf1-e2 Nd3b2 37 Rc7xa7 deepforesight.Blackgetsthe c tile, however the White 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 On39...Rc21 4 0 K f 1 N d 3 4 1 f 2 - f 4w o u l df o l l o w .

35 s2-s3

2 7zt& % 7.zrh
Diagram 28

fr
Daigram 29

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

% 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 of Re4. 41 .... Rc+94 -s5 42 Rc7-c1 s7 S p i e l m a nd no e s n ' r telax! 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 ef 4 3 , . . N c 4 1 44 Kxd3NxeS

52 Kd2-e3 53 Keld4 54 Kd4xd3!

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

40

58 Rb7-b2 Rs5h5 59 Rb2.h2 17"t6 60 Ne3c4 Ks8"f7 6l aga4 Here t h eg a m e w a sa d j o u r n ea dn dS p i e l m a nrn e s i g n ew di t h o u tr e s u m i n g p l a y .A f t e r6 1 . . . K f 7 . 9 0 6 2 a 4 a 5f 6 x e 5 t 6 3 K d 4 - c 5 KgGf5 64 a5-a6 Rh$h7 65 Kc5-b6 K 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 e j u s t i n t i m et o s u p _ port the blockader on h2 effectively. A n e x t r e m e lv y a l u a b lg ea m e . The next two games will illustrate a fight against a majorityin the center. Firsta more recentgamethat I playedin a matchagainst Brinckmann whtch lwon4-0. No.6 Played a t K o l d i n gD , enmark 1923 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 (= straightline pseudo-classicists) Purists willfeel that Be2 leaves the path (Bd3). But that isn't the case straight because Be2fits betterthan Bd3 in somepawnpositjons arising out of laterpawnexchanges, i.e.when d5 becomesisolated. 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 )i t h a s u s 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 A f t e r 1 7 . . . e G ew w penorgame. 18 azl-as

Diagram 30

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 c5 and db are not to everybody's taste,although Tarrasch in Petersburg won a - let'ssay- spendid victory. 9 e3xd4 Nf6e4 Not bad at all; this way the absence of the bishopon d3 is beingexplorred. 10 Bc1"b2 Ne4XCJ 11 Bb2xc3 NcdeT But hereb7-b6wasbetter. I z ct+c5 BdGcT 13 b3b4 T h eq u e e n s i d em a i o r i t y t o w h i c hB l a c k w o u l dl i k et o c o u n t e w r i t h t h ec e n ter malority. 13.... Ne7-96 .1 . O n ec a l l s t h i sa f i n e r o o k m o v e , unassumin ag n dv e r s a t i l e :d irected a_ g a i n se t Ge52 , . conservin g t h e B e 2a g a i n s t f 4 ( 1 4 . . . N f 41 5 B f l ) . N 42

b7-b6 Bd7-e8 passed pawn. White hasconverted his mobilemajority into a protected However this one hasbeenstopped and at present White hasno realtargetin the enemvcamp. D id the conversion proceed of the majorityperhaps 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 the breakthrough in a fine, combinational 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 ht h e i n t e n t i o n of playing O a 3a n dt h u sf o r c i n g Black t o p l a yB x b 4 , t h u sg a i n i n g domination o f t h ed i a g o n a al 3 - e 7 .

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 due to the x-rayattackb4-f8.i,e.29...e5 30 dxe fxe 3 1 N x e 5B x e S 3 2 R x e 5R x e 5 3 3 O x f Sm a r e . 43

Bh3.f5

Diagram 31

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 by Nfs. 33 .... Ks8-f7 34 Ks1-92 Suchlittle moves characterize the master.Whiteassumes therewill be an eventual opening of the h file. and in that case he wantsto be readvtor battle (Rel-hl). 34.... 97-96 Correst; it wasin the air. 35 h5xg6 h7xg6 36 12-14 Only now the Blackpawnmajority (in the center)appears to be paralized. 36 Oc7-d8 37 Nh4f3 Od&c7 38 R e ' l - h 1 Kf7-98 39 R e S e l 6e t-n I 40 R h1 x h 7 NfgxhT 41 Rel-hl N h7.f8 Rh 1-h6 To jnduceKg7 which would makethe planned oppositionbV Reg-e7-h7 m o r ed i f f i c u l t , i.e.42...Kg7 4 3 R h 2w i t h e v e n t u a dlo u b t i n g o n t h e h f i l e ,p e r hapsafter Od2 and g394-95. 42.... Re&e7

of queens, of rooksor the exchange aiterWhite caneitherforcethe exchange position arrived thus g4 f5. The Od6 46 95 i.e.43 Oa3 Od8 44 Oc1 Oc7 45 will move to a4, knight queens White because the won without at can be easily WhitemovesRhl-a1 at the lastmoment(the Blackking is heldtied down on on b6 de' knight sacrifice and the intended the king wing as longas possible), (because Black queens rooks without with plan even easier works cides.The the at Rh7) and then through rooks of exchanging has the capability always thus: right momentthe queenwill enter. The actualgameproceeded Re7-97 quicklv. finished him off White AJterthls move Kg8xh8 44 Rh&h8t Kh&h7 45 Oa3xfSt Ac7-e7 46 Of8xf6 Kh7-h8 47 Nf3g5t After Kg8follows48 Oxe6t Oxe6 49 Nxe6 Rg8 50 Nc7. zltl Of&e5 Ae7'c7 Ac7'e7 49 Oe5xe6 Resigns. 50 Oe6h3t follows:51 OcSt Of8 52 OxfSf Kxf8 53 exchange After KgBa general a queen. Ne6t, after which the c-pawnbecomes outlinedin the note to move43 (93'94-95 that the procedure lf we assume paralythe gradual then we candescribe to forcef6f5) had actuallyhappened, of a fight example sisof eOor of the majority in the centerasan instructive against a centermajority. b6 square operative on the paradoxically combination The breakthrough accomplishment marks this gameasan extraordinary be' remarkable appears datewhich however Now for a gamefrom an earlier to be deadbut which wasbelieved cause it is the prototypeof a variation the gamereprethe variation, which I revived to a new life. Not withstanding sents as herefor the first time it will be shownterritory insofar uncharted - that it is not essential whetherone and latercopiedbv the other l\,4oderns pawns pawns has in the center,the primaryobjectis the dominationof or no of the enemycenterwith a blockade the center, the hampering which means t o f o l l o wa sa c l i m a x . 45

43 Ob&a3
(SeeDiagram 32 at the top of the next page) The way to victory ;s very interesting. lt climaxes with a knight sacrifice o n . . . b 6 ! T h e p r o c e d u rie s a sf o l l o w s W : h i t ep l a y s t h eq u e e n through c1to h1. But beforethat he brings a holeon eb. There93 to 95 forcibly creating
4A

N o .7 Karlsbad Touroament 191 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

Up untilthen believed to be absotutely u n p l a y a b l e .I w a s l a t e r t o l d S a l w e s a i da f t e r e 4 e 5 t h a t I m u s t h a v et h o u g h t I w a s p l a y i n ga g a m ea t r o o k o d d s l l

4 c2-c3
E l \ l^ 1 - + ?

6 Bfr-d3 firstby c5xd4. It wasbetter to exchange

7 d4xc5

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

points economically n o w i s t o m a k eu s eo f t h e s e 14 Nd2-f3! h 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 Sa n d P r e v e n tB sb 5 b e c a u ste t h e P e 6f a l l s . Be7-d6 14 .... 15 Odl-e2 e 2 a n dc 2 a n ye a r l i etrh a na b s o ' ne t w e e n W h i t ed i d n o t m a k eh i sd e c i s i o b squares. useof these This is what wasmeantby economical lutely necessary. Ra8-c8 tc _.._ 16 Be5-d4
the blockade now Nebwill help to increase Just;n t;me because

8 0-0

17.r6

pawns i sa b o u t o e l i m i n a t h Black e i so p p o n e n t 'c se n t e r o n ea f t e rt h e o t h e r , but this canbe of advantage to him only if he could therebysecure the mobil. 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 h e b l o c k a d i nB g e sb y B f 6 w o u l df a i l d u et o t h e c h e c k o n h 5 , i . e .1 2 . . - B f 61 3 O h s t 9 6 ? 1 4 B x g 6 1h x g 'l5Oxg6t "blockade K e 7 1 6 B x f 6 t N x f 6 1 7 O g 7 t . B u t a f t e r1 2 . . . N f 6 t h e 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 dominates. bishop T h e d a r ks q u a r e Oc7-cG 19 .... 20 Be5'd4! of the board,to makea which waseyeingboth sides To forcethe bishop, decision. Be&d7 20.... 2'l Aez'czl d e c i s i v e la yt h 7 . t i m ea i m i n g A c l e a r i nm g o v ef o r t h e R e 1a n da t t h e s a m e Rf8-f7 21 .... b7-b6 22 Re1-e3 Kg8'h8 23 Re3'93

tx W 7 r 'taarr&
Di a g r a m 33

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

Diagram 34

7Z %t ltfu "/7.2 7z

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

z z

t A I A "/t87t T

tg

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

ta

tfu.t

B u t h o we a s i l y t h i sr i n gc o u l db e b r o k e n a t t h es l i g h t e s rt e l a x a t i ob ny White; i . e .1 4 O c 2 N g 4 ! 1 5 B x h T t K h 8 1 6 B d 4O c 7 1 7 9 3 e 5 . T o u n d e r . standthe positionwe must realize that freedomto maneuver is necessary for t h e b l o c k a da e sw e l l3 sf o r e v e r y o t h e ra c h i e v e m e nF t .r e e d o m to maneuver hereconsists of the squares d4 and e5, which WhitecanoccupV wtth pieces, a n do f t h e s q u a r ec s2 a n de 2 f r o m w h i c ht h e q u e e n c a no p e r a t e T . h et r i c k

eGe5 24 Bd3xh7l O n 2 4 . . . N x h 72 5 0 9 6 v t i n s . Rt7-e7 25 Bh7'g6 QcGd6 26 Rf1'el d5d4 27 Bd4'e3 28 Be3g5 the pau/ndeficitand the The free centerdoesn'tmeanmuch herebecause for. 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 few roundslaterI playeda gamein which the tournament 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 White. with advantage "Blockade" did not contain the remainingmovesof the game,they While ate added here for the benefit of the reader wishing to play through the game to tts concluston. 19 cG c5 20 cgc4l BdGf8 2 1 c4xd5 Bd7-c8 OfGsT 22 Nd2-e4 d5xe6 Bc8xe6 Oe2-aG Ks8-h8 BeG98 25 R e l - d1 b2-b3 Rd8-d4 27 R d l x d 4 c5xd4 Re8-c8 2A OaGa5 29 R f 1 - d 1 Rc8-c2 As7-b7 30 h2"h3 3 1 Rd1xd4! Bf8'c5 5Z Oa5-d8! BcSeT od8.d7 Ob7-ao 6el.t6 34 Rd4d3! 35 Ne5'f7t &8xf7 36 Ad7xl7 Rc2-cg 37 RdldT Resigns. In conclusion I givea gamein which restraint occurs only in the broadest will not be touchedat all by restraint in this last sense of the word. Pawns - invisibly. go e s o n - s ot o s p e a k Lines a n ds q u a r e s exampleE , v e r y t h i ng serve of the restraint, and only at the end all of the enemypieces asobjects "freightening" arestalemated way. in a most 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 ha dp l a y e d a sB l a c ki n t h i s p o s i t i o n . S t r o n g etrh a nO c 8w h i c hS A m ; s ch c6xd5 9 c4xd5 10 Bc1-f4 a7-a6l In orderto play bGb5 and prepare for the invasion of c4 by the Nb8. The square for an outposton the c'file. herethe square c4 constitutes 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 of the Blackcenter- is clear. Therefollowed: Ra8-d8 15 ..". 00 16 Nb1-d2 Rf8'e8 17 Ra1'el Bc5'd6 18 Kgl"hl 48

B x b 5I O h s t O r7 . . . N x eI SNxes 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 exhange seems s u f fi c i e n t l y m o t i v a t e d .

13 Ne5xc6

Bb7xc6 36 Diagram

because 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 the "tempo swallower" Ne5 had himself exchangedagainstthe harmlessNc6.

14 h2-h3 15 Ks1-h2

od8.d7 NfGh5!

g t t 'A t : t: . 8 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 Ob7 and NfGdT'bGc4. haveto be continued l7-t5l 16 Bt4-d2 17 0b3d1 b5-b4! Bcebs 18 Ncgbl 19 Rf1-91 feels h o wW h i t e ' s domain i ss h r i n k i n g . O n ec l e a r l y 19.... Be7-d6 20 e2-e4 t4xe4l
tt

r=

F?

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

'/.17.,.

Diagram 35

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

..EL

of my own practice, of examples my demonslration With this I conclude opportunitvfor desired the find '""0"t *irr soon ."il;;il".;;;r,irnoiv p r i n c i p l e s ' r u l e sh , i n t so r of tnese some applying A Nimzowitsch

]I '/.ty

aNt

a)
21 Odlxhs Rf8xJ2 The ideaof the sacrifice is that White,who ownsneitherlinesnor squares, will become completely tied up. The occupation of the enemy's second rank hasa paralyzing effect,especially in conjunction with the stronglyposted queenwing is alwaysindirectRfl ). On the other handWhite's Bb5 (prevents ly threatened, and the configuration of the Whitepieces is insoluble, 22 Qh5-g5 Ra8-f8 23 Kh2-h1 Rf&f5 24 Os5-e3 Bbsd3 2 5 Rc 1 " e l h7.h6!! A brilliantmovewhich declarcs zugzwang,
(SeeDiagram 36 at the top of the next page) Whtteis in zugzwangl!With a f ull board!! Whitehasno moves, i,e.on Kh2 follows Rf5-f3,and the same after 93-94. This unusually b\llianl zugzwang-mechan ism makes this game, which Dr. 50
5 l

AppendixOne The New Syrtem * by A. N imzowitsch Chess strategy assuchtoday is still in its diapers, 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 n a l lf i e l d s . ' , Not even the slightest attempthasbeenmadeto exploreand formulatethe lawsof chess strategy.Tarrasch's postulates suchas,,theacceptance of the gambitis p r i n c i p a l l1 y ! ) ( 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 b . ., d a n g e r o u s , , l ,,practical really c a n n oc t 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 h i n t so t a n experjenced housewife." From this perspective my present attemptto formujate the results of rny many years of explorations oughtto be ableto openup a new era in chess, l\4ycongenital inclination to search for rulesurgedme to do this. 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 t i l l n o t f a j lt o p r o v o k e a s t o r mo f a n g e r amongtoday's"theoreticians" and that they will fight my system wjth every means e , s p e c i a lm l yi n i m e a n s. , . O . K . C o m eo n l And now, without further ado, let,sbegin! - Pieces l. About the Center - The Concept and Pawns of the Characteflslrc Positionin the Center The pawns form the skeleton of the game, the pieces arethe other parrs, theinner organsl s u s ts t a n di n l i v i n g T h ep i e c e m c o n n e c t i ow n i t h t h e ( p a w n ,c ) enter.

he i sc e n t e r .H e w i l l m e e tt h e s e d 5 o r f 5 w h i c hw o u l dL r n d e r m i n enemy threats ( b y p r e s s u ro en d b a n df 5 ) , p a r t i a l l y directly partially indirectly the {through the moved5 or f5 respectively with e4-e5 intentionof answering or also thesemoves throughthe intentionof parrying with e4xd5or e4xf5 respectivep 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 : l y i n o r d e rt o i n i t i a t e * The moves ot the pieces aredictatedby the livingdemands of the cenler. As we haveseen, the mission of the pieces is a doubleone: "protect" Fjrst,the pieces must the center,i.e,keepit well guarded, "support" second, they must it, i.e.they must be directedagainst the exadvance in the center. oected T h ef i r s td e m a n d m u s tb e f u l f i l l e d even w h e no n es t a n d v s e r yw e l l i n t h e center,i.e.regardless of how wellone stands in the center, one must take care of its defense. So much aboutthe structure of the center. Now we will talk aboutthe "use" of the center. Firstwe (as shouldmentionthat we call everyscheme for instance shownin Diagram l) which represents the nucleus of the position, positionin the center." This lastone will alwaysbe the starta "characteristic ing point of our calculations. (n Utt i l i z a t i o n )f t h e C e n t e l l . A b o u tt h e l v l a n a g e m e o r O p e nF i l e s a n dT h e i r Laws- About the LatentCooperation of the Center. The centershallbe viewedas having posrstability,i.e.the characteristic tionshall b eu t i l i z e d i n t h es h a p e i t i s i n { w i t h o u tb e i n g changed). The positionin the centermust not be modifiedconstantlv, oncethe char- at leastfor a very long positlonis taken up, it must be maintained acteristic time. One must try to fortify it and to post one'spieces according to the position. characteristic Frequently the attackplaysby itself,i.e.with purely passive helpfrom the center.it shiftsto the wings. An example.After the moves1 e2-e4e7-e5 2 Ngl-f3 Nb8-c6 3 Bf1,b5 d 7" d 6 4 d 2 - d 4B c 8 - d 75 N b 1 - c 3 N g 8 - f 66 G 0 B f & e 7 7 R f 1 - e le b x d 4 8 Nf3xd4 (now the characteristic positionseenin Diagram I, pawne4 againsr pawns d 6 a n df 7 h a sb e e n reached N ) c 6 x d 49 O d l x d 4 B d 7 x b 5 1 0 N c 3 x b 5 ( " s u p p o r t s "N ) fGdT 13Bg5xe7 0-0 11Bc1-95 R f 8 - e 8l 2 R a 1 - d 1 Re8xe7 Whitemust not operatein the centerlt2-t4 e+e'), on the contrary.he must s t a ye n t i r e l y n e u t r atl h e r e .W h a th e m u s td o i s c a r r yo u t o u r l a wo f " p r o t e c t i n g " a n d" s u p p o r t i n gt"h e c e n t e ri,. e .1 4 N b 5 " c 3 ( O c 3i s a l s o g o o d )N d 7 - b G 15 Re1-e3 O d 8 - d 71 6 R d 1 " e 1 R a 8 , e 8i 7 R c 3 - g 3 A . lready t h i sl e a d s ro a weakening o{ the king'swing,which success may be considered a resultof " t i s u n d e r s t a n d i nIg T o p r e v e nm , t et h a t f o r d i d a c t i c nso r e a s o nIsa s s u m e f o r t h e t i m eb e i n g t h ec e n t ea r ss u c hc o u l db e o c c u p i e d b y p a w ne x c l u s i v e l y . Indeed t h ec e n t ef r o r m st h e d o m a i n of theoawns.

'//;,,

Diagram I

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

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

/l:;t

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

52

53

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

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 possibilities. by the outpost,establish the further consequences of ( d f i l e )D i a g r a m p l a yi n t h e l i n ei n q u e s t i o n ll. The law o{ the outpostcanthus be formulated: in conquering the openfile and entrench. Oncethe attackerhassucceeded continuation of the attackis formed himselfon the entry point the consistent possibilities produced thereby. ed by the utilizationof the attacking or later,but Biackmust driveawaythe outpost(Nds) with c7-c6sooner the d-pawnbackward and a targetfor attack. The gameenthat will render lersa new srage, PawnasTargetof the Attack - The Concept lll. The Backward of the "Di"lndirect" Attack Against Pawn The Hole, rect" and a Backward The positionof the pawnd6 (afterc7-c6)is weak but not hopeless because - in spiteof enemyobservation of the point d5 - therestill existsthe possibility of the advance d&d5. The situationis differentwhen the c-pawn either doesnot existany moreor alreadv stands on c5. In this case we haea classi' pawnon an openfile - absolute.In that case cal example of a backward the p o i n td 5 { a f t e r l l ) c a nb e c a l l e d c7-c5 Diagram a h o l e .T h e m o d u s operandi now consists of maneuvering against this pawn,identified by the fact that the oawn is weakand that there is a holeon d5. pawn- in our case d6 - will be attacked The backward one way of the pieces force guarding positions, other. The intent is to the into uncomfortable The d-pawnshouldnot only be exposed to frontal attacksbut alsolateral attacks and if possible attacks bv encirclement. The base for thesemaneuvers is the hole,formerly our "entry point" d5. W ef o r m u l a t e thus: 1. All pieces must be directedtoward the entry point {hole)to maintain the pressure and eventually to invade the enemycampacross this point. "progressed" 2, The entry point (especially one which has to the designation hole)shallif possible be occupied by differentpieces one by one. t f t h i sm o d u s T h er e s u lo o p e r a n da igains o tu r t a r g e o t f attack willeither c o n s i so t f d i r e c tc o n q u e s o tf i t o r i t w i l l l e a d t o a d e c i s i vo ep e n i n g of a file. T h e l a s tm e n t i o n e d maneuve cro n s i s to sf 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 pieces position(see areforcedinto uncomfortable above) White plavse4-e5 ) h ; c hm e a n s t h a th er e n o u n c e s e d i r e c tc o n q u e s th o t f t h e g o a lf o r {orc4-c5w w h i c hh e w a sl i g h t i n g a n dt a k e s advantag oe f therestrain o tf t h e g u a r d i n g p i e c ef so r a d e c i s i vb (h l n v a s i o in n t ot h e 7 t h o r 8 t h r a n k ) . enemy er e a k t h r o u g

% ,L ,//t ./.

lL

'l/t './2...

,.//,./,

% % z

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

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

/,f,,fr vt '/1.' 'tfr,ft% lt 7tfr7it 2 't/./,2, %'/.2 72 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 o i n t "o f a f i l e i s o n e ' s T h e" s u p p o r t o w n p a w no n t h e n e i g h b o r i n fg i l e ,i . e , p a w ne 4 f o r t h e d f i l e i i n D i a q r a m I l ) o r p a w n9 6 f o r t h e h f i l e { D i a g r a m llt) the point respectively thus produced is our protected entry point. dS in Diag r a ml l , o r h 7 i n D i a g r a m lll. Lawr The utilizationof an openfile consists in the occupation of the entry point {by pieces). a) lf it is a centerfile, the entry point is bestoccupied by a knightwhich w i l l t h e nh a v e a n u n e q u a l l erd adius of action, 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 (cono initiate doubling queso t f t h e f i l e )a n de v e n t u a eln c j r c l e m e n t . In case b) (Diagram llliWhite moves R h 7 ! [ = O c c u p a t i oo nf t h e e n t r y p o i n to n t h e r i m f i l e w i t h a r o o k l l , i f t h e i n v a d i n r go o k i s e x c h a n g e d b y an o p p o s i ne gn e m y t o u b l i n gt)h e p a w n9 6 w i l l b e c o m e r o o k ( t o p r e v e nd passed and a powerfulforce, Because of this therearises a peculair Chango e f a s s i g n m e n tF si rr s t( b e f o r e R h 8 s h 7t)h e p a w n( q 6 )s u p p o r t e d t h e r o o k ,l a t e r( a f t e r g6xh7 ,..Rh8xh7 followed b y R a1 - hj , t h e r o e k5 u p p 6 r 1 5 t h ep a w n , ( a )t h e l a w f u lo c c u p a t i oo In case nf 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 sn a 54

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

of the pawnpositionc5, on the weakness Beforewe turned our spotlight is presents attack objectwhich however a sufficient c6. d5 naturally but d6; to exPlolt. harder ef in detait l h es c h e mo i n w h i c hw e e x p l a i n n o ww i t h a g a m e W ec o n t i n u e games be' Tarrasch's on of We selected demonstrated. principles we have the it is simpleand claer. in its motives cause R u YL o P e z White: Dr. Tarrasch Berger Johann Black:

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

The characteristic position position of a game Nimzowitsch-Shories Ostende 1907.

tL%/z
tt
VII

t z
t

gl ./t

,7z,)/flr%

it ft.

t t
/:t

r l '&t% '/2
of the positionhasessen' Due to the doublingof the c'pawnthe character position{e4,d3, c2 against of the characteristic The weakness tially changed, for action his possibilities e5, d6,c7, c6) showsup for Blackwhen we examine p l a y N o w h eh a s d & d 5 . h e w i l l e v e n t u a l l y t h a t i n t h e c e n t e r :l t i s a s s u m e d pawns will be isolat' (but c7 c6, the doubled possibilities: then Either dxe two or d5-d4. This move(d4),aswe will eventualed and certainlya disadvantage) presents the attemptto transler ln the lawsoi transferance, ly demonstrte with c6c5-c4 following up by namely the attackfrom e4-d3, i s s t i l l l i n e du p o n i t s o r i g i n afli l e ,t h e nW h i t ec o u l dn o t p r e lf theb-pawn Blackgetssupportby b7of the c-pawnby b2-b3because ventthe movement c"pawn is impeded.From possible the any more,and b5. But herethis lsn't possibilio f Black's a d i m i n u t i o n c 6 , c a u s e s c 7 t h a tt h ed o u b l i n g t h i so n es e e s in the center. of action ty 11 0-0 0-0 12 Qd1-e2cEcE In orderto utilizethe former b-pawn(now pawncO)which aimsat preventit wasbetterto omit cocs in orderto giveup the center ing d3'd4. However pawn Blackwouid havethe e file and the compact, In that case after d3-d4. 57

aaz rt grt

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

mass working toward t h ec e n t ea r sc o m p e n s a t i o n . in the fact that it imThe most importantfunctionof the pawnc6 consists pedet sh e e n e m y ' s N d 5 ,s e e utilizatioo nf t h ed f i l e ( w h i c h means o p e nf i l e s ) . 13 c2-c3 agains otu r l a w :T h e c h a r a c t e r i s p t io csition s h a lb l e N o t q u i t et i m e l y ,i t s i n s i r s tt h e k n i g h tm a n e u v e r utilized a 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 rfe f3"d2-c4-e3 that Steinitzalsorecommends shouldbe played, lt is interesting "to of the double the samemaneuver let Blacksufferwith the disadvantage "300 Chess pawn as long as possible." (To be found in Tarrasch's Games", page231.) This deepstatement contains the first bud of my system of the position. characteristic c5xd4 17 Be3xd4 13...Nfed7 14 dld4 e5xd4 15 c3xd4 Be7-f6 16 Bc1-e3 Rf8-e8 18 Oe2-c2. positione4 against The favorable characteristic d6, c7, f7 finds in the weakpawnon an openfile!) a new momentumin ness of the c-pawn{a backward 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 is eo n l y m i n i m a l 18...Bf6xd419 Nf3xd4 Nd7-c5 pawn of a backward of salvation of that time a frequentexample In games , s p e c i a lb ehind ly a knight. behind a p i e c ee 20 12.t3 Safeguards the centerwhich shallbe the supportfor the laterutilizationof t h e d f i l e ! l f n o w i t r e m a i ns t a t i ci,t w i l l s t i i l b e m o s tn o t i c a b l te hruthela(e4-e5) tent threatof an advance duringthe entirecourse of the game{seemy laws concernin tg h ec e n t e r ) , 20...Od8-f621 Rt1-d1Be8-bg 22 Ral-b1 a&a5 23 Kgl-h1! A splendld iliustration of our dogmaof the latentcooperation of the cen" ter. B e c a u so ef t h e a d v a n ce e4 - e 5 !O ! x e SN c 6w h i c hn o w w o u l dh a v e failed on of the queen's account checkon e3. This threat,respectivelV the latentcooperation of the center,induces the p n t oa l l k i n d s o p p o n e ntto b r i n gh i sp i e c e is of unnatura l o s i t i o nts o counteract the danger, 23... Rb8-b6! There we have it! 24 Nd+e2l A i m sa t d 5 , u t i l i z a t i o n o f t h ed f i l e . 24...Nc5-e6 25 Ne2-c3Rb0c6 26 Qc2-a4 N o t o n l ya t t a c kt sh 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 h et e n d e n c y t o i m m o b i l i z te h eo b j e c t o f t h ea t t a c k f i x e db y N d 5 ,a n d i m m o b i l i z i e t 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 the center. operation 29-..c7-c5 But now d6 is back\,vard, and the point d5 gainsin importance our ex{see planations). 30 Rcl-dl Need4! 31 Oa4c4 - according The pieces to our law - aim at the entry point. This indicated indicated throughthe weakness of d6 and d5 is now apparent, maneuvering, "change of place"illustrates alsoour law connamelyNe3,Od5, Nc4. This cerning the alternating occupation of the point of entry by differentpiecesl 31...Ra8-b8 32 b2-b3 Rb8-c8? A mistake, which forcesthe gameout of the train of logical development. in maneuvering The latterconsisted, asstated, against d6 (whichpawnshallbe 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 the Nd4 by Nd5c3-e2. Then it 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 at the right moment,and wins, And so the threatening 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 da w n ,T h i se n d i n g a n dW h i t ew i n sd u et o h i sd i s t a n p t a s s ep isunimportant 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, groMh of the seeminqly the sudden sterile variation Oe2wasa consequence of an awareness which in itselfis to be takenasneithef importantor completein any way. The Danish analystDr. Krause noticed during o n eo f h i ss a f a r its hrough t h e l a n do f o p e n i n g t h e o r yt h a t T s c h i g o r i n ' s variationI e4 e6 2 Oe2c5 3 d3 with a laterf4, wasalsoplayable without Oe2. As one will admit without ado,this realization is not exactlyearthsnaKing, Also it only concerns one detail,which is the question asto how the pawnstructure d3, e4, f4 shouldbe prepared in the besttechnical manner. Dr. Krause and I did someexploratjon with respect to this discovery. The results however surpassed all expectations and gained undreamed-of impor, tancefor the wholeof chess theory,especially for the Dutch and Sicilian Defenses.In the followingparagraphs I will present somegames, which I analyze in detailto clearlyelucidate the development of the new variation(onecouro actuallysay its embryology). ln the internalional master tournament at Copenhagen in 1923,J. Moller surprised me with the followinginnovation.White: NimzowitschBlack:J. Mdler. 1d2-d4r7-t5 2 c2-c4Ng8-f6 3 Nb1-c3d7-d6. One is definitetyinclined to agree w i t h T e i c h m a n( ni n t h e t o u r n a m e nb t o o k )i n c a l l i n g t h i sm o v e inferior. Therefollowed4 Ng1"f3Nb&c6! Now Blackapparently wantsto play e7-e5because Oe7 aspreparation for this positionis entirelyunnecessary detailof Krausel).Thereis indeed {the interesting no apparent advantage for Whiteafter 5 92-93 e7-e5 6 dxe dxe 7 Oxd8t KxdS or 6...NxeS and the loss o{ castling is morethan compensated for by the two pawns e5 and fS. Tnerefore I decided to play 5 Bc1-f4and therefo owed5...h7-h66 h2-h4Nfeg4. A l l o f t h i sa c c o r d i ntg o D r . K r a u s eA , n d n o w - w i l l y n i l l y - | h a dt o m o v e 7 d4-d5. ln this criticalpositionl\46ller moved7...Nc&esafter which the answerI e2-e4 would havegiventhe advantage to White,i.e.I e4 fxe g Nxeb d x e 1 0 B g 3{ i n t h e g a m e t h es o m e w h a t e a k eI w r B x e sd x e g e 4 e 6 l 1 ON h 2 (still the best because it threatensBc') was playedafter which, insteadof the '1 4 dubious acceptanc e0 , . . O x h 1 1 N x g 4 l ,t h e s i m p l e retrea1 t 0.._Nf6 118d3 BcS(dxe?f4)would havemadeBlack's positionsafe.). In a correspondence gameagainst (see me Dr. Krause Diagram l) played muchstronger; he played7...e7-e5! This moveimproves the wholevariation i m m e n s e l{y Diagram Il). see * Kagan's Neueste Schachnachtichten, Januarv l92S

t L
/:/: ,/,
,l:\

L
./,

A .,:a
lt

t rr, ;.1 .L '/t::,6'L //:':

ILE

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AA 7t7:,, '.h) 'r/zd't':lzt

+ + A A A 7.2 .*\ A ,a \39

ft tL l'.:,:l:,, /.:/./

in 7. .e5 I dxc6 e5xf4 9 cxb BxbT 10 Od4 involved The pawn sacrifice good after the waitingmove10 'Od7 lf White chances Black to offer seems n a tremen' b y B f 6 r e s u l t is fo 7l l o w e d a t o n c e1 1 O x { 4t h e n 1 ' 1 . . . B e n o wp l a y s (to keep first else something to move wants if White douspoiition. However, for a move a loss possible) he is at then as position as long queen central the and after 11 Rd'1a6 12 Rh3 (artifi' f2 unprotected 11 GOO leaves because Be7 threatens cial,but the rook wantsto go to the other side)GGo already wjth Bh4t Nxf2 Kxf2 the combination of account fails on OxgT because Oxg7. not onpositign7..'e7-e5 seems in the abovementioned For thesereasons, correlpon' mentioned In the sound. even completely but ly to be playable jence game.there ll) Sd5xe6e p After 8"'Bc8xe6 followed (from Diagram continued: t h eg a m e White: N imzowitsch Black: Krause

60

whosepoint lies pawnsacrifice, interesting extraordinarily This in any case 12, comI 1, and of moves maneuver bishop appearing in the secessionistic positions game; in similar the lnto breath life way to prises hidden the only f5 2 c4 Nf3 I the moves: played after colorfully less much been had there the Bxe6, ep' Nc6 3 d4 d6 4 Bf4 hO 5 h4 Nf6 6 e3 Ng4 7 db e5! 8 dxe Tournament l\4aster Nordic move9 Nc3 {the gameBrinckmann-Krause, '12 N x e 6O x e 6 1 3 f o l l o w e d9 : ' . . 9 6 1 ON d 4 O d 7 1 1 B e 2 B g 7 1 9 2 4 ) ,T h e r e p r e f e r a b l e ? ) 1 5 B 93Nf6! 16 ( p e r h a p s 1 4 O a 4 w a s 9 5 ! NdsO0-0 14Rbl l osition 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 Od2 +4 Nc6 23 22 94 24 20 Od4 Kb8 21 b4 Rd'18 is definitelydecisive. Rh'e2 28 d4 27 c5 Bd3 d5 Ne7 26 b5 inferior. 25 93 Rf-d8. White stands bv or c3 e3 of occupation won through Black e5 and 30 6os 29 e+ Oxcs moves. few a more in the Ne7 gametherefollowed: In the correspondence Be6xc4 9 .... 0d8-d7 10 Nfld4 11 Bfl-h3!! s7.s6 12 Bh3's2ll in the variationl2 d5 resources Black's weakens The forcedmove97-96 ( d u e O d 4 w o u l dw i n a p i e c e ' . t o n o w b e c a u s e 9 6 ) 1 4 b 3 B b 4 ? b x c 13Nxc6

9 g2-93!

The question is therefore importantwhetheror not 97-96rn spiteof every t h et h r e a t w a s1 2 N x f s O x f 5 1 3 t h i n gs h o u l d have been o m i t t e d .O f c o u r s e r lack w o u l db e a b l et o d e f e n d h i m s e la f gains tt h a tw i t h 1 ' 1 . . . e 2 - e 4h , o w e v eB Here 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 6r 14...b6. threatened because will makethe Black alsothe Blackpositionis severlv e2-e4 - a f t e rK b 1 a n d R d 3- w i l l b e p a w nm a j o r i t y i l l u s o r ya , n dt h e W h i t er o o k s very mobile. 12 .".. d6d5 13 Nd4xc6 b7xc6 14 b2-b3 Bc4-a6 15 Ra1-c1 positionon the c file and therefore Whitehasconstructed a threatening forces the oooonent to act. B{8-c5! gGs5! 16 0-0

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

is shownby the above and defies all counter-pressures That e7-e5is feasible game; asto whetherone shouldpermit this raises the question very interesting occurred in the game: the movee5. This experiment Black: Krause '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 Black king wing without accomplishing Generallyhere gS hasweakened 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

"aLg2 7i, L "r/;;

l

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t a.,,

N 1 7 ' t'.L '//':z /z/2.

r//Z 7t

z,z,,lt + A t //,7..

rat

AA .'tu,

17 Nc3xd5! I hadfiguredthis out before. B a dw o u l dh a v e b e e n1 7 h x g h x g 1 8 B x q sb e c a u so ef R h 5 1 9 B h 4 ?R x h 4 20 hxg Od6. 17.... 95xf4 18 Rclxc5 GOot! E x c e ! l e n t lp yl a y e d !A f t e r ' 1 8 . . . c x d 1 9 R x d 5O e 6 2 0 O d 4 G 0 2 1 R d 7 OfO{21...Nf6?22 Bdsll 22 8xa8 Oxd4 23 Rxd4 Rxa8 24 Rxf4 White has t h e a d v a n t a gie .e . .2 4 . . . R e 8 25 Rell 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 are omitted due to spacelimitations) Nimzowitsch Krause, 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! - Anton Olson,Copenhagen Nimzowitsch 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 Two: A l\4odern Appendix ' January 1925 Schachnachrichten, Kagan'sNeueste

5 23 52 60

GAIVES - Krause, 1924 Copenhagen Brinckmann 1924 Copenhagen Kinch- Nimzowitsch, 1924 Copenhagen Krause, Lowenborg Amateur,Riga1910 Nimzowitsch 1923 Karlsbad Bernstein, KoldingI 923 Brinckmann. 1924 CoPenhagen Giersing, 1913 St. Petersburg Gregory, 19245 Krause,Correspondence 1924 CoPenhagen Krause, 1911 Karlsbad Levenfish, 1923 Moller,CoPenhagen 1924 CoPenhagen Nilsson, 1924 Olson,CoPenhagen 1911 Karlsbad Salwe. 1923 CoPenhagen Sdmisch, 1907 Ostende Shories, Stockholm1920 SPielmann, 1923 CoPenhagen Tartakower, 1923 Copenhagen Nimzowitsch, 56misch - Berger, 1889 Breslau Tarrasch - Nimzowitsch, 1923 Copenhagen Tartakower 1907 Ostende vanVliet- Nimzowitsch,
b l

17 63 5 20,27 42
t5

34 64 48 3 1 ,6 0 21,64
J1

56 38 11 21 23

65

64