MY SYSTEM 21st Century Edition Lol [oto Boa Colt eye) Introduction by Intemational Grandmaster Yasser SeirawanA WORD FROM THE PUBLISHER My System by Aron Nimzowitsch, first published in 1925, has its place among the two or three all-time most instructive books in the literature of chess. Indeed, it is difficult to find a strong chessplayer who has not studied this great classic. The current edition, My System - 21st Century Edition, incorporates many positive changes. To accommedate the modern reader, the chess notation has been converted to the algebraic format and the text has been updated to contemporary language. In parts one and two, paragraphs are double spaced to provide for easier reading, while the illustrative games section is peppered with new diagrams and liberal spacing to facilitate the study of variations. Aron Nimzowitsch comments in the preface to his book Chess Praxis (published 1936), "/ would have liked to see each game provided with four or five diagrams to facilitate the study of the variations which often are particularly intricate, but obese volumes are not in favor nowadays (slimming is the watchword).” In this vein | feel certain that he would be most pleased to know that My System - 21st Century Edition contains 419 diagrams! This is nearly double the number found in the original 1930 English language edition from which this book is derived. In short, everything possible has been done to make the use of this book convenient and easy for today’s chessplayer. | wish to thank the staff of the John G. White Collection of the Cleveland Public Library for the photograph from which the cover illustration was created. The goal of making My System as accurate and easy as possible for the contemporary reader has been achieved. The master work of Aron Nimzowitsch, after nearly seventy years of challenging and teaching thousands of the world’s best chess thinkers, is now in a position to continue its noble task throughout the next century. Lou Hays Dallas, Texas December, 1991 Visit Niridha’s Chess Links http:/www.geocities.com/chess_sharewith_us for more Chess Files’ TABLE OF CONTENTS PART 1 - THE ELEMENTS PAGE CHAPTER 1. ON THE CENTER AND DEVELOPMENT 1 CHAPTER 2. ON OPENFILES 13 ! CHAPTER 3. THE SEVENTH AND EIGHTH RANKS 23 t CHAPTER 4. THE PASSED PAWN 31 | CHAPTER 5. ON EXCHANGING 53 CHAPTER 6. ELEMENTS OF ENDGAME STRATEGY 57 CHAPTER 7. THEPIN 69 CHAPTER 8. DISCOVERED CHECK at CHAPTER 9. THE PAWN CHAIN 87 PART 2 - POSITIONAL PLAY CHAPTER 10. POSITIONAL PLAY AND THE CENTER 103 CHAPTER 11. THE DOUBLED PAWN AND RESTRAINT 121 CHAPTER 12. THE ISOLATED d-PAWN ANDITS DESCENDANTS 137 | CHAPTER 13. THE TWO BISHOPS 147 | CHAPTER 14. OVERPROTECTION 153 CHAPTER 15, MANEUVERING AGAINST WEAKNESSES 159 PART 3 - ILLUSTRATIVE GAMES 167-260