Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Master of Planning
Raymond Keene
ISBN071348438 l
Explanation of Symbols 4
Tournament and Match Record, 1904-1934 5
Aron Nimzowitsch - Master of Planning 7
Epilogue 252
Index of Openings 253
Index of Players 255
Explanation of Symbols
+ check
II
brilliant move
I
good move
I?
interesting move
?I dubious move
? bad move
??
blunder
+- White is winning
+ White has a clear advantage
+ White has a slight advantage
equal position
-
+ Black has a slight advantage
+ Black has a clear advantage
-+ Black is winning
Tournament and Match Record,
1904-1934
Tournaments
1
2
Matches
Throughout this book I have included the full crosstables of Nimzowitch 's
most important tournaments.
Aron Nimzowitsch - Master of Planning
~0 ~fil
~~ ~ ~// ,,,
:......__J
prince of the chess world (owing you have no alternative read the
fealty only to the then champion, translation by all means, but if you
Alekhine) set in at the close of his possess the merest smattering of
creative literary career. Although Ge11nan I urge you to read the
he did continue to write for maga- original. It is well worth the effort.
zines he ceased to update his major In this book the translations from
works. In this sense, then, I hope My System and Chess Praxis are
that my book will come to be re- largely my own. Note that 'Chess
garded as a continuation of his Praxis' is the title used in the Eng-
Chess Praxis covering the years lish edition of Die Praxis Meines
1928-1934. For this period I have Systems which should actually be
made liberal use of Nimzowitsch's rendered as 'My System in Prac-
own notes which would otherwise tice' or possibly 'My System in
have languished forgotten in the Operation'.
pages of now defunct magazines or Apart from the translations of
chess columns, which are only ac- Nimzowitsch's own works the only
cessible to bibliophiles. Indeed, other English language publication
most of these later games have to have appeared concerning Nim-
never appeared in English. zowitsch was a book by Reinfeld
To repeat - I strongly recom- which came out in the late 1940s.
mend that this book should be read That was almost thirty years ago
in conjunction with My System and and I think the time for a reap-
Chess Praxis for, in many cases, I praisal is ripe. To be honest I feel
have felt it superfluous to requote that Reinfeld also skated round
at length his ideas which appear in some of the deeper issues involved
these excellent volumes. The Eng- in Nimzowitsch 's play by concen-
lish translation of My System is, by trating in his collection on the
and large, very good and makes a master's more obviously attractive
brave effort to capture the spirit of exploits. There does exist a work
Nimzowitsch 's original Get 111an, published at roughly the same time
but, unfortunately, the same cannot as Reinfeld's effort which does
be said of the translation of Chess considerably more justice to Nim-
Praxis which I find a poor, maimed zowitsch. This is by B. Nielsen, but
torso of Nimzowitsch 's original. If it is written in Danish.
2 'How I became a Grandmaster'
(Extracts from a brief and contro- which lacks neither general interest
versial autobiography published by nor a special interest for the teacher
Nimzowitsch in 1929 as a Russian of chess. How about elucidating the
booklet.) attitude which underlies the sup-
posedly rational demand that a
An argument on a topic of prac- child should, if possible, never
tical importance: which age in life waste a minute of his time but cram
is the most suited to a first ac- himself with endless studies? If this
quaintance with the principles of demand stems solely from a feeling
chess? of solicitude towards the child, then
why is Latin (for example) still
I was eight years old when I first taught in Western schools, and why
became acquainted with chess. Yet does a course of study in bourgeois
in spite of the fact that I made im- Europe (e.g. in the venerable Fac-
mediate progress and appar- ulty of Law!) consist almost en-
ently(!?) continued in the same tirely of ballast, useful to no one,
stride later on, I now boldly main- which is ruthlessly brushed aside
tain that my chess development the minute examinations are over?
would have proceeded more har- And why - to tum again from the
moniously, and moreover more law student to the child at elemen-
painlessly, if I had learned the tary school - why are all boring
game not in childhood but in ado- and tedious things, such as the
lescence. The reader will soon as- learning of any sort of 'principles'
certain that my development up and 'elements', considered highly
until 1906 (I was born in 1886 in propitious for a child, when an
Riga) was extremely one-sided: a adult would show revulsion if ex-
strong combinative ability at the pected to concern himself with
expense of positional play. This such uninteresting matters?
could have been avoided without May we describe a feature of
any drawbacks, merely by waiting domestic life which will help us,
a little and teaching me to play perhaps, to find our bearings in the
chess at a more mature age. matter at issue? In central Europe,
At this point I should like to dis- in petty-bourgeois circles, there is a
cuss with the reader a question widespread view that women
J4 'How 1 became a G1andma.1ter
should never on any account sit chess was regarded with great re-
with their a1111s folded, and there- spect, for our father, himself an
fore they sew or embroider, etc., ardent devotee of the game, more
even when out visiting. The case is than once held forth to us on its
a clear one: such a view is an obvi- astonishing beauties. I would often
ous manifestation of the master- ask him to show me what it was all
and-slave attitude to woman, which about, but Father always refused,
has still not fully died out. After all, saying that 'it's too soon for a lad
in the Middle Ages woman was like you to be thinking about
essentially a slave. Isn't our attitude chess'. In the end he consented,
to children based on a similar feel- however, and this hallowed occa-
ing? At all events, it is time to re- sion was arranged for my name-
nounce the notion that a child day when I was eight. Yet I re-
ought to work unceasingly, and that member being a little disappointed,
it is to him that any boring and te- since the moves of rook, bishop,
dious occupations are especially knight, etc., seemed to me devoid
suited! of all combinative interest. I ought
If the process of studying to mention that even before be-
'principles' is a boring one, then in coming acquainted with chess I had
no case (particularly where chess a strong penchant for combination
and music are concerned) should as such, since all the efforts of my
one impose these principles on a teachers, and of my father first and
child; wait until he is older. But if foremost, had been specifically
you do nevertheless require a child aimed at fostering in me a gift for
to master them, then do your ut- association and a love for that
most to make them interesting, world of scholastic argument and
lively and attractive! The feeling of intricate sophistries which is so
grey monotony ought, for a child, well known to anyone who has
to be an unfamiliar feeling! ever been concerned to study the
The process of studying the first Talmud.
principles is based on imagination, Nevertheless, my disappoint-
but at the same time calls for logic; ment soon gave way to a feeling of
hence the ideal age for a beginner keen curiosity. About three weeks
must be considered adolescence, after my first lesson, Father showed
and by no means childhood! me some combinations, including a
smothered mate:
I begin to play combinatively,
but increasingly I lose all vital (see following diagram)
contact with chess realities, i.e.
with the demands of positional 1 l2Je5-t7+ ~h8-g8 2 l2Jt7-h6+
play. - On how one ought to study 'iir>g8-h8 3 'ii'c4-g8+ l:.a8xg8 4
first principles l2Jh6-t7 mate, and three months
after that, as a reward for progress
My first acquaintance with the at school, he demonstrated to me
principles of chess took place under Anderssen' s 'Immortal Game'; I
the sign of solemnity. In our family not only understood it, but at once
'flow I belame a Grandma~ter 15
fell passionately in love with it. 1ng to circumstances.
Thus it was that I became more
and more estranged from the inexo-
rable realities of chess and began to
lose myself in the clouds; and I
grew more and more receptive to
the idea that it's really no use
racking your brains thinking how
to create a good position, since the
possibility of combinations which
the opponent doesn't expect arises
equally in bad positions and good
ones! Such was the spurious point
of vantage I had finally arrived at ...
Before proceeding to criticise
Playing frequent games with the method of instruction I have
Father, I quickly took a combina- characterised above, I shall insert a
tive path, but for a long time my few facts from the early part of my
stock of strategic concepts re- chess career.
mained extremely meagre. By way l) The first of my games to ap-
of characterising Father's peda- pear in print was played when I
gogic method, I ventured to remark was eight and a half. It was pub-
on the following not uninteresting lished in the Rigaer Tageblatt and
detail. Now and then Father would testifies clearly enough to the pres-
explain to me that a central pawn- ence of a remarkable gift for com-
couple (e.g. on e4 and d4) must bination.
only be advanced to the fifth rank 2) Nevertheless, throughout the
with caution. And I am, of course, period 1894-1902, I generally had
quite convinced that Father, being a occasion to play only rarely, and
player of master strength, perfectly exclusively with first category
understood the danger of a purely players - of course, I received
positional character - of an over- odds.
hasty advance: often, of course, it 3) Notwithstanding the fearfully
pet tnits an enduring restraint anti-positional nature of my style, I
(blockade) of the reckless pawns gradually reached the point where
(e.g. white pawns on e4 and d5; a my father had to limit the odds he
black knight blockades on e5). It gave me to a knight. This occurred
would seem that such an argument, in 1902. In the same year I went
of a purely positional character, abroad. This commences a new
could not fail to prove useful; yet period of my chess career.
despite this, Father supported the Before proceeding with the nar-
rule he had stated chiefly by ab- rative, let us do some summing up.
stract considerations: the position The reader has no doubt managed
of the pawns on e4 and d4 is more to grasp that errors were commit-
rich in possibilities, i.e. one may ted, on the part of the teacher, in
play either e4-e5 or d4-d5, accord- the early period of my development
16 'How I became a Grandma.1ter'
'elements'. By this ter 1r1 we mear1 to the combir1ative type, then, be-
the file, the seventh rank, the fore anything else, he must learn to
passed pawn, the discovered check, combine. To all novices of this
the pin, the pawn chain. etc. In the kind we recommend a study cJf P.
first section of My System I set Romanovsky's book The Middle-
them out in detail and fo1111ulate a game.
whole series of laws for their pur-
posive use. The essence of this The period J902-1906 -- Anxiety
method of instruction consists, as I about the 'elements - I di.~CO\'er...
see it, in the very fact that in a way not America, no, but m)' 'born en-
that is entirely unnoticed by the emy' - The first seriou.~ encounter
student the laws amount to a nota- with him, and the 'pronouncement'
ble store of positional wisdom. Let he made on that occa.~ion
us illustrate this by an example.
The positional rule that the en- In the t'irst year of my stay
tire struggle, in its essence, abroad l played chess assiduous! y,
amounts to a struggle between two to the extreme displeasure ot my
forces, namely the pawns' tendency father, who had demanded uncon-
to advance (lust to expand) on the ditionally that I should pass an ad-
one hand and the tendency to ditional examination and enter a
blockade the pawns on the other - university. At the beginning of
this rule, or this way of fo1111ulating 1903 I moved from Konigsberg to
it at least, is difficult for a beginner Berlin, where, among other things,
to grasp. It's a different matter it' I made the acquaintance - and later
the same rule is served with a sauce became the friend - of O.S. Bern-
which shows the two tendencies, stein and B.M. Blumenfeld. With
not as existing in their own right, Blumenfeld I played scores of
but as though they were merely an games, and alscJ with the master
interesting feature of one of the von Scheve and the American D.G.
elements (the passed pawn). Baird. Considerably surpassing me
Viewed in this light, our rule will in strength, they would often nev-
appear quite comprehensible, and ertheless stumble into bad posi-
its appropriation cannot fail to de- tions, for at times I found combi-
velop the beginner's 'flair for nations which no one else would
blockade' and with it his positional even have thought of. All the same,
sense. (Subsequently, of course, the I lost the vast majority of games,
rule can and must be elaborated.) because without possibilitie.~ for
This simple law of ours about combination I was completely at
blockading passed pawns may be sea. I had no positional directives at
stated thus: one must endeavour to all; never, for example, did it enter
blockade the opponent's passed my head to weaken the opponent's
pawn. It is in this sense that a study black (or white) squares prior to
of the elements, in the first section occupying them, or to arrest the
of My System, can be useful tcJ a enemy breakthrough at its origins,
'combinationalist'. etc. I went all out to attack, rushed
If the beginner does not belong forward with my pawns and set
combinative traps. I used tc) per- tllfd7 6 .ixe7 'ilf xe7. In this posi-
ceive such traps with uncommon tion (approximately) I was pained
rapidity and execute them with b)' the thought that I cc)uld play 7
confidence, easily and boldly cal- 4lf3 or I could play 7 f4 , and that
culating five or six moves ahead, or this dilemma, in its essence an ago-
more. I recall, for example, that in nising one, could c)n)y be fully re-
a game played between Bardeleben sc)lved by someone.\ discovery of
and the student Nisniewitsch it the la""' or principle.> for the ex-
scarcely took me half a minute to ploitation of the pa"l'.'11 chain as
work out a striking combination ~;ulh. In other words, in a purely
something like the following: intuitive sense. the thought dawr1ed
on me that there exist strategic ele-
ment.> and that they were, SC) to
speak, seeking their ideologue and
; ~ ;~ 'lawgiver'.
That I myself cc)u\d e1nerge as
such an ideologue - this thought
did not even enter my head; and at
the time, generally speaking, this
episode did not seem to me at all
meaningful or deserving ot atten-
;~ ; %A '//////.
tion. But in 1904, when my recol-
lection of this slight and quite in-
nocuous story had had time to
evaporate completely. the follow-
Black to move. The win is ing thing happened to me. While
achieved thus: l ... l:fl + 2 ~xfl analysing a game of mine played
tllg3+ 3 'it>e I 'ii'e3+ 4 ~d I 'ii'e2+ 5 during Coburg 1904, together with
'it>cl 'ii'el+ 6 ~c2 'ii'xe4+ 7 ~cl a certain master (whose name will
tlle2+ and 8 ... 'ii'xb 1. be disclosed later), I happened to
In 1904 I took part in a tourna- convince myself that my rook ma-
ment for the first time (Haupt- noeuvres from the d-file to the h-
turnier in Coburg) and gained sixth file and back were not at all neces-
prize. Inspired by this success, I sitated by the strategic donnees. On
travelled to Nuremberg to 'play a the extreme right flank the position
few games with Tarrasch'. was this: White l:th l, L\g5; Black
Pe11nit me at this point to re- .l:!.h8, L\g6. 'You should have play-
count a little episode of chess psy- ed l:!.h l -h6,' the master proclaimed
chology which was destined to play in portentous tones. 'Why?' I
an immense role in the history of asked, still not giving in, 'I mean,
my development. In one game I the move I played in the game,
had been playing, a position had .l:!.h 1-d l, wasn't bad.' This modest
arisen characterised by a pawn assertion of mine drew forth the
chain. Let us suppose that these following reply, in a tone which
moves were played: I e4 e6 2 d4 permitted no argument: 'No, you
d5 3 t!Jc3 tllf6 4 .ig5 .ie7 5 e5 had to play .::.h6, becau.>e that's the
20 'H<Jiv I became a Gr(111dma.1te1'
advice: combinative player, take ner ), I won first prize with 8 1/2
part in sport, take frequent walks in point<; out of I 0, two whole points
the fresh air, do deep breathing ahead of the second prize winner.
exercises, endeavour to be tranquil, My play was not only distinguished
do gymnastics by Muller's system, by solidity, as in my game against
etc. [sic!]. Cohn, it also shone with a wealth
For we are convinced that the of ideas. I remember, e.g., the start
late Schlechter was right in main- of my game with Elyashov (l had
taining that every combinative Black): I e4 e5 2 ll:lf3 4'lc6 3 ..ltb5
player can become a ma.5ter of the 4ld4 4 4lxd4 exd4 5 f4? I now de-
first category if things are ar- vised the following manoeuvre
ranged properly. This is all the over the board: 5... 'ilih4+ 6 g3 'ike7
more true in our own day 7 0-0 'ikc5! There followed: 8 ..ltd3
(Schlechter voiced this opinion as h5 9 c.t>g2 d5 with a very promising
early as 1905, in spite of the fact game (I won quite quickly).
that chess teaching was then At the beginning of 1907 I took
sleeping sweetly in it.<> cradle), for part in the master tournament at
obviously we are now living in the Ostend. Tarrasch was playing in
golden age of chess teaching. the premier tournament. We came
Combinative talent plus a textbook together each day in a cafe, yet in
plus a proper management of af- spite of all my effort.s he absolutely
fairs (evenness of temper!) must refused to notice me, i.e. he simply
surely add up to a master's playing ignored the fact of my existence.
strength. Meanwhile, I was continuing on
On the other hand, people who my victorious way: in the first two
play few combinations may de- weeks I scored 7 1/2 point.<> out of 9.
velop their combinative ability. It is Then, suddenly, a miracle oc-
also possible, incidentally, to do curred: Tarrasch saw the light! On
without combinations. John, for that day I had beaten W. Cohn. I
example, who possessed no imagi- went into the cafe; Tarrasch was
nation at all, still became a very there already. I had hardly set foot
strong master. inside, when Tarrasch came rush-
ing up to me, beaming with delight
My results have their effect: I and holding his arms out. 'At long
become a master. On my truce with last I've come across you! How
Tarra.sch ( 1907), and what fol- pleased I am with your success!
lowed after that 'truce' ( 1907- Aren't you going to show me some
1914) of your games? How pleased I am
with your success!!' The apotheo-
My very next perfo1 rrrance - in sis of opportunism! Trampling the
Munich, November 1906 - bore the weak in the dirt and pandering to
mark of a major success. In the the strong! At that moment I per-
double-round tournament contain- ceived, with particular clarity, the
ing the masters Spielmann, E. Cohn total mediocrity of Tarrasch 's na-
and Przepiorka (the other partici- ture.
pants were Elyashov and Kiirsch- M.v search for nev.- path.'>, adum-
'Ho'tl' I h'C'ame a (irandma.1te1' 25
brated at Bar r1ren and Coburg, was, then the attempt at resuscitating the
as it were, grounded on a more old variation I e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 e5 -
solid base with the improvement of all this slowly but surely weakened
my playing technique. If the open- the position of the Nuremberg
ing experiments which I tried out at champion. In bringing back the
Bar r11en (e.g. I c4 c5 2 ttlc3 g6 3 variation with 3 e5 I set myself the
e3 i..g7 4 lllf3 lllf6 5 d4 cxd4 6 task of a 'reductio ad absurdum' of
exd4 0-0 7 i..e2 lllc6 8 d5 lllb8, the old conception of the centre. In
followed by the occupation of the 1912 I published my games with
c5 square - Caro v. Nimzowitsch) Salwe (191 l) and Tarrasch (1912),
suffered disaster at that time, ()Wing by which I attempted to show that
to my lack of corresponding tech- the old conception of the centre,
nique, there was no question of this upheld by Tarrasch, was outdated.
in the following years. In 1913 I discovered a method
In 1907 I started to play, with ot play which since then has at-
the white pieces, l tt:lf3 d5 2 d3, tained so much popularity: 1 d4
and if 2 ... lllc6, then 3 d4, leaving lllf6 2 c4 e6 3 Ci:Jc3 i..b4 without
Black's knight awkwardly placed, ... d7-d5; or 1 d4 lllf6 2 c4 e6 3 Ci:Jf3
obstructing the advance ... c7-c5. In b6, also without a subsequent ... d7-
1910, in bold defiance of Tarrasch, d5, and with this the position of
I began to give an obvious prefer- Tarrasch as a generally acknowl-
ence to cramped positions, e.g. the edged teacher of chess under-
Hanham variation, etc. standing was conclusively de-
The challenge was taken up, and stroyed.
from that moment on Tarrasch be-
gan disparaging me in the press, in On the triumph of my ideas, and
the most ruthless fashion. The ta- my succes!>es a.~ a grandmaster,
vourite epithets he levelled at me 1923-1929. Some concluding ad-
were hajJlich, bizarr, etc. All that vice
now appears ridiculous to me, but
how it made my blood boil at the After the end of the war the cor-
time! rectness of my revolutionary views
In 1912 I narrowly missed win- on chess became generally recog-
ning the grandmaster tournament at nised. Variations which had
San Sebastian (the fact is that ow- seemed so strange and whimsical
ing to nerves I lost a crucial game when these ideas were invented
against Rubinstein and had to be gradually acquired rights of citi-
content with sharing second and zenship.
third prizes with Spielmann). Tar- Conversely, Tarrasch's theory
rasch did not fail to chuckle gloat- (on the arithmetical centre, tast
ingly: 'It would have been a scan- development, etc.) began to pro-
dal if such anti-aesthetic play had voke nothing but a smile.
gained the victor's crown!' Parallel with this I achieved even
I continued to under r11ine Tar- greater successes in practice, which
rasch 's 'strong'(?) position: the secured me the title of grandmaster.
variation I e4 c5 2 lllf3 Ci:Jf6! and I consider my greatest success to
26 'flow I became a Grandma.5ter'
subsequent civil war in Russia in- nent. but the n1atch never came
terrupted Nimzowitsch 's successful about. It is unlikely that Nim-
chess career in no uncertain fash- zowitsch would have been able to
ion. For six years after 1914 Nim- unseat Alekhine, but his claims
zowit..<>ch played no serious chess were certainly superior to those of
and at some time in 1920 (earlier the ()fficial challenger, Bogol-
perhaps) he fled from his home jub()W, who twice met the world
town of Riga to Scandinavia. Pre- champion in abortive matches in
cisely why he took flight we do not 1929 and 1934.
know, but we do know that Bol- From 1929 onward<> Nim-
shevik and irregular Ge1111an ar- zowitsch made the fine scores of
mies were at large, and at war with 4/5 versus Bogoljubow, 1112/2 ver-
Latvia in its struggle for independ- sus Euwe, who did unseat Alekhine
ence, at this time and this fact may shortly after Nimzowitsch died,
not have been unconnected with 2 112/3 versus Flohr, who was gener-
Nimzowitsch's sudden departure. ally regarded as Alekhine 's most
Shattered by his experiences likely challenger apart from Euwe,
(whatever they may have been) in and also plus scores against Lasker,
his war-tom country Nim- Vidmar and Spielmann.
zowitsch 's return to international Nimzowitsch 's results at the
chess at Gothenburg in 1920 was a great tournaments of San Remo and
disaster, but he gradually recovered Bled were excellent and (apart
and began to play himself back into from a comparative failure at Liege
for 111. where he tied third) these successes
In 1922 Nimzowitsch settled in were backed up by a number of
Denmark and stayed there for the first prizes in smaller tournaments
remainder of his life, living in one (Frankfurt. Winterthur, Copenha-
small rented room in Copenhagen. gen) in which the general standard
One has the impression that Nim- of his play was outstanding. He
zowitsch 's lifestyle in Riga had not was less successful in matches
been un-affluent, but it seems that against Stoltz and Stahlberg, the
all this changed after his exile. rising Scandinavian stars, but Nim-
During the years 1925-1929 he zowitsch was never a particularly
worked his way towards his ulti- accomplished match player, an
mate goal - the world champion- observation which reintorces the
ship. His own narrative closes just feeling that he would not have suc-
prior to his greatest triumph: the ceeded in a challenge match versus
first prize at Carlsbad 1929, ahead Alekhine. Indeed, Nimzowitsch
of Capablanca, Spielmann, Rubin- suffered repeated defeats at the
stein, Vidmar, Euwe and Bogol- hands of Alekhine in the years
jubow. His result at San Remo the 1930-1934, although previously
following year contir 111ed his posi- their results against each other had
tion as 'Crown Prince of the chess been reasonably balanced (+5 -3
world', and Alekhine himself ex- =9 to Alekhine).
pressed the opinion that Nim- After 1931 Nimzowitsch took no
zowitsch was his worthiest oppo- part in major tournaments for three
28 'How I became a Grandma.5ter
comes only in an indirect way. I that he first played his games and
don't think the other Russians have didn't think of his system, but then
studied him. They know Alekhine afterwards because he had written
well, much better than they know this book or these books he had to
Nimzowitsch. And other Grand- fit the games into his system.
masters ... I don't think Fischer has There is this in Nimzowitsch that
studied Nimzowitsch in detail; Ca- he is very flexible, although people
pablanca perhaps in his case. SC)metimes tell stories about his
Question: To what extent has opposition to Tarrasch as if he were
your own style been influenced by very narrow-minded. But he is very
Nimzowitsch? flexible, and his system, which is
Larsen: The main influence not a system, is full of the5e con-
stems from my study of his games tradictions and paradoxes. And this
when I was fourteen. Part of these is one of the nicest examples: he
things also come from other Danish sometimes has these things about
players who knew Nimzowitsch decentralisation in such a way that
personally in Denmark. So it is you don't really understand what's
rather difficult for me to pinpoint going on. A man who always
his precise influence because part preaches centralisation - and here
of it came through some ot the he suddenly writes about the
other Danish players. 'instructive decentralisation'. Nim-
When I was fourteen or fifteen zowit<;ch, when you study him,
we had very little chess literature in doesn't try to tell you that it's all
Denmark. We did have, for in- very easy, and that was very good
stance, Euwe's opening theory and for me at that period of my chess
later Euwe's middlegame books development.
and so on. But at a certain time in Nimzowitsch was also very
my development I found out that much of a fighter; he was a player
they were very bad for an advanced who was not afraid of difficult po-
player, and Nimzowitsch became sitions. In Denmark he certainly
then for me more or less the author had a very strong influence in his
of the only book that could help me time and although he was very
to get away from these Euwe much a foreigner he became ac-
books, which, I admit, are very cepted in a way. He was a very
good for the ordinary club player. strange man, but people more or
But once you've reached a certain less liked him, also because he had
strength you get the impres..<;ion that a certain humour. In Denmark there
everything that Euwe writes is a lie. are all these stories about Nim-
There is something that I often zowitsch and a lot of people tell
say and Nimzowitsch says it him- about his persecution complex -
self: 'Everything is Nimzowitsch- how he wa.<; sure that the waiter in
My System, every move is Nim- the Industrieverein wanted to poi-
zowitsch-My System because it is son him, and so on.
either centralisation or decentrali- But exactly how he influenced
sation. He sometimes made jokes my style it is difficult to say pre-
with this and thereupon others said cisely.
32 A Discu.s.sion with Bent Lar.sen
realised that his games also con- cxd5 'ii'xd5 8 .td2 .txc3 9 bxc3
tained the basis for a psychological ll:lge7 10 l:tgl 'ii'h5 11 'ii'b3 ll:ld8
theory of chess. To his credit Nim- 12 'ii'b5+ 'ii'xb5 13 .txb5+ c6 14
zowitsch was one of those who .td3 ll:lg6 15 f4 0-0 16 'it>e2 l:tc8
recognised this fact.) The three 17 l:tg3 Much stronger would have
teachers I have in mind were been 17 f5 breaking open the posi-
Steinitz, Tarrasch and Chigorin. tion for the bishops. After the text
There is no doubt that Nimzowitsch Chigorin succeeds in implementing
utterly rejected the doctrine..'> of the blockade. One of Nim-
Tarrasch and that he went back to zowitsch's achievement<; was to
the original Steinitzian source in elaborate an openings repertoire
his quest for knowledge but, to an that successfully brought about
extent which has hitherto been blockade situations as a logical
overlooked, Nimzowitsch also consequence of the initial move..o;;:
scanned the games of Chigorin in l 7 c5 18 l1agl c4 19 .tc2 f5 20
his search for chess truth. What .tel :tf7 21 .ta3 l:tc6 22 .tc5 l:ta6
Nimzowitsch produced from his 23 a4 ll:lc6 24 l:tbl l:td7 25 l:tggl
investigations into the past was ll:lge7 26 l:tb2 ll:ld5 27 'it>d2 l:ta5
undeniably and indelibly his own, 28 l:tgbl b6 29 .ta3 g6 30 l:tb5
but it was to Steinitz and Chigorin :ta6 31 .tel l2Jd8 32 l:tal ll:lf7 33
that Nimzowitsch turned for his l:tbbl ll:ld6
initial guidance.
I close this section with one of
Chigorin 's classic games. Whether
Nimzowitsch had studied precisely
this one, or just games of the same
style by the great Russian master, is
not strictly relevant. What is of
relevance is the way in which
Chigorin dominates and blockades
the entire white position (with its
bishop pair) by exploiting to the
full the resources of his knights. In
this game we can see the rudimen-
tary stirrings of a theory of block-
ade and restraint, which was later It would have been more accu-
fo1111ulated by Nimzowitsch him- rate to play ... g7-g5 at once. 34 f3
self. ll:lf7 35 l:ta3 g5 36 'if.?e2 gxf4 37 e4!
ll:lf6 38 .txf4 ll:lh5 39 .te3 f4 40
Lasker-Chigorin .tf2 l:ta5 41 :tgl+ 'it>f8 42 l:taal It
Hastings 1895 looks as if White can lift the block-
Queen's Gambit - ade with 42 e5 but in that case
Chigorin 's Defence Chigorin had planned: 42 ... b5 43
.txh7 ll:lxe5 44 l:tg8+ ~f7 45 dxe5
1 d4 d5 2 ll:lf3 .tg4 3 c4 .txf3 4 b4! 46 cxb4 l:txe5+ 47 'i!;fl ll:lf6-+
gxf3 ll:lc6 5 ll:lc3 e6 6 e3 .tb4 7 42 e5 43 l:tabl ll:lg7 44 l:tb4 l:tc7
A Disc1J.~sion with Bent f,arsen 35
45 ~bl tt:le6 46 l:.dl tt:led8 47 cal players meant that their clashes
.:d2 He had to try 4 7 dxe5; after over the board were needle sharp.
the text Black can win. 47 .. tt:lc6 48 Many of their encounters are well
.:h5 .:xa4 49 dxe5 tt:lfxe5 50 ~h4 known (perhaps too well known) .
.:g7 51 <itf2 l:.g6 52 .:dd5 l:.al 53 The very first game they ever
~d8 tt:ld3+ 54 ~xd3 cxd3 55 played together 'under serious con-
.:xd3 ditions is to be found in the games
section. I have chosen this game
alone to appear with detailed notes
precisely because it is virtually
unknown. Nimzowitsch 's cele-
brated victory with 3 e5 in the
French Defence can be located in
the theoretical survey. Meanwhile
here is a complete record of the
score between Nimzowit..<>ch and
Tarrasch:
4) Positional Themes
1) The blockading knight
2) Play on squares of a certain
colour.
It is a rather artificial exercise to
isolate such themes from Nim-
zowitsch 's play as a whole: in fact
it is even artificial to isolate them
from each other. The blockading
knight can be equally ge11nane to a
prophylactic manoeuvre as it can
be to play on squares of one colour.
The point of adumbrating these
themes in isolation, far from sug- It is certainly hard to envisage
gesting that they can operate in a winning plans for Black in his su-
vacuum in Nimzowitsch 's games, per-blockaded state. However, in
is to draw the reader's attention to My System, which was published
them in order to enhance his appre- after Die Blockade, Nimzowitsch
ciation when they reappear in uni- allowed his fantasies an even freer
son, and possibly obscured by rein. The identical position occurs
variations. Indeed, all of them will there too but with the addition of a
recur frequently in this collection White pawn on h5, and now:
of Nimzowitsch's games, and it is 'White has winning chances!' You
good to establish common ground will see from the examples which
and an acceptable te1111inology in follow that Nimzowitsch was also
advance of the later, more detailed capable of constructing fantastic
discussion. blockading possibilities for his
knights over the board.
1) The Blockading Knight
Ideally the rounded chess master Mattison-Nimzowitsch
should not harbour an idiosyncratic Carlsbad 1929
affection for one or other of the Nimzo-lndian Defence
two minor pieces. However, Nim-
zowitsch did, and it is quite obvi- 1 d4 lt:if6 2 c4 e6 3 lt:ic3 .llb4 4
ous from his games that he had a lt:if3 .llxc3+ 5 bxc3 d6 6 c2 e7
penchant for closed positions 7 .lla3 cS 8 g3 b6 9 .llg2 .llb7 10
where he could exploit to the ut- 0-0 0-0 11 lt:ih4 .llxg2 12 'it1xg2?
most the blockading potential of b7+! 13 'it1gl a6 14 b3 lllc6
38 A Di~cu~.~ion with Bent lar~en
von Gottschall-Nimzowitsch
Hanover 1926
in:
1) the unfortunate position of the
black king - note that the white
king does not intervene at all until a
late stage of the ending - and
2) White's dark-square grip, es-
pecially the possibility of ~f8 at-
tacking Black's g7-pawn. Once
Black loses his g7-pawn White will
have little difficulty in creating a
passed h-pawn. From the diagram
the game continued: 32 h4 a5 33 A dead draw!? By no means.
g4 b5 In the interest<> of exchang- There is still a great deal in the
ing the queenside pawns. 34 h5 position and the game is only just
gxh5 35 gxh5 a4 36 bxa4 ~xa2 37 beginning' (Nimzowitsch).
a5 l:ta7 38 ~f8 ~bl 39 l:tfl ~d3 21 l:.c5 l1xc5 22 dxc5 ~c6 23 f3
40 l:tdl ~f5 41 ~b4 l:ta8 42 l:.d6+ f6 24 'it>f2 'it>f7 25 l1d4 a5 26 g3?
~c7 43 a6 l1h8 White was threat- He should have done something for
40 A Di.~cu.v.\ion v.ith Bent La1.~en
1"imzowitsch-Menchik
Carlsbad 1929
f"rench Defence
1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 e5 c5 4 'it'g4
cxd4 5 lLif3 lLic6 6 ..lid3 'it'a5+ 7
lLibd2 lLige7 Nimzowitsch recom-
mended instead the move 7 ... 'it'c7.
8 0-0 lLig6 9 l:.el ..te7 10 h4 ..tf8
An unhappy sort of move. Black
has treated this difficult variation
with a certain lack of finesse. For
40 h4 A Zugzwang position had superior methods I suggest the
been achieved in which White had reader consult the relevant section
to give ground somewhere. The of the theoretical survey. 11 h5
text cedes Black more light- l2Jge7 12 lLib3 'it'c7 13 lLibxd4
squared territory on the kingside lLixd4 14 lLixd4 ..lid7 15 ..tg5 The
(which is soon invaded by Black's dark squares loom up. 15... g6 16
king) but 40 l:i.b6 shed a pawn after l:i.acl lLif5 17 ..lif6 J:.g8 18 ..txf5
40 ... h4 41 gxh4 gxh4 42 ..txh4 exf5 19 'it'e2 'it'b6 20 c3 ..tcS 21 b4
~xc5 and ... l:i.xh3. There was even ..txd4 22 cxd4 ..te6 23 l:i.c5 Black
a way for White to lose a piece by is now held in a powerful dark-
40 l:i.d4+ ~xc5 41 l:i.xe4+? l:i.xf2+. square vice. 23 .. <tid7 24 'it'f3
40 .. gxh4 41 gxh4 l:i.h3 42 l:i.d4+ 'it'xb4 25 l:txd5+ ~e8 26 l:i.c 1
<ties 43 l:i.d8 ..tdS 'The win is not ..lixd5 27 'it'xd5 'it'b6 28 'it'f3 gxh5
too difficult now; in spite of an- 29 'it'a3 'it'e6 30 l:i.c7 1-0 The last
noying checks the black army, now link in the dark-square attack.
4 The Influence of Nimzowitsch
on Modern Opening Play
way in which Black's bishops are the enemy (3 ... ~b4 in the French
never given a chance is highly and the Nimzo-Indian Det.ence) or
reminiscent of Nimzowitsch. by inviting weaknesses, or even
cramp, in his own structure in order
to obtain compensating advantages
( 1 e4 lLic6, and 4 ... lLif6 in the Caro-
Kann). The notion of the early
black counter-attack, rather than
concentration on equalisatic)n, is
now fit 111ly embedded in modern
chess thinking.
1) Philidor's Defence:
Hanham Variation
1 e4 e5 2 tt:Jf3 d6 3 d4 tt:Jf6 4 tt:Jc3
17 b4 ~g7 18 0-0 l:tf8 19 'it'a6 tt:Jbd7
fxe4 20 lbd2 e3 21 tt:Jde4! exf2+
22 l:txf2 ~g5 23 l:.xf8 ~xf8 24
tbxg5 hxg5 25 'it'b7 1-0 White
wins the rook.
lllbd2 .1'..g7 5 .11...e2 0-0 6 0-0 lllc6 7 .1'..f4 .lif8 13 f3 lt:Jc5 14 .11...a2 lt:Je6!
l:tel l:te8 8 c3 e5 9 dxe5 ll:ixe5 10 15 .1'..xe6 .1'..xe6 16 'it'd2 Ir.ad8 17
lllxe5 l:txe5! 11 .11...f3 'it'e8 12 c4 l:i.fel .11...c8 18 lladl lt:Jd7! 19 lt:Jf5
l:te6 13 'it'c2 .1'..d7 14 lt:Jfl .11...a4 15 lt:Je5 20 tlld4 f6 21 'it>hl 'it'f7 22
'it'd3 .11...c6 16 ll:ig3 'it'e7 'it'f2 'it'g6 23 b3 Cilf7 24 cJi>h2 l:te7
25 lt:Jde2 f5! 26 lt:Jg3 fxe4? Pre-
cipitate. Nimzowitsch gives instead
26 ... l:tde8 27 exf5 .lixf5 28 lllxf5
'it'xf5 29 .lig3 l:txel 30 l:txel l:txel
31 'iixel 'it'xc2. 27 lt:Jcxe4 d5 28
lt:Jc5 l:tde8 29 tt.'ld3 l:txel 30 l:.xel
l:txel 31 'it'xel 'it'e6 32 'it'xe6
.11...xe6 33 .lie3, 'Black should now
have contented himself with a
draw; he wished to get more and
lost the game ... ' (Nimzowitsch).
The continuation of this game can
be found in M.v Sy.~tem (game 2).
'ii'd7 17 'it>h2 c5 and oncl~ again that even world champions are not
Black was better. immune to this strategy.
Samisch-Nimzowitsch
Berlin (Schachgesellschat't) 1928
N imzowitsch-Leonhardt
San Sebastian 1912
7 cxd4 .1ld7 8 ile2 Not the pure 18 Ci'ixa7? 'ili'xa7 19 'ili'd3 'ili'a6!, and
Milner-Barry, which should not be Tarrasch won a fine ending after
bad for Black after 8 0-0 lllxd4 9 the exchange of queens. 15... llla6
lllxd4 'iii' xd4 10 lllc3 a6 ! and it is In Dreihundert Schachpartien, the
not clear that White has enough second edition published in 1909,
compensation for the pawn. It may Tarrasch gives 15 ... .1'.xb5+ 16
also be possible for Black tcJ play lllxb5 li'Jc2 with the threat of
10... 'iii' xe5; in a more recent game ... 4le3+; this Nimzowitsch shows
(Netanya 1971) Westerinen scored to be harmless: 17 l:tc 1 llle3+ 18
a fine success with this over Bis- fxe3 ltJxe3+ 19 'it>e2 lllxdl 20
guier: 11 Itel 'ili'b8 12 lilxd5 .1ld6 :xc8+ 'it>d7 21 l:txh8 4lxb2 22 l:tc l
13 'ili'h5 (13 'iig4! is stronger) and wins. 16 'it>g2 lllc7 17 .1le2
13 ... 'it>f8 14 lllc3 lllf6 15 'ili'h4 .1'.c6 .1'.b4 18 llla2 llla6 19 .1ld3 llle7 20
16 Jlg5 .1le5-+. 8 . lllge7 9 b3 lllf5 .tr.cl lllc6 21 lllxb4 lllaxb4 22 ilbl
10 .1lb2 .1lb4+ 11 'it>n h6 23 g4 llle7 24 'D..xc8+ .1lxc8 25
lllel :rs 26 llld3 f6 27 lllxb4
'iixb4 28 exf6 'D..xf6 29 ilcl lllc6
30 g5 hxg5 31 .1lxg5 .:.rs 32 ile3
'iie7 33 'iig4 'iif6 34 rLgl l:th8 35
'it>hl l:th4 36 'iig3 l:txd4 'Despair!
37 Jlg5 was threatened as also 37
'ili'xg7' - Nimzowitsch. 37 ilxd4
lllxd4 38 'iixg7 'iif3+ 39 'iig2
'iixg2+ 40 :txg2 lllxb3 41 h4 1-0
5) Caro-Kann Defence
1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 ltJc3 dxe4 4
ltJxe4. This was another favourite
of Nimzowitsch 's, but he did not
like the generally quiet situations
generated by the classical 4 ... .ltf5,
preferring the tense struggles that 26 ... 'ii'h5 is probably better. 27
resulted from 4 .. ltJf6 and after 5 a3 a6 28 .i.e3 l:thd8 29 ~a2 .l:th8
ltJxf6+ the recapture with the e- 30 ~a 1 .l:thd8 31 ~a2 .:te8 32 l:tg8
Tl1e Jnfluenle of Nimzo"H-it.\lh on Modern Opening Pla.i' 55
the opening:
'This set Spielmann thinking.
After some minutes I raised my
eyes from the board and saw that
my dear old C<)mpanion in a1111s
was quite disconcerted. He looked
at the knight, now confidently, now
suspiciously, and after much hesi-
tation gave up the possible chase
started by 3 e5 and played the more
circumspect 3 lt:Jc3. Next year I
tried 2 ... lt:Jf6 on Schlechter, and in
the Book of the Congress we find
the following note to this move by
2) 1 e4 cS 2 lt:Jf3 lt:Jc6 3 d4 cxd4 Tarrasch: 'Not good, since the
4 lt:Jxd4 dS!? knight is at once driven away, but
This was played for the first time Herr Nimzowitsch goes his own
by Nimzowitsch against Rubinstein way in the openings, one, however,
at Carlsbad 1923. That game con- which cannot be recommended to
tinued with 5 exd5. Modern theory the public.
has also elaborated: 'Ridicule can do much, for in-
2a) S .tbs dxe4 6 lt:Jxc6 '*xdl+ stance embitter the existence of
7 ~xdl a6 8 ..ta4! 8 lt:Jd4+? axb5 young talents; but one thing is not
9 lLixb5 ..tg4+ 10 'it>el l:td8 given to it, to put a stop pe1111a-
(10... 0-0-0.') 11 lt:Jlc3 e5!+ von nently to the incursion of new and
Holzhausen-Nimzowitsch, Dresden powerful ideas.' (It is worth noting
1926. 8 . ..td7 9 lt:Jc3 ..txc6 10 that 1911 was the year that Di-
..txc6+ bxc6 11 lt:Jxe4 eS 12 'it>e2! aghilev produced Petrushka and
fS 13 lt:Jd2~. two years before Thomas Mann's
2b) S lt:Jc3 dxe4 6 lt:Jxc6 '*xdl+ Tod in Venedig, set in 1911, was
7 ~xdl bxc6 8 lt:Jxe4. published; and two years before
2c) S lt:Jxc6 bxc6 6 exdS '*xdS 7 Stravinsky's revolutionary 'Rite of
lt:Jd2! lt:Jf6 8 .tel e6 9 0-0 ..te7 10 Spring' l written in 1911-1912] wa..<>
..tf3 '*d6 11 '*e2 0-0 12 lt:Jb3 and put on in Paris - and the initial op-
this represents White's best line. position to that was immense! -
3) 1 e4 cS 2 lt:Jf3 lt:Jf6!? RDK)
The Nimzowitsch variation. This This remarkable game went on:
was the spiritual forerunner of 3 lt:Jc3 dS 4 exdS lt:JxdS S ..tc4 e6 6
Alekhine 's Defence, and therefore 0-0 ..te7 7 d4 lLixc3 8 bxc3 0-0 9
of crucial importance to one entire lLieS '*c7 10 ..td3 lt:Jc6 11 ..tf4
stream of development in modem ..td6 12 l:tel cxd4! 13 cxd4 lt:Jb4
chess. 14 ..tg3 lt:Jxd3 15 '*xd3 b6 16 c4
Nimzowitsch first played this ..ta6 17 l:tacl It.ac8 18 '*b3! f6 19
line against Spielmann at San Se- '*a4? 19 c5 ..txe5 20 dxe5=
bastian 1911, and it is worth quot- 19. fxeS 20 dxeS ..ta3! 21 '*xa3
ing Nimzowitsch 's comments on ..txc4 22 l:te4 '*d7 23 h3 ..idS 24
lne lnfluence of Nim::.<J1iit.1cl1 <J11 MrJd'1n 01Jc11ing Plu.1' 59
:te2 'ikb7 25 r4 'ikf7 26 .:.ec2 .:.xc2 'i'xd6 13 1Lb5 0-0 14 ttlc4 'tli"xdl
27 l:txc2 'ikg6 28 'ikc3 28 .llc3 h5 15 :axd 1 li\e 7 16 '11e5+, th is is
29 h4 .llxf4. modem theory on the line. 6 .td3
Very dangerc)US tor Black here is
the sacrifice 6 e6 intending to fol-
low up with 7 tbe5. 6... .tb7 7 .tr4
'ikc7 8 .tg3 e6 9 0-0 .te7 10 ll:ld2
h5 11 h3 g5 12 .te4 12 tllc4!
12 .. tllc6 13 l:tel 0-0-0 14 ll:lc4 b5
Yates-Nimzowitsch
London 1927
Sicilian Defence
,/
,
,..,.
,
/
% ~ "' ~
...,-.;;
~
~~
,~
...,-1 t
. ?:r
Nimzowitsch-Romih
London 1927
Queen 's Gambit Declined
9) Modern Benoni -
Nimzowitsch 's Method
Nimzowitsch-Marshall
New York 1927
Modern Benoni
1 d4 lllf6 2 c4 c5 3 d5 e6 4 lllc3
exd5 5 cxd5 d6 6 tllf3 g6 7 llld2 '
%
~
Nimzowitsch rejected the more
the Hubner variation which is dis- lt:Jh4 40 <bfl l:te8 0-1 'One of the
cussed next. 8 bxc3 d6 9 lbd2! If best blockading games that I have
9 ... e5 10 d5 lLla5 then 11 lbb3 'will ever played. In an interview
bring the aggressive black knight granted to C.H.O'D. Alexander
back to reason'. 9 . b6 10 lbb3? 10 after Hastings 1972-73, Larsen
f4 was better, the text move could remarked that Johner-Nimzowitsch
have been delayed. 10... eS 11 f4 e4 was probably the game by another
Now White is faced with the prob- Master which had exerted the
lem of what to do about the restric- deepest influence on his own style.
tion of his kingside. 12 ~e2 d7 This game represents one of
Another restrictive manoeuvre gets Nimzowitsch 's ideas that has really
under way ... 13 h3 lbe7 14 et made the big time. There follow
hS? 1s ~d2 rs 16 <bh2 h7 ... three examples of the way in which
and the strange destination is this line has made the grade:
reached - White's kingside pawns
aren't going anywhere. 17 a4 lLlfS Najdorf-Hiibner
18 g3 aS 19 l:tgl lbh6 20 ~fl ~d7 Wijk aan Zee 1971
21 ~cl l:ac8 22 dS <bh8 23 lbd2 Nimzo-Indian Defence
l:tg8 24 ~g2 gS 25 lLlfl l:g7 26
l:.a2 ttJrs 27 ~hl l:tcg8 28 d1 4 e3 cS 5 ~d3 lt:Jc6 6 lbf3 ~xc3+
gxf4 29 exf4 ~c8 30 b3 ~a6 The same procedure - exchanging
without provocation - as in the
Johner game. 7 bxc3 d6 8 e4 8 0-0
e5 9 'ii'c2 'ii'e7 10 lbd2 0-0 11
dxc5!? dxc5 12 ttle4 g6 13 lLlxf6+
'ii'xf6, Taimanov-Hiibner, and 8
tt::ld2 e5 9 d5 tt::le7 10 0-0 0-0 11
'ii'c2 g6 12 f4 exf4 13 exf4? ~f5,
Addison-Hubner, both games from
Palma de Mallorca 1970, are also
very Nimzowitschian in their con-
cept. 8 e5 9 d5 tt::le7
Spassky-Fischer
Black won on move 52. World Championship (5),
Reykjavik 1972
Olafsson-Andersson Nimzo-Jndian Defence
Reykjavik 1972
Nimzo-lndian Defence 4 tl'if3 c5 5 e3 lbc6 6 J.d3 J.xc3+
7 bxc3 d6 S e4 e5 9 d5 lLle7 10
4 e3 c5 5 .i.d3 tl'ic6 6 tl'if3 .i.xc3+ lbh4 h6 11 f4!? lbg6! 12 lLlxg6
7 bxc3 d6 S ll'id2 e5 9 0-0 0-0 10 fxg6 13 fxe5 Better to maintain the
lLlb3 e4 Another way of setting up tension with 13 0-0 0-0 14 f5 !.
a blockade. 11 .i.c2 e7 12 f3 l:.eS Black's trump card in this line is
13 'it>hl h6 14 ll'id2 exf3 15 gxf3 the rigid pawn formation, which
cxd4! The blockade has been lifted, doesn't suit White's bishop pair.
but White's position will be riddled 13 ... dxe5 14 .i.e3 b6 15 0-0 0-0 16
with weaknesses as a penance. 16 a4 a5 17 l:.bl .i.d7 lS :tb2 l:tbS 19
cxd4? xe3 17 lLle4 xd4 IS l:.bfl e7 20 .tc2 g5 21 .i.d2 es
'ii'xd4 lbxd4 19 lLlxf6+ gxf6 20 22 .tel g6 23 d3 tl'ih5 24
l:.gl+ 'it>f8 21 .i.xh6+ 'it>e7 22 .i.e4 l:txf8+ lixf8 25 :xrs+ 'it>xf8 26
68 The lnjl11ence of Nim::<J1iit.1ch on M<Jdi'1n ()fJl'ni11g f>/a.1
Bogoljubow-Nimzowitsch
Breslau 1925
Nimzo-Indian Defence
~ ~ 0
~ ;:
//-if/. ~~ ;,,; . ;:;::;; z / /'//.
:
~~, ~.
~
"'"'w . '/. - : / /
was one of the factors which exf5 .ltxf5 11 lllh4 .lte6 12 ltlg6
helped to give birth to the Bole- .:.gs 13 h3 l1if6 14 .lte3 Jixd5 15
slavsky Sicilian (I e4 c5 2 tlJf3 cxd5 tlJd4 16 f4 'ii'd7 17 b4 .ltb6
t2Jc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 tt:lxd4 ll:lf6 5 t2Jc3 18 fxe5 dxe5 19 t2Jxe5 'ike7 20
d6 6 .lte2 e5). lllc4 with a clearly won position. 7
The influence ot' Nimzowitsch 's .lte2 With Nimzowit.<;ch the move
extensive writings concerning the g2-g3 did not neces..<;arily promise a
Dresden blockade can perhaps be fianchettoed king's bishop. 7 .. h6 8
traced in the Botvinnik systems of .lte3 .ltxc3+ 9 bxc3 ii'd7 10 'ii'c2
the English. Some examples of this 0-0 11 ii'd2 lllh7 12 h3! .ltxh3 13
influence are: lllgl .ltg4 14 f3 .lte6 15 d4 exd4
Botvinnik-Geller, USSR Team 16 cxd4 d5 17 cxd5 .ltxd5 18 exd5
Championship, Moscow 1966, 'ii'xd5 19 l:tdl :res 20 'it>f2 lllf6 21
which opened with 1 c4 g6 2 g3 l:th4 llle7 22 .ltd3 lllrs 23 .ltxf5
.ltg7 3 .ltg2 e5 4 t2Jc3 d6 5 d3 t2Je7 'ii'xf5 24 ~g2 .:t.e7 25 .ltf2 Itae8 26
6 e4 0-0 7 t2Jge2 t2Jbc6 8 0-0 .lte6 .:t.f4 ii'g6 27 d5 .:.es 28 l:td4 l:td8
9 t2Jd5 Botvinnik-Petrosian (from 29 'ii'a5 lllh5 30 'ii'xc7 l:tde8 31 d6
the same event) varied with 8 ... f5 9 1-0 There also exists a little known
tlJd5. Keene-Kagan, Skopje 1972, Alekhine game on similar lines, but
went 1 t2Jf3 c5 2 g3 g6 3 .ltg2 .ltg7 Alekhine did not give it much pub-
4 0-0 e5 5 c4 t2Je7 6 lllc3 lllbc6 7 licity - in fact he did not even pub-
d3 0-0 8 :tbl d6 9 a3 a5! 10 .ltd2 lish it in his collections of best
h6?! and it was later errors on games. Alekhine-Tarrasch, Vienna
Black's part, not his pawn forma- 1922: 1 c4 e5 2 ltlc3 4lc6 3 g3 g6 4
tion, which led to his downfall. .tg2 .ltg7 5 d3 tlJge7 6 f4 d6 7
An example of Nimzowitsch's tlJf3 0-0 8 0-0 h6 9 e4 f5 10 tlJd5
treatment is Nimzowitsch-Samisch, ( 1-0, 57).
Dresden 1926: 1 c4 e5 2 lllc3 lllf6
3 t2Jf3 t2Jc6 4 e4 .ltb4 5 d3 d6 6 g3 2) English Opening: 1 c4 e5 2
t2Jc3 t2Jc6 3 t2Jf3 tlJf6 4 e4 .ltc5 5
t2Jxe5
6 . .ltg4 Nimzowit.<;ch-Mieses,
Hanover 1926, varied with 6 ... .1'.c5
7 .1g2 tlJg4 8 0-0 t'5 9 tlJd5 h6? 10 This sequence was invented by
74 The Influence of Nimzoivit.~ch on Modern Opening Pla.v
.-~~~~~---;"; /,t:I'
/. %,.,
z ~ ~p 19 xg7+! xg7 20 l:t.xf6
xg3 21 hxg3 l:.e8 22 g4 a4 23
t2if3 axb3 24 axb3 'it>g7 2S gS eS
26 l2ih4 ~d7 27 .:td6 ~e6 28 'iii>f2
'it>f7 29 l:tb6 l:te7 30 e4 dxe4 31
dxe4 c4 32 b4 ~g4 33 'it>e3 l::.d7
~ - ;J& 34 g6+ 'iii>f8 35 gxh7 l:t.xh7 36
~ -~~ ;.
~ - i.fil
~/~ .
~.!]
'/~
l2ig6+ 'it>e8 37 lLixeS ~c8 38 l2lxc4
z %
/;:
"1i'd8 39 l2ld6 :tg7 40 'it>f2 'it>c7 41
? ~
l2ixc8 'it>xc8 42 l:td6 1-0
whole plan of throwing the heavy cj;f7 43 .:.dl ~e7? 44 l2lxd3 exd3
pieces into the assault on the king- 4S b4 ct;d6 46 ct;xd3 Ii.fl 47 l:td2
side occurred only because the .:.f3+ 48 ct;c2 ct;e6 49 .l:l.e2+ ct;d6
variation 12 ... f5? 13 'ilr'xg7+! ~xg7 so ~b3 l:td3 51 .:.es h4 52 gxh4
14 lllxc6+ .i.f6 15 lllxd8 j(_xb2 16 l:th3 53 l:th5 ct;c6 54 l:th6+ ct;b7 55
lllxe6+ seemed to mitigate the hS 1-0 Black could still have held
'brutality' to a significant extent' up the winning process for some
(Nimzowit<>ch). 12 ... lllxeS 13 time with 43 ... j__c2 44 ,:g I h4,
~
~-~~__,.~ /'. ~
% %'' %
---
19 ,'j/hS The only defence ;_fi ~ ;~
against l:lf3-h3. 20 'jjxhS gxhS 21
ti:Jf3 l:tc7 22 l:th6 f6 23 lllh4 .i.e8
24 l:thxf6 l:txf6 2S l:txf6 l:te7 26
cbf2 <l;g7 27 l:tf4 .i.d7 28 ~e2? 28
~el! cuts out the possibility of
... .i.g4+. 28 eS! 29 l:tf5 l:.e8 N(lW
l:xh5 is impossible, so Black's 22 e4 fxe4 23 dxe4 .i.xf4 24 eS
resistance can continue. 30 l:.f2 e4 'j/fS 2S l:tc7 0-0 26 g3 g4 27 .l:c4
311:tf4 l:teS 32 <l;d2 bS 33 g3 .i.h3 bS 28 l:te4 l:tdS 29 ~bl :txeS 30
34 d4 cxd4 3S exd4 l:tgS 36 c3 aS tl:Jxe5 1-0
37 l:tf2 a4 38 ~e3 a3 39 1:tc2 ~fl A Nimzowitsch example, effec-
40 l:tcl .li.d3 41 tl:Jg2 :rs 42 lllf4 tively a reversed Dutch Defence, is
l"h !11t711e11<' <J{.Nin1:<Jv..it.1lh <Jn Modl:'rn ()11enin.~ f>/<1.1 77
Du bist dir nur des einen Triebs opening can go a long way to de-
bewuj3t; te1111ining the nature of a style.
0 lerne nie den andern kennen! All this may sound rather vague
Zwei See/en wohnen, ach! in and naturally, when dealing with
meiner Brust, such terms, there is a great danger
Die eine will sich ion der andern of descending into meaningless
trennen; generalisations. However, if we
Goethe: Faust Part 1 bear in mind the possible presence
of such dangers, I feel that we are
(By this one passion you are quite now in a position to discuss what I
possessed - believe to lie at the very heart of
You'd best admit no other to a Nimzowitsch 's chess style, and this
share. is the duality already mentioned. In
Two souls, alas, are housed within Nimzowitsch's games we observe a
my breast, strange tension between the desire
And each will wrestle for the mas- to restrain the opponent's possi-
tery there.) bilities (prevention or prophylaxis)
and the urge to provoke the oppo-
All chessmasters (and not just nent into a sharp and bitter strug-
masters) have personal styles and gle: by doing something outra-
highly individual methods of ap- geous, or apparently unplayable, or
proaching identical problems. Of by running grave risks of a posi-
course, in certain situations, all tional, or tactical, variety. In other
strong players will do identical words, with Nimzowitsch, we see a
things (e.g. 'White to play and win' powerful awareness of the presence
will usually elicit the same re- of the opponent as someone who
sponse from any good player) but it must be restrained or provoked
is those cases where the element of rather than the preoccupation with
choice crops up that concern us one's own positive plans which one
here. Style, and examination of the associates with other great masters,
questions arising from it, can afford such as Alekhine, Bogoljubow, Tai
a fascinating point of departure for Fischer and Kasparov. I associate
a discussion of the play of the great the direct, positive action of an
masters. Even one's choice of Alekhine, or a Fischer, with a ho-
8() 7ne D11alin <J(ll/i111zo}vit.1cl1
this game: 'May my dear colleague to cling at all C<)Sts to his extra ma-
Samisch not take it amiss that I terial. 6 ... 4lc6 is much 'better'. 7 f3
seize every opportunity to publish A game Sir George Thomas-Nim-
this game, which is known in zowitsch, Marienbad 1925, went: 7
Denmark as the Immortal Zug- .ltf4 tt:Jf6 8 f3 0-0 9 fxe4 lLixe4 10
zwang Game. I have no choice, for, 4lxe4 fxe4 11 'tid2 ttld7 12 .lte2
in its sacrificial spirit, which yet c5 and Black maintained his extra
denies the attack in any conven- material into the endgame and this
tional sense, this game is just as eventually brought him victory, in
characteristic for our own time as spite of White's bishops and the
the Immortal Sacrificial Game was precarious nature of Black's booty.
for the age of Anderssen. Nowa- 7 ... exf3 8 lixf3 'tixd4 Absolutely
days we sacrifice for the sake of consistent with the heroic defence
prophylaxis, or in order to intro- syndrome. 9 'tig3 lLif6 10 'tixg7
duce a blockade, or to decrease the lie5+? 10 ... :.gs! ll.lixc7 4lc6 -
dynamic potential of the opposing Alekhine - and Black can fight on.
forces, not, however, in the inter- 11 .lte2 :gs 12 lih6 .:tg6 13 lih4
ests of a brutal act of vi<)lence. .ltd7 14 .ltg5 .ltc6 15 0-0-0 .ltxg2
Brutality is out of date!' 16 l:.he 1 .lte4 17 .lth5 lLixh5 18
l:.d8+ ~f7 19 lixh5
Alekhine-Nimzowitsch
Bled 1931
French Defence
1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 4.:lc3 .ltb4 4
lLige2 dxe4 An interesting Russian
idea is 4 ... lLie7 5 a3 .lta5 6 b4 .ltb6
7 e5 a5! with good counterplay. 5
a3 .ltxc3+ (5 ... .lte7 is more cir-
cumspect. 6 lLixc3 rs
driving the opponent into quick by no means detracts from its pu-
action. rity in a prophylactic sense. It il-
lustrates a very definite f<)rm of
prophylaxis in which part of the
plan is to precipitate the opponent
into action.' Had Black played
29 ... .td7 then 30 g4 and 'it'xh3
would have decided the game in
White's favour (murderous attack
on h-file).
Many of the games that follow are discussed by Nimzowitsch in his aut<)-
biography.
Munich 1906
I 2 3 4 5 6
1 Nimzowitsch -- 1/2 l 1I 1/2 I 1/2 l l1 8 1/2
2 Spielmann 1/20 01 01 11 1I 6 1/2
3 E.Cohn 00 10 -- 01 10 11 5
4 Przepiorka 1/20 10 IO -- 01/2 II 5
5 Elyashov 1/20
00 01 11/2 1I 5
6 Kurschner 00 00 00 00 00 0
Nimzowitsch-Hilse
Coburg 1904
Vienna Game
27 'it>g2!
White must not fall for 27 .-lg6+
in view of 27 ... 'ii'xg6! 28 'ii'xd4
fxg3 29 'ii'xd5+ 'it>e8! 30 'ii'b5+
'ii'c6. In his tum Black should
avoid (27 .-lg6+) 27 ... l:hxg6 28
~xd4 lllxg3 29 hxg3 llxg3+ 30
'it>fl l:tg2+ 31 ~el l:txd2 32 .-lxb6
l:tgg2 33 l:.fl axb6 34 .l:t.c7+ and
Black has succeeded in working White wins.
up some attack and it is not easy 27 .. lllxg3!?
for White to capitalise on his extra A mistake typical of my play at
pawn, partly because the presence that time. I had in mind a deep
of the black queen on b6 makes it combination but, all the same, I
more difficult for White to play e3- failed to appreciate that my own
e4. It is worth considering whether king was vulnerable. The most ac-
White's position is as good as Tar- curate continuation was 27 ... fxg3
rasch thought it was at move 10. which secures the win without dif-
17 'ii'h4 .l:.g6 ficulty, e.g. 27 ... fxg3 28 h3 'ii'e6
18 'ii'h3? (threatening to sacrifice the queen
He should have played 18 4if4. on h3) 29 l:thl 'ii'xe5 30 'ii'xh6
Fir.1t Step.5: Selected Games 1904-1906 87
tt:Jd4 .;.d7 13 'ii'f3 .;.es 14 t?Jrs ! 4 tt'Jc3!? 4 ... exf4 S dxc6 lDxc6 6
'Wc7 lS l:tael .1:.ae8 16 c3 .;.xrs 17 .;.hs tt'Jf6 7 d4 .;.d7 8 tt'Je2 'ii'b6 9
'Wxf5 g6 18 'it'f3 tt'JhS 19 .;_h6 Wd3 .;.d6 10 c4 0-0
tt:Jg7 20 'iti>hl rs 21 l:.e2 l:.f7 22
l:.fel l:tfe7 23 .;.gs l:.e6 24 c4 'ii'd6
2S cxd5 cxd5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
1 Rubinstein ** 1/2 l 01 1/2 l 1/2 1/2 11/2 01 11 1/2 1/2 1/2 l l/2 12 1/1
2 Nimzowitsch 1/20 ** 01 11/2 0 1/2 11 11 1/2 l/2 1/2 1/2 11 l/2 12
3 Spielmann 10 10 ** 10 1 1/2 1/21 l/2 l/2 l/2 l l/2 l/2 l l/2 1 12
4 Tarrasch 1/20 0 1/2 01 ** 11 01 1/20 1/2 1/2 11 11 1 11 1/1
S Perlis 1/2 l/2 l l/2 01/2 ()() ** 11/2 1/21 l/2 1/2 l/2 l/2 l 1/2 l/2 10
6 Marshall 01/2 ()() 1/20 10 0112 ** 1/2 l 1 1/2 1/2 1/2 11 l 9 112
7 Duras 10 ()() 1/2 1/2 1/2 l 1/20 1/20 ** 1/2 1/2 1/2 l 01 l/2 8 1/1
8 Schlechter ()() 1/2 1/2 1/20 112 112 1/2 1/2 0 1/2 l/2 1/2 ** 1/2 l/2 J l/2 1/2 8
9 Teichmann 1/2 l/2 l/2 l/2 l/2 l/2 ()() l/2 l/2 1/2 l/2 l/20 l/2 l/2 ** 1/2 1/2 1/2 8
10 Leonhardt 1/20 ()() 0112 ()() 01/2 ()() 10 01/2 1/2 1/2 ** 1 s
11 Forgacs 1/2 1/2 0 0 l/2 0 l/2 1/2 1/2 0 ** 3
St. Petersburg, All-Russian Championship, 1913-14
123456789012345678
1 Alekhine * 1 1 0 I l 1/2 0 l l l l l l l l 0 l 13 1/2
2 Nimzowitsch 0 * 1/2 1/2 1 1 0 1 l 1 1/2 l l l 1 l 1 1 13 1/2
3 Flamberg 0 1/2 * l 1/20 l l l 1/2 l 1 1 1/2 l 1 I l 13
4 Lovtzsky l 1/20 * 1/20 0 1 l 1 1/2 1/21 l 1 1/21 1/2 11
S Levenfish 0 0 1/2 1/2 * 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1/2 l 101/1
6 Znosko-Borowsky 0 0 1 1 0 * 1/2 l 0 1/2 1/2 1 0 1/2 l 1 l 1 10
7 Smorodsky 1/2 l 0 l 1 1/2 * 1/20 1/20 I 1 0 1/2 l 1 1/2 10
8 Bogoljubow I 0 0 0 1 0 112 * 1/2 1/2 l 0 1 1 1/2 1/2 1 1 9 1/2
9 Evenson 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1/2 * 0 1/2 I 1 1 0 1 1 1 9
10 Alapin 0 0 1/2 0 I 1/2 l/2 1/2 l * 0 0 1/2 1/2 1/2 I 1 1 8 1/1
11 Salwe 0 1/20 1/20 1/210 1/21*0 11 1/2101 8 1/2
12 Freymann 0 0 0 1/2 0 0 0 I 0 1 l * 0 1/2 I 0 1 l 7
13 Levitsky 0 0 0 0 0 I 0 0 0 1/20 1 * 1 1 1 0 I 6 1/1
14 Taubenhaus 0 0 1/2 0 0 1/2 1 0 0 1/2 0 l/2 0 * 0 1 1 1 6
15 Lebedev 0 0 0 0 0 0 1/2 1/2 l 1/2 1/20 0 l * 0 1 0 s
16 Evtifeyev 0 0 0 1/20 0 0 1/20 0 0 I 0 0 1 * 1 112 4 1/1
17 Gregory I 0 0 0 1/2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 * 0 3 1/1
18 Elyashov 0 0 0 1120 0 1/20 0 0 0 0 0 0 I 1/2 I * 3 1/1
E.1tab/ished Ma~tc'r: Selected Game~ 19()7-1914 91
Preliminary
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
1 Capablanca * 1/2 1/2 1 1/2 1 1/2 I I 1 1 8
2 Lasker 1/2 * 1/2 1/2 1/2 0 1 1/2 1 I l 6 1/2
3 Tarrasch 1/2 1/2 * 1/2 1/2 I 1/2 1 1 0 1 6 1/2
4 Alekhine 0 1/2 1/2 * 1 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 1/2 1 6
5 Marshall 1/2 1/2 1/2 0 * I 1/2 1/2 1 I 1/2 6
6 Bernstein 0 I 0 1/2 0 * 1/2 :;2 1/2 1 I 5
7 Rubinstein 1/2 0 1/2 0 1/2 1/2 * 1/2 1/2 I 1 5
8 Nimzowitsch 0 1/2 0 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 * 0 1/2 1 4
9 Blackburne 0 0 0 1/2 0 1/2 1/2 1 * 0 I 3 1/2
10 Janowski 0 0 1 1/2 0 0 0 1/2 1 * 1/2 3 1/2
11 Gunsberg 0 0 0 0 1/2 0 0 0 0 1/2 * 1
Final
1 2 3 4 5
1 Lasker 6 1/2 ** 1/21 11 I l/2 II 13 1/2
2 Capablanca 8 1/20 ** I /2 \ 10 11 13
3 Alekhine 6 00 '!20 ** II J l/2 10
4 Tarrasch 6 1/2 Ol/2 01 ()() ** 01/2 8 1/2
S Marshall 6 00 00 Ql/2 I l/2 ** 8
more than contempt. Few critics driven away from the support
were able to appreciate the fine blockade square d4. By move 18
points of this game. For this move (see next diagram) White has a
(7 dxc5), one of the deepest ever firm grip on both of these key
played, Nimzowitsch was roundly squares and Black's hanging cen-
damned by the chess world.' Un- tral pawn majority is absolutely
fortunately, the facts contradict this crippled and immobile. ('First re-
pleasantly romantic view. strain, then blockade and finally
That opposition which he did destroy', was the relevant Nim-
have to su1111ount from certain iso- zowitsch aphorism.)
lated but implacable quarters was 9 ... .1'.e7
probably grounded as much in per- 10 .1'.f4 fxe5
sonal animosity and incompatibility 11 l2Jxe5 l2Jxe5
as in disagreement over theories of 12 .1'.xe5 l2Jf6
chess. Or 12 ... .1'.t.6 13 'ii'h5+ g6 14
7 .1'.xc5 .1'.xg6+ hxg6 15 'ii'xg6+ ~e7 16
8 .1'.xf6+ l2Jxf6 17 'ii'g7+ (Nim-
Hort-Anders.<;on, Reykjavik zowitsch).
1972, went: 8 'ii'e2 a5! (which 13 l2Jd2 0-0
Salwe should have played on move 14 l2Jf3 .1'.d6
8) 9 ltlbd2 a4 10 b4 axb3 11 l2Jxb3 Here is one variation, again
.1'.a3 12 0-0 lbge 7 13 .lit.d2 4:lg6 14 stemming from Nimzowitsch,
lbbd4 .1'.e7 15 l:fe l +. which shows just how weak
8 ... f6? ! Black's centre really is: 14 ... .1'.b5
15 .lid4 'ii'a6 16 .1'.xb5 'ii'xb5 17
ltlg5 'ii'c6 18 lle 1+-. Black could
also seek to lift the blockade with
14 ... lllg4 but after 15 .1'.g3 (I 5 .1'.d4
'ii'c7 threatening ... 'Cuf3!) 15 ... .1'.f6
(I 5... .1'.d6? I 6 Ji..xh 7+ ! ci;xh 7 I 7
llJg5+) 16 h3 l2Jh6 17 .1'.e5 l2Jf7 18
.ltxf6 gxf6 19 c4 ! White is still in
control, in view of Black's weak-
ened king position, e.g. 19 ... d4? 20
l2Jxd4 !, 19 ... dxc4 20 .1'.xc4 and
Black's bishop hangs, or l 9 ... 'ii'xb4
20 cxd5 exd5 21 I:!.b 1 with a dan-
gerous attack.
9 b4! 15 'ii'e2!
Serving a dual-purpose: A question of move order: why
1) The b-pawn is protected with not first 15 .lld4 - ?
tempo, therefore White's queen's In My System and its epigoni
bishop can travel to f4 to over- there is stated: not 15 .ltd4? 'ii'c7
protect the vital blockade square 16 'ii'e2 l2Jg4! 17 h3 e5 and Black
e5 frees himself. The 'reserve block-
' ader' (l2Jf3) has failed to attain its
2) Black's king's bishop is
94 E.'ltabli.,hed Ma.\ter: Selected Game.> / 9()7-1914
objective (e5). But is this really so? sen by Salwe is desperate, involv-
During the course of a discussion ing, as it does, the surrender of the
on 3 e5 in the French Defence the bishop pair in an open position.
two-times British champion George
Botterill demonstrated the follow-
ing concealed possibility to me: 15
..td4!? 'ii'c7 16 'ii'e2 tt:lg4 as above,
and now 17 ..txh7+!? 'i!th8 18
tt:le5! (also good for White is
I8 ... lilxe5 19 'ii'h5 .:j6 20 ..tg6+
~g8 21 'ii'h7+ 'l;f8 22 'ii'h8+ <l;e7
23 'ii'xg7+ :p 24 Lf7 lilxf7 25
..tj6+) 19 ii'xg4 ..txd4 20 ii'hs l:t.f6
21 ..tg6+ 'it>g8 22 cxd4 and won
easily, Botterill-Deighton, Bradford
1965.
Of course, Black must accept the
sacrifice, when he should emerge 18 ..txe5
on top, although the variations are A horrible move to have to
not simple: 17 ... 'i!txh7! 18 tt:lg5+ make.
'it>g6! 19 'ii'xg4 l:t.f4 20 ii'h3 'it>xg5 19 ..txe5 'ii'c6
21 ..txg7 (2/ ..te3 meets with a 20 ..td4 ..td7
similar defence) 21 ... 'i!tg6! and if 21 'ii'c2 l:f7
22 ii'h6+ 'l;f7 23 ii'h7 then 22 :e3
23 ... 'it>e8 seems adequate. Bringing up reinforcements to
None of this is mentioned by assault Black's king s fortress.
Nimzowitsch, or, for that matter, 22 b6
by anybody else who has annotated 23 .:g3 'l;h8
his Salwe game. As Botterill put it 24 ..txh7!
to me - this analysis doesn't ex- Winning a pawn and shattering
actly upset everything written the position of the enemy king. The
about Nimzowitsch-Salwe. If any- bishop is immune to capture, e.g:
thing it shows how much greater 24 ... tt:lxh7 25 'ii'g6 ~g8 26 ..txg7
precision and depth of calculation tt:lf8 27 ii'h6 tt:lh7 28 l..f6+. Ob-
is required for deciding between 15 serve the r()le played in this note by
..td4!? and 15 'ii'e2!. How much of White's queen's bishop, and com-
that do you think Nimzowitsch pare with Nimzowitsch-Wolf (page
saw? How much did he need to 116).
see? 24 e5
15 l:.ac8 A typical burst of counterplay
16 ..td4 'ii'c7 after material loss but it is of a
17 tt:le5 ..te8 purely temporary nature.
18 liael! 25 .ltg6 l:.e7
Total strangulation! White's 26 .:et 'ii'd6
blockade creates a most aesthetic 27 ~e3 d4
impression. The remedy now cho- 28 ~g5 l:txc3
E:stabli~hed Ma~ter: Selected Game.1 1907-1914 95
Levenfish-Nimzowitsch
Vilna 1912
Caro-Kann Defence
26 .li.d4?
Rubinstein misses it too! This 1 e4 c6
98 E.~tablished Ma.~ter: Selected Game.1 I 907-19 I 4
2 c4 7 0-0?!
A very old move which has be- It was still not too late for 7
come popular of late. White's idea tLlc3, which would probably have
is to discourage 2 ... d5. Here is what transposed into the previous note.
could happen if Black were stub- 7 ... ..11'd6!
bornly to proceed with his opening
strategy: 2 ... d5 3 cxd5 cxd5 4 exd5
tt:Jf6 5 tt:Jc3 tt:Jxd5 6 i..c4 tt:Jb6 7
i..b3 tt:Jc6 8 tLlf3 g6 9 a4 a5 I 0 d4
i..g7 11 i..e3 tt:Jb4 12 d5 and Black
has lost ground in the centre
(Markland-Bhend, Skopje 1972).
Black would have done better to
play 7 ... g6 with good chances of
maintaining himself.
2 ... e6
Intending at all costs to establish
a central foothold.
3 tt:Jf3
One testimony to the venerable Very good. Now that this move
antiquity of 2 c4 is the twentieth is possible Black can develop his
game of the Staunton-St. Amant king's knight on e7 and repulse any
match, Paris 1843, which continued pinning attempt by White's queen's
(1 c4 e6 2 e4 e6): 3 d4 d5 4 exd5 (4 bishop (i..g5) with ... t7-f6.
cxd5 exd5 5 e5 i..j5 6 tLle2 is rec- 8 d4
ommended by Petrosian!) 4 ... exd5 The symmetrical pawn-structure
5 tt:Jc3 tt:Jf6 6 tt:Jf3 i..e7 7 i..d3 0-0 that has arisen does not mean that
8 0-0 i..g4 9 i..e3 tt:Jbd7. Nimzowitsch was playing for a
3 ... d5 draw. We have only to examine
4 exd5 exd5 N imzowitsch' s numerous victories
5 cxd5 cxd5 as Black in the Exchange Varia-
6 i..b5+ tions of the French Defence to ap-
The modem treatment of this preciate this fact. There is even a
position, which guarantees White a chapter in Chess Praxis on the
slight initiative, is: 6 tLlc3 lLif6 7 'asymmetrical handling of symmet-
i..b5+ tt:Jc6 8 0-0 i..e7 9 tLle5 i..d7 rical variations'.
10 d4 0-0 11 i..g5 as in game 1 of 8 ... tt:Jge7
the Hiibner-Petrosian Candidates' 9 i..g5 f6
match, Seville 1971. The early de- 10 i..h4 0-0
velopment of White's queen's 11 tt:Jbd2
knight to c3 (putting immediate A move with a slightly defensive
pressure on Black's d-pawn) would orientation which proves that
prevent the elastic development of something must have already gone
his kingside forces chosen here by wrong for White. After the natural
Nimzowitsch ( ... i..d6 and ... tt:Jge7). 11 tt:Jc3 White feared 11 ... i..g4
6 .. tt:Jc6 with pressure against d4. while the
E.~tablished Ma.~ter: Selected Game.\ 1907-1914 99
Alekhine-Nimzowitsch
St. Petersburg 1914
French Defence
White has built up an excellent
Second game of the play-off for position and he could now have
the Championship of all the Rus- increased his advantage by occu-
s1as pying the outpost square e5, for
example: 14 llle5 lLixe5 15 ..lixe5
1 e4 e6 ..lixe5 16 'ii'xe5 and White will
2 d4 d5 follow up with f2-f4. The move he
3 l2Jc3 l2Jf6 actually chooses seems illogical, in
4 exd5 that White effects the exchange of
This rather tame course was his powerful king's bishop for
probably dictated by the score in Black's rather feeble queen's
the match so far, which was 1-0 to bishop.
Alekhine. A draw in the second 14 ~a6?! ~xa6
game would have clinched the tie- 15 'ii'xa6 lLib8
break in Alekhine's favour. 16 'ii'b5 'ii'b7
4 ... l2Jxd5 17 .:te3 lLic6
Provocative, but in view of the White still retains a plus on the
score Nimzowitsch had to avoid kingside in view ()f his possibility
clear and simple positions. In a way of concentrating superior force in
E.~tabli.1hed Ma.1ter: Selected Game.1 1907-1914 101
44 es
;~ ~ 4S l:tf6
46 l:thl
~ ~ ~ ~ Preparing for g7 and if Black
4T> ~~ ~~ _,_., exchanges queens White's rook
will already exert unpleasant pres-
sure against Black's h-pawn.
46 ds
Who would believe that Alek- 47 .:tf4 l:tc4!
hine could lose such a position? It The first sign of genuine activity
looks as if Black is fighting for his from Black that we have so far
very survival rather than hoping for witnessed in this game. Quite un-
victory. expectedly White is thrown on to
36 es+ ~c6 the defensive, for if 48 _.g7 fS! 49
37 a4? es l:xa4 50 xe6 l:.e7 51 f6
Just the sort of vain attacking ct? and Black controls all the
gesture for which Nimzowitsch open files.
must have been praying. White 48 .::t.al
later comes to regret this rash ad- The beginning of the retreat
vance which does not increase his from Moscow.
attacking prospects one whit. 48 .:i.c6
37 . '1t>b7 49 l:tf6
The completion of a remarkable If now 49 g7 Black has 49 ... f5
journey, and under enemy fire, SO es gs Sl l:thl l:.e7 followed,
from g8 to b7. once again, by ... l:tc4.
38 l:tal 49 hs
39 l:tf6 In a pure rook and pawn ending
40 :n White would experience great dif-
41 e2 ficulty in defending his queenside
e342 against a much belated minority
43 h6?! attack.
White wants to exploit the di- SO e3 .:i.e7
E.stablished Ma.ster: Selected Games 1907-1914 103
Creating the threat of ... e6-e5 at tered position from the board. As a
some later date. point of accuracy Black is not lured
51
52
n
g4?
es into a premature conversion of his
positional plus into material spoils
This further weakening advance by means of 61 ... l:txc3? when
must be incorrect. Is it possible that White would obtain some play with
Alekhine had completely mis- 62 xc3 xbl 63 'jic8.
judged the position and was suf- 62 .:e3
fering from the delusion that he 62 dxe5 is impossible in view of
was still forcing matters? the weakness of the g5-pawn, e.g.
52 ... .d7 62 ... l:txe5 63 l:tg3 l:tf5 64 'iifl d4
Masterly inactivity from Nim- 65 cxd4 l:tc2-+. The rapid conver-
zowitsch. Perhaps Alekhine will gence in this line of all Black's
wreck his own position entirely and major pieces at the f2 point is quite
thus obviate the necessity for Black startling.
to intervene in the proceedings at 62 e4
all. A decisive gain of terrain. As so
53 .:et .:c7 often when a counter-attack does
54 b3 materialise after a prolonged period
Also unpalatable is 54 .:a 1 l:tc 1 of defence the erstwhile aggressors
55 dl. After the move of the text seem totally enervated and unable
White's pawn fo1111ation begins to to co-ordinate any sort of resis-
look like a sponge. tance.
54 . ct;a7 63 dt
55 g5 The retreat continues.
This only makes things worse. 63 ... rs
On g5 the pawn is even more ex-
posed to attack than it was on g4.
55 ... .d6!
Planning the decisive infiltration
which will pin down White's forces
to defence of the porous queen s
wing.
56 .d3 .a3
.b4
57 c2
58 .:ct .d6
59 .d3 a3
60 .:.bl
In answer to 60 'iic2 at this point
Nimzowitsch would have played
60 ... .:c6 followed by ... l:tec7. Threatening to smother White
60 ... a2 with ... f5-f4, so the capture en pas-
61 .:n e5! sant is forced when Black can util-
Announcing a glorious counter- ise the f-file for his own dark de-
attack which swiftly gathers mo- signs.
mentum and sweeps White's shat- 64 gxf6
I ()4 E'.1tah/i.1hetl Mt1.1te1: sel'l'l'd Gan1'.1 / 9(J7-l 9 I 4
d6 81 'it>h3 c6 82 l:te 1 e6 83
'it>h2 e4 84 'iii>h3 e6 85 ~h2
e7 86 'it>h3 e4 87 :tgl e6 88
~h2 l:.e4 89 J:cl White cracks at
last. Nimzowitsch 's strange play
appears to have disturbed his op-
ponent's psychological balance and
Cohn collapses abruptly. 89 ... l:txe3
90 r4 l:te2+ and Black won with-
out difficulty. Nimzowit<>ch: 'It
may be that the Logos of the win
does not stand out with the desir-
able clarity but one thing is certain:
the difficulties with which the de-
fender had to contend were such 19... ~d7! 20 l:gl '.t>c8 21 ll:lcl b6
that that the question of conceding 22 b4 a5 23 c3 axb4 24 cxb4 .l:la8
a draw (advocated by the tourna- 25 ~b2 ~b7 26 ll:la2 g5 The king
ment book) simply could not arise. stroll has energised Black's whole
Dr. Euwe also had something to position. Not only does he possess
say about this game in his monu- stro11g threat<; against White's king
mental work on the middlegame: (Black's 25th move threatened
'Nimzowitsch was the only chess ... l:txa3!), but he is also in a posi-
master who ever carried out a sys- tion to seize the initiative on the
tematic investigation into the sub- opposite wing. 27 fxg5 .txg5 28
ject of manoeuvring. The ideas of g4 hxg3 29 l:xg3 .txe3 30 l:xe3
Nimzowitsch are so fundamental 'ii'h4 31 'ii'c3 ll:la7 32 l:tc 1 'ii'f2+ 33
that he must be considered the 'it>b3 ll:lb5 34 'ii'c6+ '.t>b8 35 'ii'xb5
greatest pioneer of all in this do- 'ii'xe3+ 0-1
main - but . .. can the method..<; he
employs here really be classified as ~ imzowitsch-Asztalos
manoeuvring or is he merely Bled 1931
marking time?' English Opening
Nimzowitsch felt an undeniable
attraction for such 'manoeuvring' 1 c4 ll:lf6 2 ll:lc3 c5 3 g3 ll:lc6 4
procedures ('lavieren' or 'tacking' .ltg2 e6 5 ll:lh3 .te7 6 d3 d6 7 0-0
in his original Ge1111an) whereas 0-0 8 ll:lf4 a6 9 b3 c7 10 e3 l:rb8
Capablanca, a more lucid player all 11 a4 b6 12 d4 ll:lb4 13 .lta3 .ltb7
round than Nimzowitsch, manoeu- 14 d5 e5 15 ll:ld3 Removing
vred only when absolutely neces- Black's only aggressively posted
sary, according to Dr. Euwe. piece. The dominating t'actor in the
game from now on is White's mas-
C.Nilsson-Nimzowitsch sive control of space in a situation
Eskilstuna 1921 where Black has precious few pos-
(as part of a simultaneous di.~pla_v sibilities of organising any sort of
given by Nimzowitsch oier thirt)'- disruptive thrust. (We all know that
four boards) a cramped position of itself is not
106 E.<ttabli.<thed Ma.<tter: Selected Game.1 1907-1914
escape along the lines of a scorched here been concerned, and the tacti-
earth policy (the invading anny cal variety which we associate with
crashes through but then finds that Steinitz ('The king is a strong
there is nothing worthwhile left to piece', etc.) and which tends to
attack), but also the prelude to an occur at an earlier stage of the
increase energy over the whole game. Here is one example which I
board. hope will clear up any confusion:
Steinitz-L.Paulsen
Baden-Baden 1870
I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
l Bogoljubow ** 11/2 10 11 11 11 11 1I 12 1/1
2 Nimzowitsch 01/2 ** 11 11 11 11 11 1
/2 l 12
3 Olson 01 00 ** OI/2 0 1/2 II II 11 8
4 Spielmann 00 00 11/2 ** 10 10 01 11 6 1/1
5 Wendel 00 00 l l/2 01 ** 01 JO [ I/2 6
6 Jacobsen 00 00 00 01 10 ** 11/2 11 5 1/1
7 Nyholm 00 00 00 10 Ol Ql/2 ** 11/2 4
8 Svanberg 00 1/20
00 00 0 1/2 00 0 1/2 ** 11/1
Copenhagen, 3-14 March, 1923
1 2 3 4 5 6
l Nimzowitsch ** 11 1/2 1 l/21/2 II l/2 I 8
2 Samisch 00 ** 1/2 l I l/2 1/2 l Jl/2 6
3 Tartakower 1/20 1/20 ** 11/2 I 1/2 ll 6
4 Spielmann 1/2 l/2 01/2 Ql/2 ** 1/2 l 11 5 1/1
5 Jacobsen 00 1/20 Ql/2 1/2Q ** I 1/2 3
6 Moller 1/20 01/2 00 00 01/2 ** l l/1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
1 Nimzowitsch * 1 1 1 1 1 1 '!2 1 I 1 9112
2 P.Johner 0 * 1/2 l 1/2 I 1 I I I 1 8
3 Nilsson 0 l/2 * 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 6 1/2
4 Krause 0 0 0 * l/2 0 1 0 l l 1 4 112
5 Kinch 0 1/2 0 l/2 * 1 0 l/2 0 1 1 4 111
6 Olson 0 0 0 I 0 * 'lz l/2 l '/2 l 4 112
7 Lovenborg 0 0 0 0 1 1/2 * I 0 1 1 4 112
8 Berndtsson l/2 0 1 I 1/2 1/2 0 * 0 l/2 l/2 4 112
9 Brinckmann 0 0 0 0 I 0 I 1 * 0 I 4
10 Kier 0 0 1 0 0 l/2 0 l/2 I * 1/2 3 1/2
11 Giersing 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 l/2 0 l/2 * I
Di.\'a.~ter and Rec'rJven: .')elected (lame~ 1920-1924 109
The Great War, the Russian abound in his games, t'or example
Revolution and their versus Mieses at Bad Kissingen
Aftermath 1928, or in the opening of his game
The worst result of Nimzowitsch's versus Bogoljubow, San Remo
mature chess career came at Goth- 1930, or versus Mannheimer,
enburg 1920. One game, however, Frankfurt 1930. 13 ..lta3 cxd5 This
relieved the general gloom and that exchange gives Black three pieces
was his brilliancy against Marco. for queen and pawn, but Marco's
Ironically the opening was Nim- position is so disorganised that he
zowitsch 's beloved Philidor, but has no hope ot' offering effective
this time he had changed sides. resistance. The alternative was
worse, though: 13 ... c5 14 e5 'ii'xe5
Nimzowitsch-Marco 15 l:tel 4le4 16 l:txe4 xe4 17
Gothenburg 1920 tllc7 mate (Nimzowitsch). 14
Philidor 's Defence ..ltxd6 dxc4 15 ..ltxe7 rt;xe7 16 e5
tll6d7 17 ..d6+ <Ji;d8 18 f4 aS 19
1 e4 e5 2 tllf3 d6 3 d4 tlld7 4 ..ltc4 rs l:l.a6 20 ds rt;e7 21 xc4 l:l.c6
c6 5 a4 ..lte7 6 tllc3 tllgf6 7 0-0 h6 22 ds h5 23 xa5 J:hh6 24
8 b3 c7 9 ..ltb2 tllf8 He had no l:tael b6 25 d2 ~d8 26 ds
choice but to abandon his plan l:txc2 27 e6 fxe6 28 fxe6 tllxe6 29
(which consisted of ... g5 and l:.xe6 .tb7 30 l:tf8+ 0-1
... tllg6) and play 9 ... 0-0. After the
text Nimzowitsch unleashes a com- Spielmann-Nimzowitsch
binative hurricane of unusual vio- Stockholm 1920
lence. 10 dxe5 dxe5 Nimzowitsch Defence
1 e4 tt:Jc6
Nimzowitsch 's own patent de-
fence to I e4. It has some points in
common with Alekhine's Defence
( 1 e4 tllf6) but it poses a le..<>S im-
mediate challenge to White's cen-
tre.
2 d4
2 tllf3 allows 2 ... e5! which is, in
a way, a moral defeat for both
players!
2 d5!
The pure, Nimzowitschian inter-
11 tllxe5! ! xe5 12 tlldS The pretation of this defence which
point. Black cannot capture on b2 no1111ally leads to intricate pawn-
in view of tllc7 mate. 12 .. -.d6 Or chain play. On the rare occasions
12 ... 'ii'b8 13 tllxe7 <Ji;xe7 14 ..lta3+ when this defence is employed in
~e8 15 ..ltd6 checkmating Black's contemporary chess 2 ... e5 tends to
queen. Variations in which Nim- be preferred.
zowitsch mates the opposing queen 3 e5
11 (} Di.~a~ter and Recoven': :;;elected Game~ 1920-1924
One might have expected the cxd4 l 0 cxd4 tLic6 11 iLxh5 'iWb6
more fluid 3 tLic3!? from Spiel- with a good game for Black. 7 tt:Jd2
mann. c5 8 dxc5 iLxc5 9 tllb3 'iWb6 10
3 iLf5 tllxc5 'iWxc5 11 c3 lllc6 12 iLe3
An even more provocative 'Wa5 13 iLe2 tt:Jge7 14 0-0 tllxe5
method of handling this provoca- 15 iLxh5 iLxh5 16 lllxh5 0-0-0
tive defence is 3 ... f6!? with an eventual draw. Surely there
4 tt:Je2?! are parallels here in the particular
Better is 4 tt:Jf3!? The plan cho- attitude to the centre adopted by
sen by White diverts too many Black in answer to White's thrust
pieces from the protection of his with the h-pawn.
centre (d4) and could have boo- 8 iLxhS iLxhS
meranged seriously had Black 9 lllxhS g6
found the correct continuation on 10 tllf4 l:txh4
move 7. ' 11 l:txh4 iLxh4
4 e6 12 'iWd3
5 tt:Jg3 iLg6 A trap of a lower order. If Black
6 h4 h5 should play the heedless l 2 ... iLg5?
7 iLe2 iLe7?! (intending ... iLxf4, leaving himself
Inviting remarkable complica- with the knight pair against White's
tions. Instead of this flank defence knight plus bad bishop) then 13
to White's pressure against his h- tLixe6! fxe6 14 'iWxg6+ would lead
pawn it was possible to obtain a to total ruin for him.
fine position by means of a central
counter-attack, as suggested later
by Nimzowitsch: thus 7 ... tLlb4! 8
tLia3 c5 9 c3 tt:Jc6 and White's
centre is in danger of collapse, e.g.
10 tLixh5 iLxh5 11 iLxh5 cxd4 12
cxd4 iLb4+ 13 ~fl iLxa3 14 bxa3
g6 15 iLe2 l:txh4 16 l:txh4 'iWxh4
threatening mate and the d-pawn.
Nimzowitsch 's ideas in the
opening phase of this game were to
reappear in slightly amended fot 111
in some games by Soviet Grand-
masters forty years further on: for
example, Spassky-Bronstein, USSR 12 .. lllge7!!
Championship 1961, opened as An ambush!? Surely Black must
follows: 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 e5 iLf5 now lose material?
4 h4 h5 5 tLle2 e6 6 tt:Jg3 iLg6 Tal- 13 g3 lllf5
Botvinnik, 14th game, World I 3 ... iLg5 would lose to the old
Championship match, Moscow trap 14 lllxe6, so the text is forced.
1961, varied with: 6 ... g6 7 tLixf5 The remarkable move, then, was
gxf5 8 c4 c5!. The reply to 8 iLe2 Black's 12th which prepared this
would also have been 8 ... c5! 9 c3 combination. White could decline
f,~tabli~hed Ma~ter: Selected Game.\ 1907-1914 111
Wendel-Nimzowitsch
Stockholm 1921
Nimzowitsch Defence
1 e4 lLlc6
2 d4 dS but to White's queen rather than
3 tLlc3 his king!
One of the sharpest methods of The methodical restriction and
combating Nimzowitsch 's special minimisation of White's opportu-
defence. With this move White nities, eventually leading to a
offers a pawn sacrifice in order to helpless paralysis on the part of the
destroy Black's strong point on d5. opposing army, stamps the above
In this case Nimzowitsch accepts as a close relative to the 'Immortal
the challenge. Zugzwang Game' versus Siimisch.
3 dxe4 4 dS tLleS
The alternative is the stolid re- I once reached the position after
fusal to give ground, 3 ... e6. Later 4 ... tLle5 and my opponent (White)
in the 1920s Nimzowitsch gained replied 5 lLlxe4 ?! . The continuation
many victories with this move, one was somewhat eccentric: 5 ... tLlf6 6
of which is sutnciently amusing to tLlxf6+ exf6 7 f4 tLlg6 8 .1'.b5+
merit reproduction here: Mieses- ..lld7 9 We2+ .1'.e7 10 h4 a6 11
Nimzowitsch, Bad Kissingen 1928: 1'.xd7+ Wxd7 12 h5 lllf8 13 c4
3 e6 4 exdS 4 e5 ! 4 . exdS S ~e3 0-0-0 14 .1'.e3 ..llb4+ 15 'it>f2 g5 16
..trs 6 .1'.d3 tLlge7 7 tLlge2 tLlb4 8 a3 I:.e8 17 Wd3 gxf4 18 .1'.xf4
..txrs lLlxf5 9 .1'.f4 gS 10 ~d2 .1'.e7 ..tc5+ 19 'iitg3 l:tg8+ 20 'iith2 Wg4.
11 Wcl f6 12 tLldl lLlc6 13 c3 tLlh4 In the game Black later blundered
114 Disa!iter and Recover;': Selected Game.s 1920-1924
and lost but this position is by no White resigned. Does this resusci-
means bad for him. tate 6 ... f5 - ? White's play can ob-
5 i.f4! lLlg6 viously be improved at move I 0,
6 i.g3 a6?! e.g. 10 fxg3 or 10 lLlxe4. Probably
Black naturally has to prevent the latter of these moves is the
lLlb5 and the obvious way to more convincing and therein may
achieve this is 6 ... f5 (note that lie the answer to Black's ingenious
6... e5 fails to 7 dxe6 Le6 8 lLlb5.') innovation.
but Nimzowitsch then feared 7 h4 7 f3?!
f4 8 h5 (Boleslavsky gives 8 i.h2.') Much stronger is Boleslavsky's
8 ... fxg3 9 hxg6 gxf2+ 10 ~xf2 7 i.c4! tllf6 8 'W'e2 i.f5 9 0-0-0+-.
which looks anything but clear to White's choice in the game per rnits
me. However, in view of Bole- Nimzowitsch to return his extra
slavsky's improvement on move 8 pawn for a lasting initiative.
for White the entire sequence with
7 ... f4 seems suspect.
But that is not the end of this
question. During the British Cham-
pionship Congress, 1972, I ob-
served a game played between two
boys in the Under-16 Tournament
which bears testimony to the at-
traction which some of Nim-
zowitsch 's virtually unanalysed,
tactically complex ideas can exert
over young players. The junior
game (those involved were M.
Goldschmidt and C. Crouch) which
I noticed reached the position after 7 f5!
7 h4 and then Black played 8 fxe4 f4
7 ... e5!?. The game continued: 8 h5 9 i.f2 e5
(if 8 dxe6 I presume that Black 10 tllf3
must reply 8 ... 'W'xdl + 9 l:txdl i.b4 Not 10 dxe6? ~xe6 which
when he will shed his c-pawn in would give Black a splendid devel-
return for White's e-pawn) 8 ... f4 opment and leave White with a
(we have, in effect, reached Nim- weak e-pawn.
zowitsch 's line above but with 10 i.d6
8 ... e5 substituted for 8 ... fxg3. The 'A move dictated by the law of
point of Crouch 's move-order is the blockade (passed and semi-
that he avoids Boleslavsky's 8 pas.sed pawns must be blockaded)'
i.h2) 9 hxg6 fxg3 10 l:txh7? gxf2+ (Nimzowitsch). Nimzowitsch re-
11 ~xf'2 l:txh7 12 i.b5+ (if 12 garded this position as approxi-
gxh7 'W'h4+ and Black must win in mately level and considered that
short order) 12 ... c6 13 dxc6 i.c5+ White's next few moves should
14 ~fl 'W'f6+ 15 lLlf3 l:thl+ 16 have been i.d3, 0-0 and lLle2, fol-
~e2 exf3+ 17 gxf3 l:th2+ and lowed by the activation of his left
E.1tablished Ma.1te1: Selected Games 1907-1914 11 _5
em) which had challenged the he- properly grasped that there was a
gemony of the classical - The ter 111 genuine alternative to their own
used by Nimzowitsch was 'pseudo- teachings.
classical' - theories elaborated by By the mid- l 920s, however, the
(inter alios) Dr. Tarrasch. real theoretical battle was already
The areas of dispute between the more than half won by the hyper-
so-called classical and hype1111od- modems and nobody (apart from
em masters were manifold and some isolated and feeble rearguard
complex but this game does illus- actions by, e.g., Rubinstein or
trate one of the points at conten- Teichmann, who referred to Reti 's
tion: by and large classical dogma Opening as the 'stupid double hole
held that control of the centre de- variation') questioned the validity
rived from occupation by pawns. In of the hyper 111odem concept<; as a
many cases this is obviously a cor- worthwhile contribution to our un-
rect view; but the hyper 111odems derstanding of chess. What could
(Reti, Nimzowitsch, Breyer, Griin- be more 'hypermodem' than Alek-
feld, Tartakower and sometimes hine 's Defence? Yet Tarrasch him-
Alekhine) enriched the concept of self played it on at least two occa-
central control by stating that it sions and Rubinstein also used it,
could equally well derive from while Capablanca became a devo-
observation by pieces, and the par- tee of the English and Reti systems
ticular opening systems newly de- after his loss to Reti in 1924. Tar-
signed to test this belief (Reti 's rasch even played Reti 's Opening,
Opening, 1 g3, the English Open- as in his game (as White) versus
ing and the Nimzowitsch Attack) Alekhine from Semmering 1926: 1
were rooted in the empirical dem- tflf3(!) d5 2 c4 d4 3 b4 c5 4 ..111..b2
onstration of successful central g6 5 e3 ilg7 6 bxc5 e5 7 exd4
control by pieces alone provided by exd4 8 d3 tl:Ja6 9 tl:Jbd2 ttlxc5 10
Nimzowitsch's famous victory ver- lllb3 t!Je6 11 g3 tl:Je7 12 ilg2 0-0
sus Salwe from Carlsbad 1911 13 0-0 tl:Jc6. In fact there was no
which actually commenced with a real resistance. As soon as the hy-
more orthodox debut. That this per rnodem ideas were introduced
revolutionary game was played in and seen to work they won rapid
1911 is of significance and, apro- general acceptance. The polemic
pos the struggle between the classi- campaign conducted by the victori-
cists and the hype1111odems, I ous hyper 111odems, themselves now
would like to suggest here that the in control of the chess media, was
real battle took place, not hand to directed against a mc)nster that had,
hand in the 1920s, but at long in fact. only been rampant before
range. The classical broadsides the First War. Che.~s Praxi.<; was
emanating from Dr. Tarrasch, etc., published in 1928 and contains a
were fired before the First World chapter titled: 'The triumph (or
War at a time when the great clas- victory march) of the ugly and bi-
sical masters monopolised the most zarre moves'. This is a sarcastic
highly-respected organs C)f the reference to something Tarrasch
chess press and before they had wrote in 1911 about Nimzowit<;ch 's
118 Di.~aste1 and Recover.': !:,'efelted Game~ 192()-/924
game with Capablanca from San for some time - the following con-
Sebastian which commenced (Nim- cerns a game he played in 1911:
zowitsch: White) 1 e4 e6 2 d3, 'The old dogmas, such as the ossi-
whereupon the good Doctor wrote: fied teaching on the centre, the
'Nimzowitsch is one of the most worship of the open game, and in
talented of the youngest generation general the whole formalistic con-
of masters and he is possessed of a ception of the game, who bothers
pronounced personal style. Only, himself today about these? The
he does have a penchant for pecu- new ideas, however, those sup-
liar, bizarre, indeed ugly moves in posed byways not to be recom-
the opening, with which he does mended to the public, these are
certainly succeed now and again become today highways, on which
[as for example versus Teichmann], great and small move freely in the
but which here bring about his de- consciousness of absolute security.'
feat in the face of quite simple The security was so great, in
methods of counterplay from the fact, that virtually no attention was
opponent.' (My System, game 40.) devoted in the 1920s to the overtly
Note how the words 'ugly' and 'classical' responses (I mean, of
'bizarre' still hurt after an interval course, the Four Pawns Attack and
of seventeen years. Nimzowitsch, the Exchange variation) to those
now in a position of strength apro- typically hypermodem defences:
pos the media, seems to be exacting the Alekhine and the Griinfeld.
his revenge. 1 ... d5
He specifically denies this in 2 b3 tllf6
Chess Praxis: 'But we do not wish 3 1'.b2 c5
to 'square accounts', the fo1111alistic 4 e3
school of pseudo-classicism is dead The first example in this book of
and you cannot beat a dead man. If the Nimzowitsch Attack, which is
in the following pages we record a characterised by the fianchetto of
few value judgements from that the queen's bishop, but not neces-
time the object is not to 'square sari Iy of the king's bishop. In the
accounts' but is purely one of tech- further course of play White in-
nical interest.' tends to conduct a dark-square
But is this really so? Elsewhere I campaign along the al-h8 diagonal
quote at length from Nimzo- employing the square e5 as a strong
witsch 's booklet: 'How I became a point in the attack. This play
Grandmaster' (1929) and there against a central square (e5) is one
Nimzowitsch, in his treatment ot feature that distinguishes the Nim-
Tarrasch, certainly looks as if he zowitsch Attack from Reti's
wishes to 'square accounts' with an Opening, where White fianchettoes
enemy whose position had previ- both bishops and then operates
ously been too well entrenched to specifically against the black pawn
suffer much damage in the Dogma centre, as in one of Reti's inaugural
Wars. games with this system, also from
In My System Nimzowitsch ad- Carlsbad 1923: (Black: Rubinstein)
mits that the foe had been defeated 1 lllf3 d5 2 g3 lllf6 3 1'.g2 g6 4 c4
E.stabli~hed Ma.ster: Selected Game.s 1907-1914 119
15 'We2 ~f6
16 c4
A good move which serves the ... establishing the above-
dual purpose of restraining any mentioned majority, it was impera-
advance of Black's queenside tive to play 22 ... b5! with some
pawns (e.g. by ... b7-b5 and ... c5- counter-chances. So far Nim-
c4) and of putting pressure on zowitsch has provided us with an
Black's centre. exemplary taming of the hostile
16 ... 'We7 bishop pair, but now Black spoils
17 f4 the demonstration by surrendering
Conquering the e5 square per- one of his bishops quite gratui-
manently. tously. Perhaps he was pinning his
17 ~f7? faith in the drawing potential of
Hereabouts Black wastes valu- opposite-coloured bishop situa-
able time. Now, or on move 22, it tions, but all he succeeds in doing
was essential to organise counter- is ceding his opponent lifelong
play by means of ... b7-b5! hegemony over the dark squares -
18 h3 a free gift of thirty-two squares.
This innocent looking pawn The prelate which now arrives at e5
move is in fact the prelude to a radiates power in all directions and
vicious onslaught against the black is worth at least a rook.
king. 22 ... ~xe5?
18 l:tfd8 The decisive error .
E.1tablished Ma~ter: Selected Gan1es 1907-1914 121
~ ' ; &fi
~//////, ~r.;fi-~ ~~~~w
/ ~ w ,,;'&'~
Nimzowitsch-Tartakower 6 f4
Carlsbad 1923 The first step towards the crea-
Nimzowitsch Attack tion of an outpost at e5 (tt:'ibl-a3-
c4-e5) which cannot be driven
1 tl::if3 f5 away by ... d7-d6 in view of the
2 b3 b6 weakness of the e-pawn on the
3 ~b2 ~b7 open file. With his 6th mc)ve White
4 g3 ~xf3?! also prepares to unleash his Icing's
An interesting and original idea. bishop along the hl-a8 diagonal,
It looks stupid to surrender the and this is the harbinger of the
powerful queen's bishop in this light-square counter-attack men-
fashion, but the move does have a tioned in the previous note.
sound positional basis in that: 6 .. tl::if6
l) The mobility of White's cen- 7 ~g2 c6
tral pawns decreases after the re- 8 0-0 ~e7
capture with his e-pawn, and 9 'ii'e2 0-0
2) Black hopes to shut White's 10 tl::ia3 a5
bishop pair out of the game by es- There is no other way of devel-
tablishing a vast blockade of light- oping the queen's knight in as
squared pawns. much as 10... b5 fails to 11 tl::ixb5.
However, in this case the plan 11 tl::ic4 a4
fails, partly because Black never 12 ~d4 b5
succeeds in overcoming the weak- 13 tlie5
ening of his pawn chain created hy
his first move ( l ... f5) and partly
because White's development is
efficient enough to pet 111it him a
counter-attack on the very light
squares Black hoped to control. So
4 ... ~xf3 gets no applause, but that
does not mean that the whole idea
must be abandoned. Many players
since 1923 have felt the attraction
of such apparently anti-positional
moves as ... ~xf3, and it is only by
constant experimentation with
these ostensibly outlandish possi-
bilities that the genuinely workable Both sides have achieved pretty
methods can be elaborated, e.g. much what they wanted: Black has
Larsen-M. Colon, San Juan 1969: 1 manufactured his light-square
b3 b6 2 ~b2 ~b7 3 f4 f5 4 e3 tl::if6 blockade while White has estab-
5 ~xf6 exf6 6 tl::if3 ~e7 7 tl::ic3 g6 lished an outpost at e5 (Nim-
8 h3 ~b4 9 tl::ib5 a6 10 tl::ibd4 tl::ic6 zowitsch insisted in his own notes
11 tl::ixc6 ~xc6 12 ~d3 'ii'e7 13 that this was an outpost on the al-
'ii'e2 a5 14 g4;l::. h8 diagonal rather than an outpost
5 exf3 e6 on the e-file). However, Black's
t:.1tahlished Ma.1t'1: Sel'l'fe(/ (;<1me.1 J9() 7-1914 12.'i
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 I 2 3 4 5 6
1 Rubinstein * 0 I/2 l/2 I/2 I 1 l/1 I 0 I 1 I 1 I I 11
2 Nimzowit.-;ch I * 0 l/2 1 l/2 I/2 I l/2 I 1 I/2 1 1 1 I/2 11
3 Marshall l/2 1 * l/2 l/2 l/2 l/2 l/2 I I l/2 l/2 1 l/2 l/2 I 10
4 Torre l/2 l/2 l/2 * 1 l/2 0 1 1 1 l/2 1 l/2 l/2 I/2 1 10
5 Reti l/2 0 l/2 0 * 0 I 0 I/2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 9 1/2
6 Tartakower 0 l/2 I/2 1/1 1
* 0 1 1 l/2 l/2 I/2 1/2 1 1 1 9 1/2
7 Spielmann 0 l/2 1 0 1
l/2 * 0 l/2 I/2 l/2 0 1 I 1 I 8 1/2
8 Griinfeld l/2 0 1/2 0 1 0 1 * I l/2 l/2 I/2 l/1 l/2 l/2 1 8
9 Yates 0 1/2 0 0 l/2 0 l/2 0 * I l/2 1 l/2 l/2 1 1 7
10 Opocensky 1 0 0 0 0 l/2 l/2 l/2 0 * l/2 0 l/2 l 1 1 6 1/2
11 Thomas 0 0 l/2 l/2 0 l/2 l/2 l/2 l/2 l/2 * 0 1 1/2 1 0 6
12 Przepiorka 0 l/2 I/2 0 0 l/2 1 l/2 0 1 1 * 1 0 0 0 6
13 Janowski 0 0 0 l/2 0 1/2 0 l/2 l/2 l/2 0 0 * I 1 I 5 1/2
14 Samisch 0 0 I/2 l/2 0 0 0 l/2 1/2 0 l/2 I 0 * 1 1 5 1/2
15 Michell 0 0 1/2 1/2 0 0 0 1/2 0 0 0 1 0 0 * I 3 112
16 Haida 0 I/2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 I 1 0 0 0 * 2 112
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 JO 11 12
1 Bogoljubow * I l/2 0 I 1 1 l 1 1 1 1 9 1/2
2 Nimzowitsch 0 * l/2 l/2 l/2 0 I I 1 1 I 1 7 1/2
3 Rubinstein I/2 l/2 * l/2 l/2 I l/2 1 0 l/2 1 I 7
4 Wagner I l/2 l/2 * 1 l/2 0 0 I l/2 I I 7
S Griinfeld 0 l/2 l/2 0 * l/2 l/2 l/2 I l/2 1 I 6
6 Reti 0 1 0 l/2 l/2 * 1 0 1 I/2 l/2 I 6
7 Becker 0 0 l/2 I l/2 0 * l/2 1 I I l/2 6
8 Samisch 0 0 0 1 1/2 I l/2 * 0 l/2 l/2 1 s
9 von Gottschall 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 I * 1 0 I 4
10 Tarrasch 0 0 l/2 l/2 l/2 l/2 0 l/2 0 * 0 I 3 1/2
11 Bliimich 0 0 0 0 0 l/2 0 l/2 I I * 0 3
12 Moritz 0 0 0 0 0 0 l/2 0 0 0 1 * l l/2
World Champion.ship Candidate: .'>elected Game!> 1925-1928 127
123456789012345678
1 Spielmann * 1/2 1 1 1 0 1/2 1/2 1 1 1 1 1 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 1 13
2 Alekhine 1/2 * 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1/2 1 1/2 1 0 1 1 1 1 12 1/2
3 Vidmar 0 1 * 1 1 1/2 0 1 1/2 1 1 1/2 1 1 l/2 1 l/2 1/2 12
4 Nimzowitsch 0 1 0 * 1/2 I 1/2 1 0 1 1/2 1 1 I 1/2 1/2 1 I 11 1/2
5 Tartakower 0 0 0 1/2 * 1/2 1 0 I 1 1 1 1/2 I I I 1 1 11 1/2
6 Rubinstein I 0 1/2 0 1/2 * 1/2 1 I 0 1/2 0 1 1/2 1 1/2 1 I 10
7 Tarrasch 1/2 0 I 1/2 0 1/2 * 1 0 0 0 I 1/2 I I I I 1 10
8 Reti 1/2 0 0 0 1 0 0 * 1 1 1 0 1/2 1 I 1/2 1 1 9 1/2
9 Griinfeld 0 0 1/2 I 0 0 1 0 * 0 1/2 1/2 l 1 I I 1/2 l 9
10 Janowski 0 l/20 0 0 I 1 0 1 * 1/20 1/20 1 I 1 1 8 1/2
11 Treybal 0 0 0 1/20 1/2 l 0 1/2 1/2* I 1 1 0 1 1/2 1/2 8
12 Vajda 0 1/2 1/2 0 0 1 0 1 1/2 I 0 * 0 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 l 7 1/2
13 Yates 0 0 0 0 1/20 1/2 1/20 1/20 1* 1/2 1/21 1 1 7
14 Gilg 1/2 1 0 0 0 1/2 0 0 0 1 0 1/2 1/2 * 1/2 0 1/2 1 6
15 Kmoch 0 0 1/2 1/2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1/2 1/2 1/2 * 1 1/2 I 6
16 Davidson 1/20 0 1/20 1/20 1/20 0 0 1/20 1 0 * 1 1 5 1/2
17 Michell 1/20 1/20 0 0 0 0 1/20 1/2 1/20 1/2 1/20 * 1 4 1/2
18 Rosselli 0 0 l/20 0 0 0 0 0 0 1/20 0 0 0 0 0 * 1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 JO
1 Nimzowitsch * 1/2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 I 8 1/2
2 Alekhine l/2 * I I l/2 l/2 1 1/2 1 1 7
3 Rubinstein 0 0 * 1/2 1 1 1 1 1 1 6 1/2
4 Tartakower 0 0 1/2 * 1/2 1 l/2 l/2 1 1 5
5 von Holzhausen 0 l/2 0 1/2 * 0 1 1 0 1 4
6 P.Johner 0 1/2 0 0 1 * 1 0 0 1 3 1/2
7 Samisch 0 0 0 l/2 0 0 * 1 1/2 1 3
8 Yates 0 1/2 0 1/2 0 1 0 * 1 0 3
9 Bliimich 0 0 0 0 1 1 1/2 0 * 0 2 1/2
10 L. Steiner 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 * 2
HANOVER 1926
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 Nimzowitsch * l/2 1 1 I I 1 1 6 1/2
2 Rubinstein 1/2 * 1 1 l/2 1 1 1 6
3 von Holzhausen 0 0 * 1 1/2 1 1 l/2 4
4 Mieses 0 0 0 * l/2 1 1 l/2 3
5 Samisch 0 l/2 l/2 l/2 * 0 1 l/2 3
6 Antze 0 0 0 0 1 * l/2 1 2 1/2
7 von Gottschall 0 0 0 0 0 l/2 * 1 J l/2
8 Duhm 0 0 l/2 l/2 l/2 0 0 * } l/2
128 World C'hampion~hip Candidate: ~'elected Game.Y !92.5-192R
I 2 3 4 5 6
I Capablanca **** 11/2 1/2 1/2 1 1/21 1/2 1/2 1/21 1/2 1/2 1/21 1/2 11 1/2 l 14
2 Alekhine 0 1/2 1/2 1/2 **** 1/201 1/2 l/2 l/2 l/2 l/2 \ l/2 l/2 I 1/21 1/2\ 11 1/2
3 Nimzowitsch 0 1/20 1/2 1/210 1/2 **** 100 1/2 11 1/2 1/2 1 1/2 1/21 10 1/2
4 Vidmar 1/2 1/20 1/2 l/2 l/2 l/2 l/2 0 l J l/2 **** 1/2 !/2 1/2 1/2 1/201 1/2 10
5 Spielmann l/2!/201/2 0 1/2 1/20 ()()l/2 l/2 l/2 l/2 l/2 l/2 **** l/2 l/2) l/2 8
6 Marshall 00 1/20 1/20 1/20 0 1/2 1/20 1/210 1/2 1/2 1/20 1/2 **** 6
I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 JO 11 12
1 Nimzowitsch * 1 0 l/2 1 l/2 0 1 I I 1 1 8
2 Tartakower 0 * l/2 1/2 1 I 1 1/2 l/2 I 1 1 8
3 Marshall 1 l/2 * 1/2 l/2 1/2 l/2 I I I l/2 1/2 7 1/2
4 Vidmar 1/2 1/2 1/2 * I 0 0 I I l/2 I 1 7
5 Bogoljubow 0 0 1/2 0 * 1 1 l/2 1/2 1 1 1 6 1/2
6 Reti l/2 0 1/2 I 0 * I 1/2 I 0 l/2 l/2 5 1/2
7 Winter I 0 1/2 I 0 0 * l/2 I I 1/2 0 5 1/2
8 Colle 0 l/2 0 0 1/2 1/2 l/2 * 1/2 0 I 1 4 1/2
9 Buerger 0 l/2 0 0 l/2 0 0 l/2 * 1 0 I 3 1/2
10 Thomas 0 0 0 l/2 0 l 0 I 0 * 1 0 3 1/2
11 Yates 0 0 1/2 0 0 1/2 1/2 0 l 0 * I 3 1/2
12 Fairhurst 0 0 l/2 0 0 l/2 l 0 0 I 0 * 3
I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
l Nimzowitsch * 1/2 l/2 1 1/2 I I I 5 1/2
2 Tartakower l/2 * l/2 l 1/2 1 1 l 5 112
3 Colle l/2 l/2 * l/2 I/2 1/2 l/2 l 4
4 Ahues 0 0 1/2 * 1/2 l/2 1 l 3 112
5 Kostic 1/2 l/2 l/2 l/2 * 0 l 1/2 3 1/2
6 Brinckmann 0 0 1/2 l/2 I * 0 l 3
7 Kmoch 0 0 l/2 0 0 l * 1/2 2
8 Steiner 0 0 0 0 1/2 0 l/2 * 1
I 2 3 4 5 6
I Nimzowitsch ** } l/2 } l/2 11 1/2 l 1I 8 1/2
2 Yates 1/20 ** I/2 l/2 10 II II 6 1/2
3 Winter 0 1/2 I/2 1/2 ** 10 11 01 5112
4 Buerger 00 01 01 ** 11/2 II 5 1/2
5 Goldstein 1/20 00 00 OI/2 ** } l/2 2 1/2
6 Morrison 00 00 10 00 01/2 ** 11/2
World ('hampionship Candidate: S'elected Game.1 1925-1928 129
I 3 4
2 5 6 7 8 9 0 I 2 3 4
1 Nimzowitsch * I/2 l/2 l/2 1 1 1/2 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 10
2 Bogoljubow l/2 * l/2 I 1 1 I 0 1 l/2 l/2 l/2 1 I 9 1/2
3 Tartakower l/2 I/2 * 1 1 l/2
1 0 I/2 I/2 1 l/2 I/2 l/2 8
4 P.Johner 1/2 0 0 * '/2 1/2 1
1/2
1 1 1 1 l/2 0 7 1/2
5 Helling 0 0 0 l/2 * I 0 1 l/2 1 1 0 1 1 7
6 Brinckmann 0 0 l/2 l/2 0 * 1 l/2 l/2 l/2 1 I l/2 l/2 6 1/2
7 Re ti '/2 0 0 1/2 1 0 * 0 l/2 1 1/2 1 1 l/2 6 1/2
8 L. Steiner 1 1 1 0 0 I/2 I * I/2 I/2 0 0 l/2 l/2 6 1/2
9 Ahues 0 0 l/2 0 l/2 l/2 l/2 l/2 * l/2 l/2 1 l/2 1 6
10 Siimisch 0 l/2 1/2 0 0 l/2 0 l/2 I/2 * I/2 1 I 1 6
11 Leonhardt 0 I/2 0 0 0 0 l/2 1 l/2 l/2 * 0 1 '/2 4 1/2
12 Schlage 0 l/2 l/2 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 * 0 l/2 4 1/2
13 Stoltz 0 0 I/2 1/2 0 l/2 0 1/2 1/2 0 0 1 * 1 4 1/2
14 Koch 0 0 '!2 1 0 1/2 1/2 1/2 0 0 I/2 I/2 0 * 4
I 2 3 4 5 6 7
1 Capablanca ** 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 l/2 l/2 l l/2 11 11 8 1/2
2 Nimzowitsch l/2l/2 ** 1/20 1/2 1/2 01 11 l l/2 7
3 Spielmann l/2 l/2 1/21 ** 1/20 11 1/20 l/2l/2 6 1/2
4 Tartakower 1/2 1/2 l/2 l/2 1/2 l ** 00 1/20 l l/2 5 1/2
5 Rubinstein OI/2 10 00 11 ** 01 01/2 5
6 Reti 00 00 1/2 l 1/2 l 10 ** l/2 l/2 5
7 Marshall 00 OI/2 I/2 l/2 OI/2 11/2 /2 1/2
1
** 4 1/2
ally open to Black in this defence. translation, so I will take this op-
7 b3 !JL.g7 portunity to rectify the omission.
8 iL.b2 0-0 'A no1111al move which, how-
9 0-0 lllc6 ever, has a deeper meaning: one
would rather have expected 9 ... d6
followed by ... a7-a5, ... lllb8-d7-b6
and ... a5-a4. However desirable it
may be to dispose of the isolated a-
pawn in this fashion it is still by no
means advisable to announce this
desire in too direct a fashion. Pre-
cisely in this, in my opinion, re-
sides the chief fallacy of the
pseudo-classical brand of strategy;
I mean that the representatives of
this school went to great pains to
carry out, let us say, a certain ad-
vance without bearing in mind:
Black's strategy revolves around l) That there is a thing known as
the advance ... a7-a5-a4, exploiting the metamorphosis of advantages,
the slight exposure of White's b- that one advantage can be ex-
pawn on the open b-file. The changed for another;
method chosen by Nimzowitsch to 2) That in many cases the oppo-
achieve this advance is typically nent will voluntarily renounce a
complex. In a game Monticelli- vital point of his own accord with-
Capablanca, played four years later out our exerting any force in the
at Barcelona, the great Cuban matter at all.
brought about the desired thrust in 'In our present case White will
his own characteristically lucid naturally develop his queen's
fashion, in other words: poles apart knight on c3 to hold up ... a5-a4, but
from the manner devised by Nim- will the knight occupy this square
zowitsch: 9 ... d6 10 lllc3 llle4 11 for eternity? Of course not, since it
'W'cl lllxc3 12 !1L.xc3 !1L.xc3 13 is striving it..<>elf to reach the square
'W'xc3 a5 14 l:tfdl llld7 15 'W'e3 d5, and if it were to go there the
'it>g7 16 h3 tiJf6 17 g4?! h6 18 lllel possibility of ... a5-a4 would fall
'W'c7 19 llld3 !1L.xg2 20 ~xg2 a4 21 into our lap like a ripe fruit. In any
lllf4 llfb8 and Black was well on case the knight is better placed at
top. c6 than at b6 for White is clearly
In the Ge1111an edition of My planning the configuration lllc3,
System Nimzowitsch provided a 'W'c2, ~e4. Black therefore relies on
long explanatory note to his choice: the counter-configuration tt:Jc6,
9 ... lllc6 which, incidentally, grants .!\d6, l!ie5, and ... lllc6-d4 thus shel-
us an insight into the mechanism of tering his d-pawn behind the
the ambush. knight .
Strangely, this note failed to ap- 10 lllc3 a5
pear in its entirety in the English 11 'Wd2 d6
World Champion.\hip Candidate: Selelted Game.s 192."i-1928 131
35 J:th3+ 'i!tg7
Or 35 ... l:th7 36 l:txh7+ 'it>xh7 37
'ii'xg6+ 'it>h8 38 'ii'h6+ 'it>g8 39
i.c4+ i.d5 40 l:tgl++-.
36 i.c4
Another quiet move, this time to
break the pin. If Black replies with
36 ... g5 there would follow the
beautiful variation: 3 7 l:th 7+ !
'it'xh7 38 'ii'h5+ <J;g7 39 'ii'xf7+
Wh8 40 'ii'h5+ 'it>g7 41 'ii'g6+ and
mates.
36 .lld5
37 fxg6 lt:Jxe4
Is this the end? If now 33 l:txc3 38 gxf7+ 'i!tf8
(which Alekhine surely expected)
there would follow 33 ... .llxc3 34
'ii'xc3 'ii't'2 and White can resign.
But White has a 'truly startling
counter-combination at his dis-
posal' (Nimzowitsch).
33 lt:Jg6+!!
Black falls victim to a grand
ambush. It looks almost as if this
combination had no 'right' to be in
the position at all, especially con-
sidering White's next amazing
move.
33 .. hxg6
34 'ii'g4! ! 39 l:txe4
A piece to the bad, and with a Quite sufficient, but a more fit-
large section of his army tied up by ting conclusion would have been
an embarrassing pin, White can still 39 'ii'g8+ 'i;e7 40 f8'ii'+ l:txf8 41
afford to play a quiet move and l:th7+ 'it>e8 42 'ii'xd5.
win. 34 fxg6 gets nowhere after 39 ... .llxe4+
34 ... r.t>g7 35 'ii'h3 l:th8. 40 'ii'xe4
34 .. l:tt7? Ironically White has recon-
White threatens mate with 35 quered the very central light
l:th3+ and Alekhine fails to adjust squares along which he seemed so
to the altered situation. Nim- threatened just a few moves back.
zowitsch suggested as a superior Black loses now because his own
defence: 34 ... J:tg8, e.g. 35 fxg6 king can find no shelter against
q;g7 36 l:td7+ .llxd7 37 'ii'xd7+ White's light-square attack!
~xg6 38 .lld3 '.th6 39 'ii'h3+ ~g7 40 .. 'it>e7
40 l:tgl+ 'ii'xgl+ and White's win 41 f8'ii'+
is a long way off. A queen sacrifice'?
136 World Champion.~hip Candidate: Selected Game.\ 192_5-1928
Nimzowitsch-Rubinstein
Semmering 1926
Nimzowitsch Attack
1 tt'lf3 d5
2 b3 c5 l) The tt'le5 can be exchanged at
Such a move can hardly be cas- the first opportunity for a black
tigated as an error, but it does minor piece in order to de-obstruct
nothing to hinder White's intention the action of the queen's bishop
of playing .ltfl-b5xttlc6 which along the a l-h8 diagonal. White
enhances his control of the square will then exploit the mobility of his
e5. 2 ... tt'lf6 would have been more central pawns by mas.<>ing his
elastic. pieces in the centre and playing e3-
3 .ltb2 e4. This was the course favoured
Theory states that this move is by Nimzowitsch in his games from
doubtful after 3 ... f6, but in that Semmering 1926.
case, surely, White can continue: 4 2) White can play for a direct
e3 e5 5 .ltb5+ tt'lc6 6 0-0 .ltd6 7 c4 attack on Black's king by main-
with good chances. taining a piece on e5 and following
3 ... tt'lc6?! up with moves like 'ii'dl-g4-h5 and
3 ... tt'lf6 would have been less :.fl-f3-g3-h3. This was the method
demanding. subsequently favoured by Nimzo-
4 e3 tt'lf6 witsch and by no less than Bobby
5 .ltb5 .ltd7 Fischer!
6 0-0 e6 10 ~e8
7 d3 .lte7 Nimzowitsch (White) against
8 tt'lbd2 0-0 Rosselli del Turco, also from
9 .ltxc6 .ltxc6 Semmering, diverged from the
10 tt'le5 above with: 10 ... l:c8 11 f4 tt'le8 12
We have seen all this before, cf. e4 dxe4 13 dxe4 lt:lf6 14 1i'e2 'ilt'c7
page 116. Wolf here played 15 l:adl ll.fd8 16 a4 b6 17 f5 exf5
World Champion.~hip Candidate: Selected Games 1925-1928 137
7 dS?!
White decides to surround
Black's e-pawn, but, as a result,
Black streaks past him in the matter 17 l:tac8?
of mobilisation. 7 f3 is more dy- One slip and the whole of
nam1c. Black's good work is spoiled. The
7 tllf6 text, threatening, as it does,
8 i.e3 i.e7 l 8 ... tl'ib4 looks most fearsome, but
9 'jt'd4 0-0 it grants White a vital tempo which
10 tlld2 he turns to account by launching a
Perhaps White had anticipated a counter-offensive on the g-file.
black defence of the e-pawn by Two superior possibilities, sug-
10 ... i.f5, when 11 h3 h5 12 0-0-0 gested by Tartakower, are:
followed by i.e2 and g2-g4 would a) The ala1111ing: l 7 ...xc2+ 18
leave White on top. Instead, Nim- 'it>xc2 lbb4+ 19 'iitb l tllxd5 with a
zowitsch willingly sacrifices the good position for Black, and
pawn in the interests of seizing the b)The cunning: 17... tllb4 18
~3 a5! with the threat of ... a5-a4.
1n1t1at1ve.
10 c5! 18 i.d3
11 dxc6 tllxc6 A sure way to lose was 18 fxg4?
12 'jt'c4+ ~h8 tllb4 19 'it'e4 l:txc2+ 20 ~bl l:txd2
13 0-0-0 with evil intentions against both
White cannot capture the e-pawn members of the white Royal Fam-
as yet in view of the defence ... d6- ii y.
d5. 18 i.f5
13 . i.g4 19 l:txf5
14 f3 d5! 20
The feeble 14 ... exf3 15 gxf3 The defence just holds, since
i.f5 would react in White's favour White can co-ordinate his forces
after 16 lig l. with continual gains of tempo.
IS tllxd5 Here White pins Black's knight,
142 World Champion.~hip Candidate: Selelted Game.\ 1925-1928
Nimzowitsch-Alekhine
New York 1927
Nimzowitsch Attack s lLih4! (N)
So g2 was not destined for the
Notes marked (N) are by Nim- bishop, thirsting for a fianchetto,
zowitsch, those marked (A) by but as a haven for the 'bizarre
Alekhine. Author's intervention is knight. (N)
denoted by (RDK). 5 d5
Leads to a not entirely unexcep-
1 l2Jf3 lLif6 tionable excursion by the queen,
2 b3 d6 but by this stage there was hardly
3 g3 anything better. (N)
So, the purest hypermodernerei. Quieter, and likewise good, was
In this game it would certainly 5 ... ~e7. The immediate clearance
have brought White no laurels if in the centre is, however, more
his opponent had not overestimated consequent. (A)
his position and imagined that such 6 cxdS xdS
a set-up could be refuted by virtu- Correct was 6 ... lLixd5 whereby,
ally any means. (A) with the simplest of means, the
3 ... es unsound nature of the opposing
144 World Champion.,hip C.:andidate: .)elected c;ame.\ 1925-1928
~~ ~~ t
~~ ~fu
r: , ,~~. ~ /~
~ ~ ~~ ;,~~z: ~// '/~~Jl.:
'./. %
~ ~~-~
his disposal), then White can pro- Or 49 ... c3 50 t/Jf2 and 51 tt::ld3.
voke new weaknesses with tl:Jc4- (N)
a5. (A) SO gS b2
38 'ii'f8+ rtla7 SI tt::ld2 'it>cS
39 'ii'f2 'ii'xf2+ S2 g6 h2
40 'it>xf2 h5 S3 rtlg2 rtid4
40 ... b5 offered the last chance. S4 g7 'it>d3
But this was move 40 ... (A). S5 g8'it' 'it>xd2
41 'it>e3 S6 'ii'a2 rtlc2
57 'ii'c4+ 1-0
A great fighting game. (N)
The start of a rather artificial onslaught to the base (c3 and b2). ,
manoeuvre designed to seize con- Furth et 111ore the struggle in this
trol of the f5 square. Black seems game has clearly been sub-divided
to have abandoned all respect for into two theatres of war by the very
the hallowed cliches concerning nature of the pawn-chain. 12 ... c4
development. ensures that Black will retain a
6 ..li.d3 a5 valuable spatial advantage on the
Hoping to exchange his light- queenside if White fails to burst
squared bishop, but White fore- through on the opposite wing.
stalls this. White must have realised that his
7 'ii'e2 llif5 advantage (and he does have the
8 h4 h5 advantage) was by no means of a
9 llig5 g6? pet 1nanent nature, in view of
'Black's position could, perhaps, Black's queenside prospects, but
have withstood the eccentricities depended entirely on an accurate
committed so far, since they did not exploitation of a powerful, but
create any irreparable weaknesses temporary, initiative in one sector
in his own camp. However, this of the board. Such situations are
frightful weakening of f6 - given fraught with tension for the players
the absence of any stable and ef- and certainly create an atmosphere
fective strong-points for his own conducive to the perpetration of
pieces - transfo1111s his situation creative blunders.
into a hopeless one' (Alekhine). 13 ..li.c2 b5
Nimzowitsch later recommended 14 g4 llig7
9 ...llige7 as a superior alternative,
e.g. 10 llid2 c5, and 11 llifl is im-
possible since the d-pawn hangs.
10 llid2 llige7
And not 10 ... llixh4? 11 ..li.b5+,
but 10 ... c5 looks stronger.
11 llifl
Protecting g3 and thus preparing
to force the withdrawal of Black's
knight by means of f2-f3 and g2-
g4. If Nimzowitsch's plan was to
restrain White's kingside pawns it
has clearly been a failure.
11 c5
12 f3 c4 A fianchetto of his queen's
Or 12 ... cxd4 13 g4! hxg4 14 knight on his g7-square!
fxg4 llixh4 15 'ii'f2 winning out- 15 llig3 llic6
right. The advance of the text is And that is the king's knight.
characteristic of Nimzowitsch in Black has played six move..<> out of
that he renounces the attack against fifteen with his knights and not yet
the frontal area of the white pawn- touched any of his other pieces.
chain, preferring to transfer his 16 'ii'g2 ..li.e7
World Champi<Jn.,hip C'a11didate: Selected Game., 1925-19211 155
On l 6 ... l:ta7 Alekhine gives: 17 in fact, win, but the correct follow-
gxh5 tt::lxh5 18 lt:lxh5 l:xh5 19 up is not easy to find. Alekhine
tt::lxf7 l:txf7 20 i.xg6 l:txh4 21 gives the preparatory 19 'it>e2 !
.ltxf7+ 'itxf7 22 l:tg l +-. This varia- which maintains the option of sac-
tion is typical of the myriad attrac- rificing on f7, while eliminating
tive possibilities that must have any counterplay (e.g. check..<> on
been clamouring for Spielmann 's h4).
attention at this stage of the game. 19 ~xfi
17 gxhS gxhS 20 t/JxhS?
l 7 ... tt::lxh5 is positionally correct The provocation - not to men-
but tactically faulty: 18 t/Jxh5 tion the exhausting practical cal-
llxh5 19 tt::lxf7 and Black can re- culation of the variations of the
sign. seductive post-sacrifice alternatives
18 llgl has disturbed Spielmann' s
'From here on, indeed, several judgement. Alekhine mentions four
roads lead to Rome, and it is really plausible alternatives which White
bad luck for Spielmann that he fell had to analyse:
upon virtually the only sequence a) 20 .ltg6+,
which, instead of taking him to the b) 20 t/Je4,
Eternal City, led him directly into c) 20 4lf5, and
Hell' (Alekhine). 18 tt::lh7 would d) 20 tt::le2. The strongest move,
have been very strong, with the e.g. 20 ... i.xh4+ 21 ~dl ~g8 22
threat of 19 tt::lf6+ i.xf6 20 exf6 4'lf4 l:.f7 23 tt::lg6 i.e7 24 lLlxh8
'ii'xf6 21 .ltg5 neatly trapping ~xl18 25 'ii'g6! and wins.
Black's queen. If in reply 20 ... .ltxh4+
l 8 ... .ltxh4 then 19 l:.xh4! 'ii'xh4 20 21 ~e2 t/JxhS
.ltg5 is still decisive. But Spiel- 22 i.g6+ ~e7
mann wants to win with a grand 23 .ltxhS ~d7!
combination. Spielmann had overlooked this,
18 na7 expecting only 23 ... nxh5 24 'ii'g7+
~e8 25 'ii'g6+ which is most un-
pleasant for Black. After the text it
is Black whc) is winning, although
he still has to survive a whirlwind
invasion of his position. Quite a
triumph for heroic defence, al-
though one must sympathise with
poor Spielmann, who had the win
within his grasp but a few moves
previously.
24 'ii'g7+ .lte7
25 i.ti
Threatening 26 .ltxe6+ ~xe6 27
'ii'g4+ ~f7 28 'ii'g6+ 'iitf8 29 .lth6+
19 tt::lxti!? and mate, but this is parried easily
And here it is. The text should, enough by the resumption of the
156 World Champion.5hip ('andidate: .)efelted Game.5 1925-1928
black king's march to the hinter- Avoiding the trap 39 ... l:r.gl+ 40
land. <t;fl l:r.xal 41 1'.d8+! ll:lxd8 42
25 l:th2+ 'ii'xd8+ when White secures per-
26 <t;c7 petual check.
27 l:.xb2 40 1'.d8+ ll:lxd8
The base of White's pawn-chain 41 'ii'b8+ ll:lb7
falls in a highly unexpected man- 0-1
ner. In this case 41 'ii'xd8+ 'it>b7! is
28 'ii'h7 quite hopeless. Black threatens
29 l:tg8 mate and the rook, while the l:tg7
30 'ii'h8 defends the black king from
checks.
Nimzowitsch-Kmoch
Kecskemet 1927
Bird's Opening
1 f4
Nimzowitsch experimented with
31 1'.g6 l:tg2 this opening move at Kecskemet in
32 'ii'hl several games but it never became
Once White is compelled to re- a great favourite with him. On
treat the end is in sight. those occasions when he did resort
32 . l:txg6 to l f4 it was no1111ally in conjunc-
Over the next few moves Black tion with the fianchetto of the
cashes in his material plus in return queen's bishop. Amongst contem-
for a decisive initiative. porary Grandmasters Larsen is the
33 l:txg6 b4 only notable supporter of l f4.
34 l:tg7 'ii'c6 1 ... d5
35 'ii'h8 'ii'a4+ Probably the most sensible reply
36 'it>el ll:lc6! which prevents the fo1111ation of a
37 'ii'xc8 1'.h4+ white centre with 2 e4 and prepares
38 1'.g3 to transpose into a Dutch Defence
Or 38 l:tg3 'ii'c2 with annihilat- with reversed colours. We will
ing effect. never know, unfortunately, what
38 l:txg7 Nimzowitsch had in mind against
39 1'.xh4 the From Gambit 1... e5 ! ? 2 fxe5
Re-establishing material equal- d6.
ity. 2 ll:lf3
39 'ii'c2! 3 e3
World Champion.5hip Candidate: Selected Game.s 1925-1928 157
bring his queen to the f5 square Black is already quite lost and
with pressure against White's f- Nimzowitsch despatches him with
pawn, but it turns out that White's a few swift strokes. Now that
f-pawn is by no means essential to Black's central pawns have been
the economy of his war effort and swept away (partly Black's own
can therefore be abandoned. The doing - 13 ... f5?) there remains no
disastrous side-effect of ... t7-f5 is barricade to hinder the deadly
to create a horrible weakness at e6, mechanism of the bishop pair on
upon which Nimzowitsch is quick the open board.
to seize. 13 ... '11i'c7, keeping the po- After 21 ~xe6 White is bound
sition closed and protecting the d6- to pick up one of Black's two
knight, was relatively better, al- sickly kingside pawns and then the
though White still stand..<> well after advance of the majority (the white
14 .ltb2. Best of all, though, was g and h-pawns) will cost Black
13 ... tt:lc5! threatening White's e- material.
pawn and in addition 14 ... lflxc4 21 ... 0ic7
and 15 ... '11i'd4. This would have 22 ~h3 l:txc4
exposed the defects of 12 e4. And not 22 ... l:txh4? 23 .ltxd7+
14 exf5 '11i'a5+ picking up the stray rook.
15 .i.d2 'iii'xf5 23 .ltxg7 0id5
16 0-0-0 0-0-0 24 h5 'i;c7
17 .tc3 To unpin, not that it benefits him
The bishops go to work. This at all.
move embodies a dual threat 25 g6! hxg6
against Black's d6-knight and his 26 .ltxd7 gxh5
g-pawn, so the reply is virtually Sheer desperation. Black could
forced. just as well resign here. If he re-
17 tt:le8 captures on d7 (26 ... l:txd7 or
18 h4! :rs 26 ... 'it>xd7), then 27 h6! is decisive.
19 .lth3 '11i'xf4+ 27 .lte6 h4
20 '11i'xf4 l:txf4 28 ~e5+ 'i;b6
29 ~d4+ 'i;b5
' /, 30 l:txh4 c5
' , % %
31 .ltf2
~ iD Black now allows himself a final
jest before capitulation:
31 ... l:txc2+
32 'i;xc2 0ie3+
~xe3!
~s i~ 33 1-0
rected against the hostile clergy. In 2 b3) with l ... d5 and 2 ... c5 the de-
My System he does indeed pay lip- fence (viewed as an abstract entity)
service to the convention of the began to realise that it was proba-
bishop pair (why does nobody ever bly more advisable to play ... d6
talk about the knight pair?) yet the rather than ... d5. This way Black
doubts are there: 'The two bishops could exert some kind of counter-
are, in the hands of a skilful fighter, grip on the e5 square and blunt the
a terrible weapon, yet I confess that power of White's queen's bishop in
for a moment I dallied with the general. As a result of this new
blasphemous thought of omitting strategic insight novel methods
them from any detailed examina- were evolved for Black to escape
tion in my book. And from a fur- from the stereotyped attempts to
ther comment he let.<> slip it's clear impose a white structure on a black
which side Nimzowitsch is really position which we saw coming to
on: 'Nevertheless, the reader has grief in Nimzowitsch's games ver-
naturally the right to expect that I sus Wolf, Rosselli del Turco, Ru-
should enlighten him, as far as I binstein (Semmering 1926) and
can, on the dangers in which a pair Spielmann (New York 1927).
of enemy bishops may involve At the great London Interna-
him.' 'Enemy bishops'! 'We' over- tional Tournament, just preceding
protect, 'we' restrain, 'we block- the double-round event in which
ade and 'we' even defend heroi- the present game was played,
cally (i.e. 'we' provoke the enemy) Winter (as Black) surprised Nim-
but it is the enemy who has the zowit.<>ch with ( 1 b3) 1... e5 2 i.b2
bishop pair in his oily grasp. And, f6!? when there followed: 3 e4 (3
sure enough, the two classic exam- c4! ?) 3 ... i.c5 (3 ... c6 4 f4 exf4 5
ples of bishops beating knights liJh3 'ii'e7 6 tt:lc3 d5 7 4'lxf4 d4 8
chosen by Nimzowitsch to illustrate tt:Jce2 'ii'xe4 9 i.xd4+ Larsen-
the 'two bishops theme are famous Martinez, San Juan 1969) 4 i.c4
wins by the archdemon of pseudo- Ciie7 5 'ii'h5+ g6 6 'ii'f3 tt:Jbc6 7
classicism himself - Dr. Tarrasch. tt:le2 l:tf8 8 g4 f5 ! 9 gxf5 d5 10
Nimzowitsch must have experi- exd5 l:txf5 11 'ii'e4 lLib4 12 lLibc3
enced a profound sympathy for i.xf2+ 13 'IPdl c6 14 dxc6 bxc6 15
Kmoch after the conclusion of their i.a3 tt:Jed5 and Black eventually
game above. won.
A further example of new meth-
Nimzowitsch-Morrison ods (this time going disastrously
Imperial Chess Club, London 1927 wrong) can be seen in Nim-
Nimzowitsch Attack (transposing to zowitsch 's encounter with the
King's Indian Defence) Swiss Master Dr. H. Joss from
Zurich 1934. This game was, in
1 b3 g6 fact, the last one to be won by Nim-
After Nimzowitsch's numerous zowitsch in a great international
successes between 1923 and 1927 tournament, so it is of some histori-
against opponents who reacted cal, as well as intrinsic, interest:
dogmatically to 1 b3 (or 1 tt:lf3 and White: Nimzowitsch - Black: Joss:
160 World Champion.ship Candidate: Selelted Game~ 1925-1928
13 tt:lel 18 ..ltd7
The knight takes a trip to d5. 19 tt:lc3 tt:lf6
13 ... e5 More active was l 9 ... a4 20 bxa4
Renewing the diagonal obstruc- l!a5, although Nimzowil<>ch still
tion but weakening the light adjudged the position after 21 tt:lb5
squares d5 and e4. However, this nfa8 22 'iiib3 as slightly in White's
move will be necessary in the long favour.
run if Black is going to devel<)p his 20 a4
queenside pieces. C<)nfident of his prospect<> in the
14 tt:lc2 'it>h8 centre and on the kingside, Nim-
15 e4 tt:lh5 zowitsch seals up the queen's wing.
Making way for the other knight Nevertheless, he does retain the
so that Black can develop his useful b5 square for his knight with
queen's bishop. Note how White's this move, so operations on the left
isolated knight on a4 impedes the flank cannot be entirely ruled out
whole process of enemy queenside cif White's battle campaign.
mobilisation by forbidding the 20 .. ..ltg4?
squares b6 and c5 to Black's At this point it was essential to
queen's knight. bring up the reserves (20 ... nae8) in
16 tt:le3 tt:ldf6 order to lend increased support to
17 tt:ldS tt:lxd5 1) The black e-pawn and
18 exd5 2) The sensitive hinterland
(square e6). Omission of this pre-
caution accounts for much of
Black's coming woe.
21 f3 ..ltd7
22 d2 b6
If 22 ... .l:tae8 23 l/Jb5! forcing the
unpleasant 23 ... Jtxb5.
23 :tael
Piling up on thee-pawn.
23 . d8
Now after 23 ... :tae8 24 f4 Black
could not avoid the threatened ex-
change t'4xe5 when he would
eventually be saddled with a weak
Also attractive was 18 cxd5 with isolated pawn on the open e-file.
subsequent pressure on the c-file With the text he is able to answer
against c7. The capture of the text f2-f4 with ... e5xf4, thus precluding
announces a more ambitious plan the infliction of structural weak-
involving a direct attack against nesses on his pawn fo1111ation.
Black's king. The key to this attack However, 23 ... 'ir'd8 involves the
is the erosion of Black's e-pawn, undesirable side-effect of shutting
after which White's dark-squared his queenside pieces out of the
bishop will develop ferocious ac- game for a further four moves.
tivity on the long diagonal. 24 f4
162 World Championship Candidate: .~elected Game.~ 1925-1928
chance was the appeasement offer It would have been more appro-
33 ... .l:!.e5 to dam the fatal dark- priate to play 6 e4, 7 ..td3, and then
square diagonal. But even in that follow up with llle2 and f2-f4.
case White wins easily after 34 6 ,,, e7
..txe5 and the annexation of the f- It is interesting to compare the
pawn. opening of this game with that of
34 xc6 the clash between the same players
35 from Carlsbad the following year.
Decisive. With Black's queen on In their later game Nimzowitsch
e4 this could have been prevented. omitted the move .. .'ike7 and de-
35 .. d5 veloped his queen's knight on c6
36 ..txf5 rather than d7. This later method
Threatening 37 xh7 mate. certainly represented a significant
36 .. l:.f7 improvement over his treatment of
37 ..txh7 the position in their present en-
Demolition. counter.
37 .. l:.xh7 7 g3 b6
38 ..txf6+ 1-0 8 ..tg2 ..tb7
And the irony of the situation is 9 0-0 lllbd7
that White dealt the final blow with
the very piece which Black's whole
strategy was designed to neutralise:
the queen's bishop operating on the
al-h8 diagonal.
Bogoljubow-Nimzowitsch
Bad Kissingen 1928
Nimzo-Indian Defence
1 lllf6
2 e6
3 ..tb4
4 ..txc3+?!
Premature, to say the least, but 10 a4
Nimzowitsch played this three A good move which provokes
times at Kissingen! the defensive reaction ... a7-a5 from
5 bxc3?! Black, thus hindering the intended
Such nonchalance. Why, then, ... c7-c5 (in view of the weakness of
did he play 4 c2 - ? The natural Black's b-pawn) which would have
move is, of course, 5 xc3, as been a useful link in the blockade
played by Tartakower and Rubin- of White's doubled pawns. In the
stein in their games against Nim- tournament book Tartakower rec-
zowitsch. After the text Black's ommend..<> 10 lllel, but why should
fourth move is justified. White voluntarily renounce his
5 ... d6 bishop pair? Interestingly enough,
6 lllf3 Nimzowitsch had been involved in
164 W<Jr/d Champion.vhip Candidate: Selelted Game.v 1925-1928
Capablanca-Nimzowitsch
36 ikxe5 Bad Kissingen 1928
In reply to 36 l:txe5 Nim- (penultimate round)
zowitsch had prepared a most Nimzo-lndian Defence
beautiful variation: 36 ... l:tb8 37
ikc3 l:tb3! 38 ikxb3 (or 38 ikel 1 d4 0if6
when the pursuit continues with 2 c4 e6
38... l:tbl) 38 ... ikxe5 and Black, 3 0ic3 .i.b4
with centralised queen and knight 4 ikc.2 d5(!)
against queen and bishop holds Unlucky Capablanca. In his
some positional advantage. other games from Kissingen Nim-
36 ikxeS zowitsch handicapped himself at
37 l:txeS c4 this stage with the eccentric
And not 37 ... 0ixd5? 38 l:txd5 4 ... ..ixc3+ ?! .
l:txe6 39 l:txc5. 5 i..gS?!
World Championship Candidate: Selected Game.~ 1925-1928 167
the queenside, where Black holds tlle5 .l:!:d6 20 'ilff4 unclear. another
the superiority. The illogicality of line which stems from Alekhine.
White's 16th move struck Alekhine
who recommended the dynamic
blow 16 e4! as an improvement,
giving 16 ... fxe4 17 tllxe4 f6 18
tllc5 l:t.g7 19 l:t.fe 1 'with sufficient
positional compensation for the
gambit pawn.' ln the tournament
book Tartakower also considered
16 e4 but dismissed it as follows:
l 6 ... e5 '!' 17 exf5 l:t.d6 18 'ilrb5
exd4 19 tlle4 dxc3 20 t/.Jg5 h6 21
tllxf7+ l:r.xf7 22 .. xt7 1t.d7 'and
Black's strong pawn-mass should
provide adequate compensation for
the exchange'. But this we do fl()t 17 l:t.d6
believe. After 22 ... 1t.d7 all ot' 18 ..e3
White's pieces are in active play, Now, in reply to 18 'ilr'h5, the
while Black's knight has no moves exchange sacrit'ice mentioned in
at all. In addition, Black's king is the note to White's 16th move be-
open to the winds. as can be seen comes more plausible: 18 ... exd4!
from: 23 axb5 cxb5 (23 ... axb5 19 'Lig5 h6 20 'Lixf7+ l:xf7 21
pet 111its the intervention ot White's 'i'xf7 dxc3 and, in contrast to the
queen's rook) 24 l:t.fel t/.Jc6 25 similar position analysed previ-
1t.d5 l:.f6 26 l:t.e8+ 'i'xe8 27 'i'xf6+ ously, Black holds the advantage.
'iti>h7 28 'i'xc3 threatening 29 .:.e I White has no passed f-pawn, no
and 30 f6 or 29 :.xa6. White must control of the e-file and no method
wtn. c>f challenging Black's grip on the
In view of this Black would have only open line (d-file).
been obliged to rely on Alekhine 's 18 ... e4
line above in reply to 16 e4! lead- 19 tlld2 tt:ld7
ing to a struggle with mutual chan- 20 g4
ces. With ... t/.Jf6-d5 in the oft'ing it is
16 e5 clear that White is faced with a
17 tllf3? calamity of no mean proporti<>n,
It is noteworthy that Capablanca unless he can cont.use the issue.
absolutely refuses to plunge into White has psychology <>n his side
the beckoning complications until in that Nimzowitsch, for the very
it is, objectively speaking, much first time in his chess career, has
too late to do him any good. Only obtained a clearly decisive position
when his position is beyond go<>d against Capablanca. We can, there-
and evil does he c<>ndescend to t'ore. sympathise with Black's
involve himself in a hand-to-l1and nervous plight, which presumably
fight. The required course here was became more acute as Capablanca,
17 t/.Jxc4! exd4 18 cxd4 l:xd4 19 i11 clear contravention of his previ-
World C'hampirJn.1hip ('a11didate: Selelted Gt1me.1 1925-1928 169
ceedings.
I wonder how Capablanca felt
about the Remistod im Schach after
this hair-raising experience?
N imzowitsc h-Rubinstein
Berliner Tageblatt Tournament,
Berlin 1928
Nimzowitsch Attack.
1 tLlf3
Threatening 37 .l:txg6+ and 38 Certainly the most solid move,
'ilfg7 mate. whereas moves such as 1 e4 and 1
36 ... l:txfS d4 are both 'committal' and
Or 36 ... l:tg2+ 37 'itixg2 1fg5+ 38 'compromising'. And, moreover, it
~f2 cl'ilf 39 'ilfd5+=. was my intention to play as solidly
37 l:txg6+! hxg6 as possible. To play solidly means:
38 'ilfe8+ l:tf8 I. Not to give yourself the slightest
39 1fxg6+ 1/2- 1/2 vulnerable point (Blottelse). II. Not
Drawn by perpetual check. to allow the opponent to encroach
upon one's position. In particular
A game in which Nimzowitsch 's the first programme is immensely
nerves got the better of his talent. hard to carry out; it requires not
Surely the annihilating blow only great watchfulness, but also
21 ... lLid5! would never have es- exact knowledge of the character
caped his attention in a blitz game and nature of a vulnerable point.
or a simultaneous display, but, over Thus it is not enough to avoid visi-
the board, against the invincible ble weaknesses, such as unde-
Capablanca ... fended (i.e. not defended by any
A strange game this, in the way pawn) pawns or ordinary breaches
that it splits up into two clearly in the position with forces dis-
defined phases. In the first phase persed and open lines for the en-
(up to move 21) the deep ideas and emy.
combative spirit all emanate from No, one also has to strive against
Nimzowitsch, and Capablanca 's the primary dangers, which can
moves hardly seem to have any cause the creation of a vulnerable
effect on the game at all. From point.
moves 22-39 this situation is re- Now follow the course of the
versed entirely and it is Capablanca game, and you will see what is
who produces brilliant variations meant by this.
and fights a sparkling rearguard 1 dS
action, while Nimzowitsch scarcely 2 b3 ~rs
bothers to intervene in the pro- Positionally the most correct
World Championship Candidate: Selected Game.\ 1925-1928 171
that it could be given (he held the preferable. Also on other moves
choice between lDd2 and lDc3 open (instead of 17 ... 11..f6) White retains
between moves 6-8), he can now a good game - e.g. 17 ... SiLxe4+ 18
with a good conscience let the 'ii'xe4 lLic5 19 'ii'e3 11..f6 20 11..a3
horse make a decision. W'd6 21 4'if3.
14 . c7! It therefore looks as if 17 11..xe4
Not l 4 ... e5, e.g. 15 fxe5 lLixe5 could very well have been played.
16 4'if5 SiLxf5 17 llxf5 qig6 18 17 .. e5!
l:t.afl and White has good chances. A good move. But White is well
15 e4 prepared; no wonder, since his po-
sition is, as stated, very compact.
18 lbf3!
Not 18 tllf5? because of
18 ... ~xf5 19 exf5 il..f6 with a solid
strongpoint in the centre at e5.
18 .. exf4
19 gxf4 :res
20 e5
White's 'compactness' depends
now on how the square f5 fares: if
Black is in a position to make f5
into a blockadin,r; base (Blokering.'i-
basis), from there to get control of
the neighbouring white squares,
The advance is carried out, then the 'compactness is about to
without it being possible to see a go amiss. But if White should be
shadow of weakness in White's able to wrest t'5 from the enemy's
position. Now, by the way, the hands, then the compactness stays
meaning of I 0 Wh I! becomes unaffected. White has in the mean-
clear: the diagonal b6-gl was time rightly seen that the latter is
'safeguarded'. the case.
15 dxe4 20 lLic5
Otherwise comes e4-e5 with en- 21 lLid4 lLie6
croachment. The fight for f5 begins!
16 lbxe4 lDxe4 22 :adl lLixd4
17 dxe4 23 11..xd4 SiLf5
White passes over 17 iLxe4 to 24 SiLe4 SiLxe4+
avoid the continuation l 7 ... SiLf6 If 24 ... 'W'c8 then 25 W'd3!.
with certain unpleasantnesses in the 25 xe4 :ad8
diagonal f6-b2. But this watchful- 26 e6
ness was not strictly necessary, e.g. Very good was 26 l:t.g 1, e.g.
18 SiLxh7+ 'it>xh7 19 SiLa3 l:i.fe8 26 ... c5 27 il..c3 l:xdl 28 llxdl lld8
(bad is 19... c5 because of 20 e4+ 29 l:td5! (centralisatit)n) 29 ...1Ixd5
q;gS 21 lbb5 c6 22 ::.ael) 20 30 'W'xcl5 '#d8 31 '#xd8+ SiLxd8 32
l1ael SiLxd4 21 e4+ Wg8 22 Wg2. Or 26 ... 11..f8 27 .:tdfl W'd7?
xd4 .l:tad8 and White's position is 28 11..b6 W'd5 29 '#xd5 .I:Ixd5 30
W<1rld Clzampionship candidat11: .)11/ec/11(/ c;ame.1 1925-1928 173
Carlsbad 1929
1234567890123456789012
1 Nimzowitsch * 1/2 l 1/2 1/2 l 1 I 1/2 1/2 I 1/2 1/2 l 1/2 1 0 I 1/2 l 1/2 l 15
2 Capablanca l/2* 0 1/2 I 1/2 1/2 l/2 l/2 l/2 I I 1 1/2 l 0 1 1 1 1 1/2 l 14 1/2
3 Spielmann 0 I * 0 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 l 0 1/2 l 1 1/2 l I 1/2 l 1 1 1 1 14 1/2
4 Rubinstein l/2 1/2 l * 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 I 1 1 l/2 1/2 1/2 l 1h 1/2 I 1/2 0 1/2 l 13 1/2
5 Becker 1/20 1/2 1/2 * 1 1 1 0 0 l 1/2 l/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 l 1/2 I 1 1/20 12
6 Euwe 0 1/2 1/2 1/2 0 * 0 1/2 1/2 1 1/2 I 1/2 1/2 l 1/2 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 l 1 12
7 Vidmar 0 1/2 1/2 1/20 1 * 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 l 1/2 l 0 1/2 1/20 1 1 1 1 12
8 Bogoljubow 0 1/2 1/2 1/2 0 1/2 1/2 * 1/2 l/2 l/2 l 0 0 l I I 0 1/2 l 1 1 11 1/2
9 Griinfeld 1/2 1/20 0 1 1/2 1/2 1/2 * 1/2 1/20 1 1/2 1/20 1 1/2 l 1/2 I 1/2 11
10 Canal 1/2 1/2 l 0 1 0 1/2 1/2 1/2 * 1 0 0 1/2 1/2 1/20 1 0 1/2 l 1 10 1/2
11 Mattison 0 0 1/20 0 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/20 * l 1 1 0 1 1 1 1/20 1/2 l 10 1/2
12 Colle l/20 0 1/2 1/20 0 0 1 I 0 * 1 1/2 l 1/2 l 0 1/20 I 1 10
13 Maroczy l/2 0 0 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 l 0 1 0 0 * 1/2 0 0 1 1/2 1 1 1/2 I 10
14 Tartakower 0 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/20 I 1/2 1/20 1/2 1/2 * 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 l 10
15 Treybal 1/20 0 0 1120 l 0 1/2 1/21 0 1 1/2* 1/2 1/20 1 l 1/21 10
16 Samisch 0 1 0 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/20 1 1/20 l/2 I 1/2 1/2 * 1/20 1/2 1/2 l 0 9112
17 Yates 1 0 1/2 1/20 1/2 1/20 0 I 0 0 0 1/2 1/2 1/2 * 1 1/2 1/2 l 1 9112
18 P. Johner 0 0 0 0 1/20 1 I 1/20 0 1 l/2 1/2 l 1 0 * 1/20 1/2 l 9
19 Marshall 1/20 0 1/20 1/20 1/20 I 1/2 1/20 1/20 1/2 1/2 1/2* 1 I 1 9
20 Gilg 0 0 0 1 0 1/2 0 0 1/2 1/2 I 1 0 1/2 0 1/2 1/2 l 0 * 1/2 1/2 8
21 Thomas 1/2 1/20 1/2 1/20 0 0 0 0 1/20 1/2 1/2 1/20 0 1/20 1/2 * 1 6
22 Menchik 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1/20 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1/20 * 3
The Crown Prince: Selected Games 1929-1931 175
I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 I 2 3 4 5 6
1 Alekhine * I I l/2 I I l/2 I I I I 1 1 I 1 1 14
2 Nimzowitsch 0 * 0 1 l/2 I l/2 l/2 1/2 l/2 I I I I I 1 10 1/2
3 Rubinstein 0 I * 0 1 l/2 0 1 1/2 I l 0 l 1 I 1 10
4 Bogoljubow I/2 0 1 * I/2 0 1 l/2 1 1 0 1 1 0 I 1 9 1/2
5 Yates 0 l/2 0 l/2 * l/2 I 1 1/2
0 0 I l l I I 9
6 Ahues 0 0 1/2 I l/2 * 1 1/2 1 0 0 l/2 1 1 1/2 1 8 1/2
7 Spielmann l/2 l/2 1 0 0 0 * l/2 l/2 l/2 1 1 l/2 I I 0 8
8 Vidmar 0 l/2 0 l/2 0 l/2 l/2 * l/2 l/2 I I l/2 1 l/2 1 8
9 Maroczy 0 l/2 0 l/2
1/2 0 l/2 l/2 * l/2 l/2 l/2 l/2 1 1 1 7 1/2
10 Tartakower 0 1/2 0 0 1 1 l/2 l/2 l/2 * 0 0 l l/2 1 1 71/2
11 Colle 0 0 0 I I 1 0 0 l/2 1 * 0
6 1/2 l/2 I 0 l/2
12 Kmoch 0 0 I 0 0 l/2 0 0 l/2 l/2 0 I 1 6 1/2
1 1 *
13 Araiza 0 0 0 0 0 0 l/2 l/2 l/2 0 l/2 l/2 * l/2 l/2 1 4 1/2
14 Monticelli 0 0 0 I 0 0 0 0 0 112 0 1 l/2 * l/2 l/2 4
15Grau 0 0 0 0 0 1/2 0 1/2 0 0 I 0 l/2 l/2 * l/2 3 1/2
16 Romih 0 0 0 0 0 0 I 0 0 0 1/2 0 0 l/2 l/2 * 2 1/2
I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
1 Nimzowitsch * 1/2 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 I I l 9 1/2
2 Kashdan l/2 * l/2 l/2 1 1 l/2 1 I I I I 9
3 Ahues 0 l/2 * l/2 I l/2 l/2 l/2 l/2 I I I 7
4 List 0 l/2 l/2 * l/2 l/2 I l/2 I I I l/2 7
5 Colle 0 0 0 l/2 * I 0 I I I I I 6 1/2
6 Przepiorka 1 0 l/2 l/2 0 * I l/2 0 l/2 1 I 6
7 Pirc 0 l/2 l/2 0 l 0 * 1/2 l/2 l/2 1 I 5 1/2
8 Siimisch 0 0 l/2 l/2 0 l/2 l/2 * l/2 I I l/2 5
9 Mieses 0 0 l/2 0 0 1 1/2 1/2 * 0 I l/2 4
10 G. Thomas 0 0 0 0 0 l/2 l/2 0 1 * 0 I 3
11 Mannheimer 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 * l 2
12 Orbach 0 0 0 l/2 0 0 0 l/2 l/2 0 0 * l 1/2
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 Nimzowitsch * 1/2 1 l 1 1 1 1 1 7 1/2
2 H. Johner l/2 * l/2 l/2 1 I 0 I l 5 1/2
3 Joss 0 l/2 * l/2 l/2 l/2 l/2 1 l/2 4
4 Naegeli 0 l/2 l/2 * 0 0 1 1 1 4
5 Zimmermann 0 0 l/2 1 * 1 0 I l/2 4
6 Henneberger 0 0 l/2 I 0 * 1 0 1 3 1/2
7 GrigorietT 0 I l/2 0 1 0 * l/2 0 3
8 Voellmy 0 0 0 0 0 1 l/2 * 1 2 1/2
9 Gygli 0 0 l/2 0 I/2 0 1 0 * 2
176 The Cro}<.n P1inl:e: Se/ecfl'tl Ganze.1 19:!9-193 I
I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 IO II I2 13 I4
1 Alekhine ** I 112 I I 1 112 112 111 I I I 112 I 112 1111 112 111 I I 11 112'li I I 20 112
2 Bogoljubow O'li ** 'liO 11 11 I 'Ii 0 111 10 ()J O'li 00 11 1/2! 11 15
3 'imzowitsch 00 'Iii ** 11 00 0 112 'l2 112 11i'li'li 112 11il 1112 1112 11 0 1/2 14
4 Flohr 0 112 00 00 ** 1112 112 112 1121 J() 1112 1121 I I 'liJ 1/21 112 112 13 1/2
5 Kasbdan 'li'liOO I I 0 112 ** 1 112 1li 11200 I 111 'li'li l(J I I 112'li'l1 112 13 112
6 Stoltz 00 0 1/2 1 112 112 11i0 112 ** 'Iii 11 112 11i 112I 'Iii 0() 01 I 'Ii 13 1/2
0 112 I '12 112 11i 11iJ 'l2 112'liO ** 112 1/21 l 1/IJ 1/i 1/2 111l 1/21 112 1/2 13 1/2
7 Vidmar
8 Tartakower 0 112 01 112 1/iOl 11 ()() 112 1/1** 'llJ 'l2'l2'l2 112l I 112 112 112 112 13
0'12 10 112 1110 112 0 112 112 112()() 1121 ** 112 112 112 11101 1 112 11 12 112
9 Kostic
10 Spielmann 112 1111 112 'liO 'liJ 'l2 111 11i0 'Iii 'l1 112'l2'l2** 0 112 00 I 'Ii 11 12 1/2
11 Maroczy 00 11 0 11i ()() 01 'Ii) 'l2 1li 111 112'l2'lil 'l1 ** 112! 'li'li'l1'l2 12
12 Colle 00 00 0'12 'Iii 00 11 'Ii) 00 10 I I 'liJ ** '/iJ 11 10 112
13 Asztalos 'li'li'/iJ 00 'llJ 'li'l2IO 'liJ 'li 11i0'12 O'li 112 1121 'Ii** 0 112 9 1/2
14 Pirc 00 00 1 112 '12 112'li'/2() 112 'l2'l2 'l2'l200 ()() 112 111()() 1112 ** 8 1/2
6 .ib7 some regrouping stratagem:
7 .ig2 0-0 .ih3/.ifl followed by lLld2 and e3-
8 0-0 l:te8' !!' e4.
(Nimzowitsch) 10 ... .ie4
'Black operates here, and in the 11 'ii'b3 l2Jc6
following play, with prophylaxis 12 .ifl e5
and centralisation, according to his Tempting was 12 ... l2Ja5 13 'ii'a4
System. The mysterious rook move .ic6, but after 14 'ii'b4 White's
helps to forestall the possibility of position is not yet 'organically dis-
l2Jd2 and e2-e4, thus: 9 tild2 .ixg2 eased' (Nimzowitsch).
10 'lt>xg2 e5 ! 11 e4 exd4 and 13 dxe5
12 ... l2Jxe4 follows' (Nimzowitsch). 13 d5 lLla5 is also unattractive in
9 :et d6 view of the fact that White has
10 'ii'c2?! been obliged to surrender control
Here Nimzowit<>ch suggested 10 of the c5 square ( 14 'ii'a4 ttld7).
l2Jd2 ! .ixg2 11 'lt>xg2 e5 12 e4 13 ... lLlxe5
lLlc6 13 .ib2 !, when Black has no 14 l2Jxe5 l:.xe5
clear-cut method of attacking 15 .if4 :es
White's pawn front. Nevertheless, 16 f3 .ib7
this position, with White's queen's 17 l:tadl
bishop reduced to a miserably de- Threatening 18 c5.
fensive role, would certainly not be 17 ... l2Jd7
to everyone's taste. We can see that
it did not appeal tc) Bogoljubow.
With the text Bogoljubow still
hopes for a transposition to their
Kissingen game, where Black's
queen's bishop was lured to the e4
square and then driven off with loss
of time and space by means of the
manoeuvre: .ih3, lLld2, f2-f3 and
e2-e4. However, in this case there
is an important difference: Black
still retains the option here of de-
veloping his queen's knight on c6,
covering a5. This invalidates the
method of gaining the initiative on 'Now the picture is quite differ-
the queenside (a2-a4-a5) chosen by ent: in spite of the stout central
Bogoljubow in the fo1111er game. pawn and the bishop pair White's
Furthe1111ore, the knight on c6 ex- position suffers from a profound,
erts more influence on the centre inner decay. The doubled pawn is
(especially against White's d- isolated and, after the inevitable e2-
pawn) than did its fellow on d7 in e4, a rolling-up action will eventu-
the Kissingen encounter. Thus a ally take place on the e-file ( ... f7-
timely ... e6-e5 thrust by Black will f5). On top of this White doesn't
cut straight across White's cumber- have a shred of counterplay any-
178 The Crown Prince: Selected Game.~ 1929-1931
~imzowitsch-Spielmann
Carlsbad 1929
En.rtli.~h Openin.rt
1 e3 e5
37 'ii'g4 2 c4 tl:lf6
Or 37 ~xc6 ~g3!. 3 tl:lf3 e4?!
37 .. l:rhl+ More reliable would be 3 ... d6
38 ~e2 l:xel+ followed by ... tl:lbd7 and the fi-
39 ~xel ~g3 anchetto of the king's bishop.
40 ~xf5 'ii'e5+! 4 tl:ld4 tl:lc6
41 ~fl exf5 5 tl:lb5!?
42 cxd4 Here 5 '1:lxc6 dxc6 6 d4 is well
Or 42 'ili'e2 ~b5 43 c4 'ili'xe2+ playable but perhaps too simple an
44 .l:rxe2 ~xc4! re-pinning the re- approach for this occasion - White
cently unpinned rook (Nimzo- had to create problems. It is easy to
witsch). see that the game has transposed
42 . ~xf2 into a Nimzowitsch Sicilian with
43 ~xf2 fxg4 reversed colours (White has the
44 dxe5 ~xg2 extra move e2-e3). At the tourna-
45 ~xg2 ~f7 ment in Berlin the previous year
For some reason Nimzowitsch's the game Spielmann-Tartakower
opponents at Carlsbad (see also had commenced: 1 e4 c5 2 4lf3
182 ltze cr<Jwn Prinl'': 5)t>felteci (]ame.1 I 929-193 I
Nirnzowitsch-Tartakower
Carlsbad 1929
King's Indian Defence
~~ ~~~ /~
points followed by Capablanca on
13 1/2. The final pairings were: Ca-
pablanca-Mar6czy, won by White
with great ease; Mattison-
49 'i!te3 Spielmann, which ended in a draw,
And not 49 lixc3 lixh4 50 We3 and Nimzowitsch as above. In or-
'i!tb5 51 '1t>d3 'i!ta4=. der to emerge sole victor Nim-
49 .. Il.h3+ zowitsch had to defeat Tartakower,
Or 49 ... lixh4 50 'it>d3 lih3+ 51 who had lost but two games in the
'it>c2 followed by .l:l'.xc3 and Wb3. previous twenty rounds.
50 ~d4 c2
51 Il.xc2 Il.xh4+ l d4 tt:lf6
52 'i!tc3 'i!t b5 2 c4 g6
and White won: 53 'i!tb3 lih3+ 3 f3!?
54 Il.c3 Il.h5 55 a4+ 'i!tb6 56 Il.g3 An unusual move played spe-
"'h7 57 Itg7+ 'it>b6 58 Il.g6+ 'it>b7 cifically to avoid the Griinfeld De-
59 a5 'i!ta7 60 'i!ta4 'it>b7 61 t:g7+ fence (3 tt:lc3 d5), but 3 ... d5 is still
'i!tb8 62 a6 'i!ta8 63 b5 'itib8 64 Ite7 playable, e.g. 3 ... d5 4 cxd5 tt:lxd5 5
Ir.gs 65 h6 Il.g8 66 'l!tbs Ir.gs+ 67 e4 tt:lb6 6 tt:lc3 j_g7 7 j_e3 0-0 8
'i!tc6 Il.g6+ 68 'i!tc5 .:tg8 69 'it>d6 'i'd2 e5 9 d5 c6 10 h4 h5, Kram-
Il.d8+ 70 'it>e6 1-0. If Black plays nik-Shirov, Cazorle 1998.
70 ... 'i!ta8 71 'i!tt7 followed by 72 Curiously, 3 f3!? is now known
Il.e8 is lethal - or 70 ... 'i!tc8 71 a7 or as 'Alekhine's anti-Griinfeld'
70 ... lif8 71 'i!td7 and 72 lie8+. method, since Alekhine adopted the
186 The Crown Prince: Selected Game~ 1929-193 I
move in his first title match versus This is quite a bright idea on Nim-
Bogoljubow, which took place in zowitsch 's part but on move 17 he
1929, after Carlsbad. abandons the plan in favour of an
3 .. .tg7 even more effective deployment of
Instead of seeking counterplay the knight's energies.
on Griinfeld lines as discussed However, there is a slight defect
above, Tartakower adheres strictly to 7 lUh3 (see note to move 9) and
to a classical King's Indian set-up the conventional 7 lt:Jge2 was an
with ... d7-d6 and ... e7-e5. objectively stronger choice.
4 e4 d6 7 ... e5
5 tt:Jc3 0-0 8 d5 a5
6 .te3 Safeguarding the square c5.
Transposing into what is now Over the next few moves Black
known as the Samisch Variation becomes obsessed with the fortifi-
which often witnesses long castling cation of this square and overlooks
by White intending a kingside a useful tactical possibility that
pawn sto1111. might have freed his game.
6 tt:Jbd7 9 tt:Jf2 b6?
A rather passive move which 9 ... tt:Jh5! was recommended by
allows an interesting reply for Nimzowitsch.
White. Nowadays attention centres 10 d2 tt:Jc5?!
on more lively lines such as 6 ... e5 7 Once again Nimzowitsch sug-
d5 c6 or 7 ... l2Jh5. Even 6 ... tt:Jc6 gested 10... lt:Jh5!, e.g. 11 g4? tt:Jf4!
(which had been played as early as 12 .txf4 exf4 13 *'xf4 tt:Je5 with
1927 at the London International tremendous compensation for the
Tournament by Yates against Vid- pawn in te1111s of dark-square con-
mar) has turned out to be playable. trol and active piece play. After
7 tt:Jh3!? l O... tt:Jh5 I feel White's best course
would be 11 tt:Jd3 f5 12 0-0-0 re-
moving his king from the danger
zone with the utmost speed. The
unimaginative text allows Nim-
zowitsch to create just the kind of
position he must have been longing
for in this crucial last round, I mean
a blockade position where White
alone has winning chances (in view
of Black's lack of pawn-breaks)
and Black has no active counter-
play at all.
11 ~g5!
The first link in a chain of
Intending to play this piece moves designed to restrain ... f7-f5
around to d3 to challenge the pos- for ever. This pinning motif (in
sible enemy establishment of an slightly different circumstances)
knight on the blockading square c5. has become one of the most popu-
7ne C'r<Jtt'n Prince: Selected Ga1ne.\" 1929-193 I 187
over the board (or of proving that troduction tcJ Nimzowit.<>ch 's games
he could force the win at all) pre- from San Remo.] - RDK)
cisely because his preliminary psy-
chological tactics were so success- 'With the exception of Alekhine,
ful. who seems to win his games with
Let us take a locJk at this position remarkable ease, victory in a tour-
to sec if Black could hold out: nament game is, and will remain, a
a) 36 ... l:c8 37 b4 axb4 38 axb4 really rather painful at.fair. If you
l:ta8 39 c5 dxc5 40 0ixe7 ~xe7 41 have to face a somewhat weaker
bxc5 bxc5 42 'ii'xc5+ 'Dd6 43 opponent you commence your
'ii'xc7 l:i.gc8 44 'ii'b6 and it seems to day's work by voluntarily accept-
me that Black's compensation for ing a quite cramped and difficult
his pawn is inadequate. position. Let us not forget that the
b) 36 ... '*1i7 (suggested by Tar- truly modem master has no fear ot'
takower, who wanted to follow up phantoms, especially those from
with ... 'ii'h8 and ... 1'.f8) 37 b4 axb4 the time of Tarrasch. In the Tar-
38 axb4 '*1i8 39 c5 1'.f8 40 cxb6 rasch time they all considered such
cxb6 41 l:i.c2 :Ic8 42 Itxc8+ 1'.xc8 cramped positions to be unplay-
43 ir'c6 winning easily. (39 ... dxc5 able, but now we are a lot less
would lead to positions similar to strait-laced in our judgement.<>. But
those arising from note 'a'.) back to the mechanics of winning
The way in which the control of games!
terrain plus superior mobility 'After you have consolidated
translate themselves into a mating your position diligently for one or
attack in this variation lends con- two hours you fail, with amazing
crete testimony to the accuracy of regularity, to grasp the correct
Nimzowitsch 's strategical vision. moment for a sharp advance. It is
The game concluded: 37 'Dh4! naturally a difficult matter for the
ir'h7 38 0ixf6 ir'h8 39 0ixg8 ir'xg8 player bent on consolidation to
40 g5 exf4 41 gxh6 ir'h7 42 ir'xf4 behold the possibility of aggressive
1'.xh6 43 ir'f6+ ~c8 44 'Df5 1'.xf5 action on his part without some
45 exf5 <;f.?b7 46 ir'g6 .l:l.h8 47 misgivings, since we are all well
ir'xh7 .l:l.xh7 48 l:tg6 'it>c8 49 f6 aware that any advance must create
.l:l.h8 50 1'.g4+ <;f.?d8 51 1'.e6 <;f.?e8 weaknes..<;es in our own camp. Not
52 1'.xf7+ <;f.?xf7 53 l:i.hxh6 1-0 to worry; after a few moves we
Thus did Nimzowitsch achieve make good the omission, in as far
the greatest tournament success of as that is at all possible. Naturally
his chess career. the advance no longer pack.<; the
punch it would have done had we
The path to victory infested carried it out at the correct moment,
with thorns but at this point the opponent
(Literally: 'Der Gewinn einer comes to our aid. The opponent is
Tumierpartie als schmerzvolle An- also human and the enemy initia-
gelegenheit.' [This article by Nim- tive has disturbed his psychological
zowitsch appeared in Kagan' s equanimity. So he comes to our
magazine for June 1930, as an in- rescue and we obtain a clearly won
19() The Cr(JW11 Prince: S<'lectcd G<1mes 1929-1931
position. However, we do not dare anything else were the case, for
to believe in our success and creep chess is much too stable for its bal-
around our opponent, as if we were ance to be disturbed by one little
beating the proverbial bush, instead error in the opening. Consider the
of summoning up the courage to following 'Truth: After 1 e4 e6 2
slit his throat on the spot. And then d4 d5 the move 3 e5 must be re-
the opponent's strength revives, he garded as the decisive error'
gathers his forces, consolidates his (Tarrasch). Such things now belong
mutilated position and finally in the realm of fairy stories.
marches off to counter-attack. But 'However, there is one special
the counter-attack goes wrong and case in which a player can be de-
- at long last - we can notch up the stroyed 'at a strc)ke' and this occurs
full point. when you are able to succeed in
'Many games at San Remo took ruining your opponent psychologi-
such a course and I openly admit cally. Dr. Alekhine achieved his
that I too was involved in games victories at San Remo with such
which lurched back and forth ... ease precisely because he suc-
And yet I still love this thorny path ceeded in forcing his opponents
to victory; it is as genuine as the into positions that did not suit them
life-struggle itself, while the safe psychologically. But apart from
and easy method of winning. so this the struggle of tournament play
highly prized in the time of Tar- is a difficult and protracted busi-
rasch, lacks any point of contact ness.
with external reality. 'In its fascination and its rich va-
'Only in the imagination of the riety it is a mirror of the life-
averagely talented critic (vulgo struggle it"elf but, to a similar de-
annotator) does that game exist in gree, it is exhausting and full of
which a small openings mistake is pain.'
exploited by the opponent and con- Elsewhere Nimzowitsch once
ducted to victory with merciles.." wrote: 'How is it to be explained
consistency. How on earth could that something inside me revolts
this critic be in a position to dis- against the playing of obvious
cover the more or less concealed moves? Perhaps we may perceive
resources which are available in the the underlying reason in the fact
position? (I mean equalising varia- that I derive satisfaction from
tions or lines which grant counter- seeking to reveal the concealed
play .) The critic sees nothing and meaning of a position by means of
discovers nothing and brims over manoeuvring play and therefore I
with enthusiasm for the har 111oni- do not wish to see this satisfaction
ous, flowing win just as many a curtailed by a banal, more or less
schoolmaster, with rounded shoul- fortuitous decision. Naturally, this
ders and a pot belly, raves with phenomenon is played out beneath
admiration about Julius Caesar. In the threshold of consciousness. The
reality, however, every game con- waking consciousness will, of
sists of at least two or three distinct course, in each individual case,
waves! It would be odd indeed if give preference to the more rapid
The Crown Prince: Selected Game.\ 1929-1931 191
i..xc3 10 i..xc3 a5 (10 ... f5!) 11 g3 than does the line suggested by
'ike7 12 i..g2 e5 13 0-0 a4 14 ttld2 Nimzowitsch.
d6 15 b4 axb3 16 tl:ixb3 i..e6 17 9 0-0
l:tfc 1+- ( 1-0, 64 ); and game 5: (as 10 i..e2 b6
in game 3 up to 11 g3) l l ... a4 12 11 0-0-0
i..g2 b6 13 0-0 i..b7 14 J:!.adl tl:ia5 White was scared to castle king-
15 i..b4 i..e4 16 'ikc3 tl:iab3 17 side in view of the threatening po-
tl:id4 i..xg2 18 ~xg2 .l:te8 19 4Jxb3 sition of Black's queen's bishop on
tl:ixb3 20 J:td6 'ikc7 21 l:tfdl l:ted8 b7 (this is one reason why White
22 'ikf3! l:tab8 23 'ikg4 f6 24 i..c3 W()Uld have done better to play 9 a3
~h8 25 'ikh4 e5? (25 ... ~g8!) 26 and then fianchetto the king's
l:txf6! gxf6 27 'ikxf6+ ~g8 28 .l:!.d6 bishop in defence of the king). That
.ti.f8 29 'ikxe5 l:txf2+ 30 ~g 1 ~fl this was no idle fear can be seen
31 J:tf6+ 1-0. from Stahlberg-Alekhine above.
This drastic defeat was probably With his 11th move Bogoljubow
responsible for Nimzowitsch 's doubtless hoped to put pressure on
collapse in the subsequent games of Black's backward d-pawn, but the
the match. position of his king now becomes
9 e3?! extremely insecure.
Insufficiently to the point. Nim- 11 ... a5
zowitsch 's notes recommend 9 a3 Threatening all sorts of horrors,
i..xc3 I 0 i..xc3 0-0 11 b4 tl:ie4 12 especially the artificial isolation of
e3 b6 13 i..d3 lt:Jxc3 14 'ikxc3 i..b7, White's c-pawn, which actually
and this was tried out by Alekhine comes about in the game. Bogol-
(Black) against Stahlberg the fol- jubow's natural reply makes one
lowing year at Hamburg (1931), suspect that he had overlooked the
resulting in a crushing win for the hidden point of Nimzowitsch 's last
World Champion: 15 0-0 tl:ie7 16 move.
i..e2 'ike8 17 l:tfdl J:td8 18 a4? f4! 12 a3 a4!!
19 a5 fxe3 20 'ikxe3 tl:if5 21 'ikc3
d6 22 axb6 axb6 23 tl:iel e5 24 .l:!.a7
tl:id4 25 'ike3 .ti.d7 26 .l:ta2 .l:tdfl 27
f3 .l:tf4 28 i..d3 'ikh5 29 .ii.fl 'ikg5
30 .ti.f2 h6 31 ~h I .ti.xf3 ! 0-1.
Thus do we see a typical case of
Alekhine employing in practice,
and with great success, one of Nim-
zowitsch 's theoretical suggestions.
The fallacy in all this is the as-
sumption that White does not have
time to preserve his valuable
queen's bishop; but he does. Much
better is 12 i..b2!, e.g. 12 ... d6 13
g3! e5 14 i..g2 'ike7 15 0-0 i..e6 16 Not a deep idea, but a brilliant
.l:tfdl .ti.ac8. Certainly this position and original conception none the
holds out more prospects for White less. If now 13 axb4 tl:ixb4 14 'ikbl
The Cr<)Wn Prince: Selected Game.\' 1929-1931 193
at this stage could be explained by long before and I would have been
the proximity of the time control at able to enjoy my lunch in peace. As
move 30. it was I had to renounce the said
29 'iid5 lunch in magnanimous fashion in
30 l:tdl order to analyse my adjourned
If 30 l:txg4? 'iih 1+-+. game.
30 .. 'iie4 'Just how difficult my games in
31 l:tgl tl::id2+ this tournament were (<)r rather -
32 ~cl 'iid5! how well I understood the task of
complicating wins that stood
openly there, inviting me to play
them) can be seen quite clearly
from the fact that in the course of
the tournament I was obliged to
sacrifice between six to eight
lunches.
'In most of my games from San
Remo I had tremendous positions
(at the very least) by move 20, but
then came the moment for con-
verting the advantage into the full
point and the win, but a hand's
grasp away, began to recede into
'The persistent exploitation of the distance.
the central squares e5, d5 and e4 is 'The end result is that the thorn-
quite in accordance with the pre- infested path to victory (die
cepts of the system' (Nim- schmerzvolle Art der Gewinn-
zowitsch). fahrung) becomes even more thor-
33 'iih7 ny as a result of the renunciation of
Nimzowitsch: 'I had expected 33 lunch and if a master already en-
b4 and analysed an elegant win thuses about this thorn-infested
against this move during the mid- path (as I have done) then the said
day adjournment pause, to wit: 33 renunciation of his lunch will only
b4 tl::icb3+ 34 ~b2 tl::ic4+ 35 ~a2 be regarded as a thoroughly wel-
tl::id4! 36 'iixa4 b5! 37 'iia7 tl::ia5+ come intensification of the pleasure
38 ~al tl::idb3+ 39 ~bl 'iid3+ 40 ( Genuj3) he derives from the whole
~b2 tl::ic4+ 41 'Ot>a2 'iic2 mate. process; and such is the case here
'The knights rendered good
service in this variation by driving 33 .. tl::ide4
the white king indoors while chas- 34 'ilt'h8+ rbf7
ing the queen far away from home. 35 rbbl
But I could have spared myself all Or 35 l:td l tl::ib3+ 36 rbc2 'iic4+
this effort if only I had chosen the 37 rbbl tl::ied2+ (full mark.<> for
immediately decisive line com- dressage) 38 J:i.xd2 'iic I+ and mate
mencing 18 ... ~xc4!. In that case on al.
the game would have been over 35 'iid3+
The Crown Prince: Selected c;ame.~ 1929-1931 195
0-1 9 d5
36 ~a2 tt:Jc3+ 37 bxc3 'ifc2+ 38 Nimzowitsch 's forgc)tten idea
~al tt:Jb3 mate. for conducting this opening was
revived by Portisch (as Black) in
I would like to suggest that the his game with Ulf Andersson from
reader compare this queen plus Palma de Mallorca 1971. In this
knight attack from Nimzowitsch's later game White preferred 9 ~e3
mature years with his more Sturm which led to his advantage after
und Drang effort in similar vein 9 ... d5!? 10 l:tcl dxc4 11 nxc4 c6
against Spielmann (Stockholm 12l:tc1.
1920). Kmoch's 9th move leads to po-
If you compare the mate in the sitions characteristic of the King's
Bogoljubow game with the mate Indian Defence.
given at the end of note (e2) to 9 ... e5!
White's 17th move in the Spiel- 10 ~e3 rs
mann game I think you will be 11 tt:Jel ~xg2
pleasantly surprised by the mirror 12 tt:Jxg2 d6
image coincidence, for in the ear-
lier game a mate occurred with
White's king on hi and his queen
on a8 while Black's mating force
was 'iff2 and llJg3. In this case
White's mated monarch is on al,
his queen on h8 and Black's victo-
rious army: 'ifc2 and tt:Jb3.
A further example of the theme:
'the thorn-infested path to victory'.
Kmoch-Nimzowitsch
San Remo 1930
Opening? (Embarrassed silence on
the part of the author. I don 't kno}I,' An interesting position. Black's
whether to call it a Queen 's Indian no1111al strategy would be to storm
or King 's Indian.) forwards on the kingside with his
mobile pawns, but the fact that
1 tt:Jf3 tt:Jf6 White's e-pawn is on e2 rather than
2 c4 b6 e4 makes it more difficult for Black
3 g3 g6 to fix on a target. White's no1111al
4 ~g2 ~g7 plan would be to launch a queen-
5 0-0 side advance with b2-b4, c4-c5
Or 5 tt:Je5 c6 followed by ... 'ifc7 etc., breaking into Black's camp at
and ... d7-d6. the sensitive point c7. However, the
5 0-0 absence of White's e-pawn from e4
6 tt:Jc3 ~b7 also exerts an influence over
7 d4 tt:Je4 White's plan of campaign in that
8 tt:Jxe4 ~xe4 (after c4-c5) his d-pawn will be
196 The Crown Prince: Selected Game.51929-1931
deprived of much of its support. Given time Black will also play
In such strategically complex ... g6-g5 with an awesome array of
positions Nimzowitsch excelled. pawns.
Now many of his original ideas 19 b4 axb4
have been absorbed into master 20 axb4 tl:id7
technique or incorporated into If now 21 l:ta 1, to seize the a-
'opening theory'. file, then 2 l ... e4 22 i.d4 exf3 23
13 ..d2 tl:id7 exf3 lfJe5 with manifold threats.
14 f3 White chooses another means of
A useful consolidating move di- aggression.
rected against the mobility of 21 cS
Black's e and f-pawns. This temporary sacrifice of a
14 aS pawn looks most promising since it
IS l::tabl tl:icS exposes a number of weaknesses in
Provocation. Also possible was the black position. However, with
the more solipsistic procedure this move White is walking straight
15 ... l::tt7, 16.....f8 followed by into a combinative ambush - it
... h7-h6 and ... g6-g5. But Nim- could be said that he started out on
zowitsch prefers to encourage ac- the ambush trail when he was lured
tivity from his opponent since he into a queenside advance (with gain
correctly perceives that this very of tempo) by 15 ... tl:ic5, but what
activity will ultimately be White's other choice did White have? Black
undoing. holds the initiative on the king's
16 b3 l::tt7! wing so the only alternative to
queenside activity would be pas-
sive defence. Attractive though its
execution might appear, Nim-
zowitsch had prepared so effi-
ciently for the possibility of a white
queenside advance that the whole
plan of carrying it through could be
classed as a collective error.
30 l:tc2
Or 30 Wel lWe7 31 e3 g5! 32
l:tal (32 fxg5 lWxg5 33 lWg3 l:tg7-
+) 32 ... l:txa l 33 Itxa 1 gxf4 34 exf4
26 gxf4? lWc5+ followed by 35 ... Wxd5 with
26 lbxf4! c4 27 'ti'd4 'ti'a3 28 a good extra pawn (Nimzowitsch).
Wxc4 .it.xf4 29 gxf4 and White has 30 . l:txc2
drawing chances in spite of the 31 lWxc2 .it.xf4
exposed position of the king. Pre- The final point of the combina-
sumably White retained his knight tion. Black wins a pawn and bares
as a comfort for his king, but the the white king. It was also possible
198 The Cro"-n Prince: Selected Games 1929-1931
47 . g4+!
The final shot in Black's arsenal.
48 'it>g2
48 'iii>xg4 f3-+.
48 .. l::tf8
38 e4! 49 l:te7
Nimzowitsch admitted quite The last chance was 49 l:te6+
frankly in his own notes that he had ~g5 50 l:te5+ and 51 l:te7 with
forgotten that this move was legal! some hope left. The text loses.
White's counter-attack against 49 . f3+
Black's f- and h-pawns forces Nim- 50 'iii>f2 J:h8
zowitsch to start all over again. 51 '>t>gl l:ta8
38 .. 'ii'a4 52 J:xc7 J:al+
39 J:e6 l:tti 53 'iii>f2 J:a2+
40 'it>h3 'ii'c2 54 '>t>gl J:g2+
41 'ii'f4 'ii'c3+ 55 'iii>h l l::td2
42 'iii>xh4 'ii'g7 56 'it>gl l:tdl +
43 'it>g3 g5 57 <iif12 l::th 1
The Crown P1ince: Se/ected Game.1 1929-1931 199
development, and not some other, pleted, all is clear for occupation.
short-lived episode (such as the
stay on d5)! Now the white pieces,
especially the two diagonal men,
stand in as modem a guise as can
be wished; one could almost be
tempted to say that each on its own
was misplaced, if their co-
ordination did not make of them
such an awe-inspiring unity.
26 .ltd4
27 l:txh3 'ii'f2
28 l:t3h2
A last farewell to those at home
before the great journey into the
enemy's land begins.
28 ... 'ii'f3
29 l:txh7 'ii'f2
Black's 29th move is ridiculous
22 'it'h4 but he loses anyway, e.g. 29 ... l:td8
I had expected 22 ... .ltxc6 23 30 tllc7 mate; or 29 ... .ltxc6 30
bxc6 .ltxc3+ 24 tllxc3 'ii'c7 where- bxc6 with the horrible threat of 31
upon a queen sacrifice was pre- c7. Finally, 29 ... l:tf7 30 ..txd7+
pared, namely 25 l:txh3 'it'xc6 26 l:txd7 31 tllxd4! followed by 32
'ii'xa5! with a winning attack tllf6+ - RDK.
(26 ... bxa5 27 l:txb8+ ~ 28 30 l:te7+ 'it>d8
l:txh7+ 'it>g6! 29 l:tbb7 l:tg8 30 tlld5 31 l:txd7+ 'it>c8
'iti>g5 31 l:tbf7 threatening 32 tlle7 32 tlle7 mate 1-0
plus 33 l:tf5 mate.
23 l:th2 'it'h5 Sultan Khan-Nimzowitsch
24 l:tgl Liege 1930
24 l:tbhl would also have led to Queen's Indian Defence
a Will.
24 .lth8 1 d4 tllf6
On 24 ... .ltxc3+ 25 tllxc3 'ii'xf3 2 c4 e6
would have come 26 tlld5 (the 3 tllf3 b6
knights assume the bishop's leg- 4 g3 .lta6
acy!) and 27 l:tg7 with destruction. A considerably more dynamic
25 llghl 'it'xf3 and 'problem-setting' move than
26 tlld5 the no1111al 4 ... .ltb7. Nimzowitsch's
The preparations are now com- innovation was subsequently bor-
202 71te C'rown Prince: Selected Game.~ 1929-1931
playing 1 l ... Wc8 and ... Wb7. How- a4. If White tries to block the posi-
ever, aiming for equality, as above, tion with 16 a4 there would follow
probably represented White's most J6 ... lbd4 with possibilities of
realistic course by this stage. steering for the eventual rolling-up:
9 .. bxc5 . .. f7-f5.
10 0-0 0-0 16 lbd2
11 l:tel Nimzowitsch was full of praise
Still angling for e2-e4. for the subtle defensive manoeuvre
11 . 'it'e7 introduced by this move.
Continuing his complex dark- 16 ... lbd4
square strategy, Black will counter 11 lbn
e2-e4 by playing ... e6-e5, followed
by ... lbc6-d4.
12 l:tcl
White probably expected Black
to play ... d7-d5 in the near future
and therefore organised potential
pressure against the hanging pawns
which would come into being after
l 2 ... d5 13 cxd5 exd5.
12 . e5!
Threatening ... e5-e4-e3 with to-
tal disruption. White's hand is
forced.
13 e4 lbc6
14 lb bl Also heading for d5.
Heading for the d5 square. How- 17 . .tc6
ever, there is a qualitative differ- To lend support to ... a5-a4 when
ence in the respective equine occu- the time is ripe.
pations of d5 and d4. White's lbc3- 18 lbe3 'it'b7
d5 can be met by ... .txd5. Black's 19 'it'd3 a4
... lbc6-d4 can be met by lbxd4 20 bxa4
only. After these exchanges Black In the long run White cannot
will possess a dark-square central maintain his b-pawn at b3. It is
pawn-wedge plus a knight, while better to submit to the creation of
White will own a light-square cen- lesser weaknesses at a2 and c4.
tral pawn-wedge plus a light- 20 . ..txa4
squared bishop. In other words, the 21 l:tbl 'it'a7
position, even at this stage, is 22 l:tb2 .tc6
tending towards an ending where 23 l:tebl 'it'c7
Black will have the superior minor Threatening 24 ... l:ta3.
piece. 24 lbb5 'it'd7
14 d6 25 lbdl lbe8
15 lbc3 a5 26 lbdc3 g6
White's b-pawn represents an With the ideas: ... '1le8-g7-e6 and
attractive target for the thrust ... a5- ... f7-f5.
204 The Crown Prince: Selected Games 1929-1931
27 ll'ixd4 cxd4
28 ll'id5 'ii'a7
29 g4
A rather crude method of pre-
venting ... f7-f5, which further
weakens White's dark squares.
Black was better in any case but
this move does help him. After the
text Black decides that the time has
come to liquidate White's knight
(cf. note to 14 tllbl).
29 . .li(.xd5
30 exd5
After the other recapture (30
cxd5) Black would possess a clear, 34 tlld7!
static advantage. The capture cho- But the dark squares come to
sen by White leads to a sharpening Black's rescue. If now 35 l:.xd6
of the struggle in that White now ll'ic5 36 'W'e2 e4! (36 ... :.Xd6? 37
obtains potentially mobile pawns (c 'ii'xe5+ and 38 g5 as before) 37
and d) to compensate for Black's l:xd8 l:.xd8 and W11ite 's passed
central majority. pawns are heavily blockaded (by a
30 .. lt:'if6 dark-squared army corps) while
31 h3 both of Black's aspire to the pro-
And not 31 g5? lt:'ih5 and ... ll'ih5- verbial Field Marshal's baton. 38
f4. .li(.xe4? would lose at once to
31 ... '3;;g7 38 ... l:.e8.
A typical safety precaution. The 35 l:6b5 exf4?
king is more comfortable on g7. Time-trouble! Black could win
32 .l:.b6 at once by means of 35 ... ttlc5! 36
Threatening violence to Black's 'ii'bl ll'ia4 followed by 37 ... ll'ic3, or
d-pawn. If Black does not react 36 'ii'e2 e4. After this slip Black
accurately White may even gain the retains a positional plus, but he can
upper hand. no longer count on rapid victory.
32 l:.fd8 36 l:.d2 ll:le5
33 .l:. lb2 h6! 37 'ii'xd4 'ii'xd4+
Very important. It was impossi- 38 l:xd4 f3?!
ble to play instead 33 ... llld7 on More accurate was 38 ... l:.xa2 39
account of 34 l:txd6 lllc5 35 'ii'e2 l:.xf4 l:tc2 threatening ... l:ta8-a2.
l:.xd6 36 'ii'xe5+ l:f6 37 g5!. Hence 39 .11(.fl l:a4
the significance of Black's 33rd Nimzowitsch did not want to
move. grant counterplay after 39 ... l:txa2
34 f4 40 c5.
'The crisis of the game' (Nim- 40 .l:.d2 ll:ld7
zowitsch). 41 rt;n .l:.a3
It seems as if White must now 42 l:.b3 .l:.da8
seize the initiative. 43 .l:.xf3 ll:lc5
The Crown Prince: Selected Game~ 1929-1931 205
Colle-Nimzowitsch
Frankfurt 1930
Queen's Gambit - Baltic Defence
Nimzowitsch-Ahues
Frankfurt 1930
Nimzowitsch Attack
1 tt:Jf3 dS
2 b3 e6
3 i.b2 lLlf6
4 e3 lLlbd7 '
%
~
5 c4 c6 '
6 tt:Jc3 i.d6
7 c2 Protecting his d-pawn with a
Black has chosen an unpreten- piece in preparation for the long-
tious defensive system which awaited ... e6-e5, but on b6 this
would blossom into something knight is seriously out of play. If
quite promising if ever he were to instead l l ...dxc4 12 bxc4 and then
play ... e6-e5. White's opening I 2 ... e5, White replies 13 e4! with a
strategy revolves around the re- powerful grip on the d5 square, for
straint of this advance, which re- which Black has no corresponding
straint could have been achieved compensation. Now we can see the
quite simply by 7 d4, but Nim- effects of White's subtle 8 lLld4, in
zowitsch insists on adopting a more that the vulnerability of the d5
complex prophylactic method. If square is already causing Black
now 7 ... e5 8 cxd5 cxd5 9 lLlb5 i.b8 some problems.
10 i.a3+-. The most sensible course is
7 probably l l ... b6 followed by
8 tt:Jd4 ... .tb7. Perhaps Black rejected this
A strange move intending to in view of 12 cxd5 followed by 13
parry ... e6-e5 with lLld4-f5 ! . Nim- d4, when it is impossible to avoid
zowitsch is not at all concerned that hanging pawns on c5 and d5 - or
his knight should be chased away an isolated queen's pawn (IQP) if
by ... c6-c5 since the advance of Black prefers.
Black's c-pawn to c5 would result Still, the positions arising from
in a weakening of the support of l l ... b6 would have offered chances
the black d-pawn which, in tum, to both sides. After the text White
would dilute the force of Black's seizes the initiative and maintains it
eventual ... e6-e5. relentles..<>l y until the end of the
8 ... a6 game.
The Crown Prince: S'e/ected Game~ 1929-1931 2()9
lZ:ldxe2 l:tc8 15 l:td2 lZ:lc6 16 l:tadl Now the real struggle begins.
lZ:le5 17 b3 b5 18 h3 e6 19 f4 ltJc6 23 1'..c2!
20 ~ h5 with a very good posi- Thomas is preparing the fol-
tion for Black. But White should lowing fine continuation: 24 l:tde2
have played 11 iLf3! with the ad- l:.ae8 25 1'..a4 b5 26 iLc2 and then
vantage. - RDK) 27 a4; the isolated b-pawn would
10 iLd3! e5 then be hunted down (by l:td2-d6-
Not entirely consolidating! b6).
There arises, in fact, some slight Now it rests with Black to find a
weaknesses on d6 and e5, and the yet finer counter-plan.
bishop itself on g4 comes in a way
to fo1111 a weak point, because it
does not find time to retreat. The
first-class solid move here was
10... iLd7!.
11 lLldf5 g6
12 lLie3 lZ:lbd7
On 12 ... 1'..e6 there would follow
13 iLc4 with discomfort for Black.
But now I surrender the two bish-
ops to the opponent (unfortunate-
ly!).
13 tlJe4 1'..b4+!
14 c3 1'..e7
To provoke c2-c3 can have its 23 . h5!!
significance: the d3 square is weak- 24 l:tde2
ened, and an eventual basis for the On 24 h4 follows 24 ... l:tc8 and
minority attack (= two pawns 25 ... l:tc4.
against three) ... b7-b5-b4 is pro- 24 l:tae8
vided. 25 1'..a4 b5
15 lLixf6+ lZ:lxf6 26 iLc2 h4
16 lLixg4 lZ:Jxg4 27 a4
17 f3 lZ:Jf6 All according to Sir Thomas's
18 1'..h6 [sic] prearranged programme. But
Prevents 18 ... 0-0-0 because of now comes that counterp/ay he has
the reply 19 1'..c4. underestimated.
18 27 . lZ:Jd5!
19 1'..xf8? But not 27 ... lLih5 - why emerges
This move ought to be censured: from the note to White's 29th
correct was 19 1'..g5 1'..g7 20 0-0-0 move.
and the two bishops would have 28 axb5 axb5
continued to trouble the opponent. 29 l:td2
19 . ~xf8 On 29 l:te4 would have come
20 0-0-0 ~g7 29 ... f5 30 l:txh4 lZ:lf4 and wins the
21 l:thel l:the8 exchange. With a knight on h5 in-
22 l:td2 l:.e7 stead of d5 'that doesn't work', for
The C1<Jwn Prince: Selected Games 1929-1931 213
Nimzowitsch-H.Johner
Bern 1931
Nimzo.;itsch Attack
25 g4 f5?
Suicide. Since White threatened
26 g5 trapping his knight 25 ... f6
was by now compulsory.
26 gxf5 gxf5
27 l:te3
Threatening 28 J:tg3+, to which
there is no antidote.
27 . '1Wh4
28 l:tff3 lL'ig4
Or 28 ... 'it>t7 29 e5+-. The text
amounts to resignation.
29 hxg4 fxg4
30 l:.g3 i..xa4
31 lL'if2 h5 9 c3 '1Wa6
32 e5 1-0 White cannot tolerate the pres-
This consummation of White's ence of the enemy queen on the
strategy persuaded Black to aban- powerful a6-fl diagonal. For one
don the unequal struggle. thing White would have difficulty
in castling if the queen were al-
Henneberger-Nimzowitsch lowed to occupy its post unmo-
Winterthur 1931 lested.
Caro-Kann Defence 10 'ii'e2 'ii'xe2+
11 tLlxe2 J:tc8
1 e4 c6 12 0-0 e6
2 d4 d5 13 .ltf4 .lte7
3 lllc3 dxe4 14 l:tfel llld5
4 lllxe4 lllf6 15 .ltg3 c4
5 lL'ig3 c5 16 llle5 lllxe5
6 i..b5+?! 17 .ltxe5 f6
Much stronger is 6 lllf3. The So, White is weak on the light
text weakens White's light squares squares, but why isn't Black corre-
(since his pawns are tending to spondingly weak on the dark
control the central dark squares and squares? Well, one reason is that
cannot readily change their spots) Black's pawn-structure is highly
and furthers Black's development. elastic and it can function as a
6 ... i..d7 light-square aggression mechanism
7 i..xd7+ lL'ibxd7 or as a defender of the dark squares
8 lllf3 '1Wa5+! more or less at will. White's pawn
A far sighted plan. Nimzowitsch fo1111ation is, to a large extent, in-
intends to exchange off all those of flexible. It exerts a minimal (static)
White's pieces which can defend dark-square influence but has very
his light squares. Ideally Black is restricted light-square potential.
aiming to reach the ending: black Those light-square possibilities
knight versus white queen's bishop, which are open to it (a2-a4, f2-f4-
and this he eventually achieves. f5) are not exploited by Henne-
The Crott'n l'rince: Selelted Game.1 1929-1931 219
1 c4 lllf6
2 lllc3 e6
3 e4 d6?
There is no good reason for
Black to choose this move which
positively encourages White to
establish an advantage both in time
and in space. The text is rendered
even less comprehensible by the
realisation that Black has two per-
fectly playable alternatives in 3 ... d5
and 3 ... c5. An example of the latter
move is Rajkovic-Larsen, Hastings
This move prepares a victorious 1972-73: 3 ... c5 4 e5 (was Flohr
onslaught against the white king scared of this? There was no need
involving a preliminary king-march to be since the advance also loos-
(39 ... l:re7 followed by ... <Ji>f7-e8- ens White's position) 4 ... lllg8 5 d4
d8-c7-b7-a8) in conjunction with ... cxd4 6 xd4 lllc6 7 'ii'e4 d6 8 tt:Jf3
g7-g6, ... J:th7 and ... h5-h4. With as! (also pos.sible is 8 ... lllxe5 9
no adequate counter-measure and lllxe5 lllf6 and 10... dxe5 with ap-
dazed by the lavieren White is now proximate equality) 9 exd6 J.xd6
ready to blunder. The end of this 10 J.d3 lllf6 11 ~4 4:\e5 !
game must have come as some- (centralisation - all according to
thing of a relief to White. Nimzowit.<>ch!) 12 tt'lxe5 'ii'xe5+ 13
39 lLlbl lt:Jaxc4 J.e3 ..td7 14 0-0-0 J.c6 and Black
has satisfactorily overcome the might almc)st have been playable.
problems of the opening. 5 ... i..e7
Flohr might have emulated one 6 f3 c6
of Nimzowit<>ch 's own classic vic- 7 ~e3 'ifc7
tories. The game in question was After this Black really does run
from London 1927, and Bogol- out ot constructive plans. I suggest
jubow was White: 3 ... c5 4 g3 d5 5 that Black's last chance of staying
e5 d4 6 exf6 dxc3 7 dxc3 'ii'xf6 8 in the game resided in an immedi-
lLif3 h6 9 i..g2 i..d7 10 tt'id2 .ltc6 ate exchange on d4 (7 ... exd4) fol-
ll lLie4 'ii'g612 'ife2 i..e7 (12 ... f5? lowed by a determined effort to
13 i..f3!) 13 0-0 0-0 14 h4? (14 f4 play ... d6-d5 himself. Whether this
lLid7 15 i..d2=. I have never been would have been successful is an-
able to understand the point of Bo- other matter, but it could hardly
goljubow' s 14th move. It does not have been less promising than the
even contain a threat. Anyway, text.
Nimzowitsch rapidly reduces 8 'ifd2 lLibd7
White's idea - whatever it may
have been - ad absurdum with a
few powerful strokes.) 14 ... f5 15
4Jd2 i..xg2 16 '.t>xg2 lLic6 17 lLif3
f4 18 l:te 1 .l:.f6 19 'ife4 fxg3 20
fxg3 i..d6 21 g4 'ii'xe4 22 lixe4
l:!.af8 23 l:.e3 .U.f4 24 g5 l:!.g4+ 25
'>t>hl hxg5 26 hxg5 '.t>f7 27 ltJg 1
l:.h8+ 28 lLih3 ~e7 29 b3 i..f4 30
.Uf3 lLie5 0-1. A debacle ot the first
order for the man who was to be
the first official challenger to Alek-
hine 's World Championship title.
4 d4 e5
The dismal corollary to his last 9 d5!
feeble move. An important move. Closing the
5 ltJge2 centre reduces Black's counterplay
Nimzowitsch steers for the so- to a minimum. Thus, after 9 ... 0-0,
called Samisch variation of the White could permit himself the
King's Indian Defence which had luxury of playing for mate by
been gaining favour with him in means of 10 g4, 11 ltJg3 etc., and
recent games, but Flohr refuses to Black would be in no state to or-
oblige. This decision on the part of ganise any kind of effective resis-
the (then) young Czech Master is tance.
no great surprise, since (with a 9 lLib6
missing tempo) 5 ... g6 could lead to A wretched square for the poor
a holocaust after 6 dxe5 dxe5 7 beast but Black was afraid to castle.
'if xd8+ ~xd8 8 i..g5 followed by 10 ltJg3 i..d7
f2-f4 and 0-0-0. However, 1o... cxd5 11 cxd5 lllc4? 12 tt'ib5
5 ... ltJbd7 and only then ... g7-g6 and wins.
226 The Cro}in Prince: ,)elected (;ames 1929-1931
Nimzowitsch-Maroczy
Bled 1931
Nimzowitsch Attack
10 .li.xa3 'Wxa3
11 cxdS exdS
12 llla4!
The dark squares c5 and d4 are
now in White's possession.
12 llle4?
To provoke one or other weak-
ening pawn-move. But the white 16 ... aS?
position continues to be compact Weakens the point b6, or, one
even with a pawn-move: Maroczy's should rather say, increases the
style of play can no longer be re- complex of dark-square weak-
garded as being abreast of the nesses, which henceforth includes
modem theories. Instead of the d4, c5 and b6. C()ITect was
move chosen he ought to have 16 ... 'We7 with a defensive position.
played l 2 ... llle5 followed by 17 .li.fS!
l 3 ... .li.d7 in conjunction with a Well played. All pieces which
retreat of the queen to e7 or d6. are not 'dark-squared' are to be
There was no longer any reason to exchanged with such enemy men as
struggle against the occupation of are. Only in this manner can the
the square c5, seeing that he him- superiority be retained.
self on his 9th move has laid the 17 ... 'Wb4
Tl1e c1r>~111 P1ince: ,)efel'f<'d G<ime.1 1929-1931 229
gladly come to a2, it no longer does games versus Ahues and Thomas.
anything. Spielmann avoids this simplifica-
42 axb3 tion, presumably on the ground.<;
43 axb3 d4 that the position would then tend
44 t0xe6 fxe6 towards an aridity distasteful to his
45 J:txcS l:ta2+ style.
46 ~g3 dxe3 6 ~c4 a6
47 .tr.el e2 7 a4 tl'ic6
48 l:teS 1-0 Black has achieved the desired
A game played in good tourna- imbalance and prevented the ad-
ment style by White. vance d2-d4. However, he has also
made some positional concessions
It was in his notes to his other in that his c-pawn may become
encounter with Maroczy from Bled exposed to a white attack by means
(which eventually ended in a draw of d2-d3 and ~e3, when the reply
after Nimzowitsch 's first offer to ... b7-b6 will invite the pe1111anent
split the point had been rejected) threat of a4-a5, breaking up
that Nimzowitsch exhorted the In- Black's queenside pawn structure.
ternational Chess Federation to However, as Nimzowitsch put it
pass legislation to the effect that himself: 'If you want to play to win
any rejection of a draw offer should you must be prepared to create
be couched in a 'thoroughly ami- weaknes..<;es, not only in your oppo-
cable tone', so as to avoid hurting nent's camp, but also in your own!'
the feelings of the spumed initiator 8 d3 g6
of the peace proposal. (RDK)
Spielmann-Nimzowitsch
Bled 1931
Caro-Kann Defence
1 e4 c6
2 tt:Jf3 dS
3 l0c3 dxe4
4 t0xe4 tl'if6
5 l0g3
I think 5 lLixf6+ would be the
automatic choice of most players at
the present time, but that may well
be a matter of taste or fashion Quite provocative. Black actu-
rather than a conclusive testimony ally develops his king's bishop
to the strength of 5 t0xf6+, since away from the protection of his c-
Bronstein, Wade and Andersson pawn, which was possible by
have been achieving good results means of 8 ... e6, etc ....
with the recapture 5 ... exf6. 9 ~e3 ~g7
5 ... cS Relying on ... 'iia5+ to salvage
Inviting the ending from his his c-pawn.
The C'rown Prince: Selected Games 1929-1931 231
the balance by combining light- the correct one for this move then
square prophylaxis with dark- this particular case is covered by
square counter-attack, thus: 24 Nimzowitsch in Chess Praxis:
'ii'f3 ! e6 (intending, as in the game, 'Sins l)f omission committed in the
... ll\e7-d5) 25 ll\e4 threatening 26 central area - such errors are to be
i.f4 or 26 i.g5 followed by the ascribed not only to insufticient
entry of a white minor piece at f6. knowledge of the principles of
Nimzowitsch regarded that course central strategy [hardly the case
as leading to equality. with Spielmann! - RDK], but also
What Spielmann now does leads to a certain mood of panic. And the
to disaster and there are two possi- moral? Well, even in apparently
ble, but conflicting, explanations critical positions a consolidation
for his actual choice ot 24th move: emanating from the centre is often
1) He completely overestimated sufficient; tl1erefore, centralise and
his own position after he had suc- nil de.sperandum ! '
cessfully lured Black's pieces away 24 ... e6
from the proximity of his king, and Of course, Black prepares
therefore felt he was justified in ... ll\e7-d5 and also invites White to
committing an act of extreme vio- compromise himself even further
lence against the opposing mon- with g2-g4.
arch; 25 .:taal
2) He suddenly panicked and
lost all confidence in his position , /.
?: % ' ,
and therefore inaugurated a des-
peration, bluff offensive in the
hope of confusing the issue. Nim-
zowitsch refutes the attack with
such masterly poise that it now
looks as if explanation 2' is the ;~~ ;~~
f~~ Y~~
more likely, but in the heat of the
conflict nothing is so clear and
simple as it looks afterwards to the
annotator so explanation '1' could
equally well be the correct one.
24 f4?
A pseudo-aggressive, loosening The reserve rook scurries back
advance which wrecks his chances for the kingside assault, but it is
of controlling the light squares. In never given the time to complete its
order to pursue his attack White Journey.
will be obliged to loosen his posi- 25 ll\e7
tion even more by advancing his g- 26 g4 lLid5
pawn, thus exposing his position to 27 Itf3 a4
a vicious counterpunch. We can 28 i.d2 ~c6
say this now, but was it so obvious Increasing the pressure along the
at the time? a2-e6 and (now) h l-c6 diagonals
If, in fact, explanation '2' was exerted by the black pieces.
lire Cr(J'..;n P1inl'C': ~elelted Game.1 1929-193 I 2JJ
Copenhagen 1933
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 Nimzowitsch * I/2 I 1 0 I 1 1 5 1/2
2 Stoltz l/2 * l/2 l/2 I 1 l/2 1 5
3 Stahlberg 0 l/2 * I/2 l/2 1 1 I/2 4
4 Andersen 0 I/2 I/2 * 1 I/2 l/2 I 4
5 J. Enevoldsen I 0 l/2 0 * I l/2 1 4
6 J. Nielsen 0 0 0 I/2 0 * l/2 I 2
7 B. Nielsen 0 l/2 0 l/2 l/2 I/2 * 0 2
8 Gemzee 0 0 I/2 0 0 0 I * 1 1/2
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
1 Alekhine * 0 l/2 1/2 I I 1 1 1 1 1 I 1 I I 1 13
2 Euwe I * l/2 1 0 1 l/2 I/2 I I I 1 l/2 1 I 1 12
3 Flohr l/2 l/2 * I/2 I/2 l/2 l/2 1 1 1 I I I I 1 I 12
4 Bogoljubow 1/2 0 I/2 * 1 l/2 1/2 l/2 1 1 I 1 1 I I 1 11 1/2
5 Em. Lasker 0 1 1/2 0 * 1 0 0 l/2 1 I I I 1 1 1 10
6 Bernstein 0 0 I/2 1/2 0 * 1/2 1 1/2 I/2 1/2 1 1 1 1 1 9
7 Nimwwitsch 0 l/2 l/2 l/2 I I/2 * l/2 0 0 1 I l/2 1 I I 9
8 Stahlberg 0 1/2 0 I/2 1 0 l/2 * 112 1
0 I 1 l/2 I l/2 8
9 H. Johner 0 0 0 0 l/2 l/2 1 I/2 * 0 I 1 1 1 l/2 l/2 7 1/2
10 Henneberger 0 0 0 0 0 I/2 1 0 1 * 0 0 1 0 I 1 5 1/2
11 Gygli 0 0 0 0 0 1/2 0 I 0 1 * l/2 0 l/2 l/2 I 5
12 Rosselli 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 I l/2 * 1/2 1 1 1/2 4 1/2
13 Grob 0 1/2 0 0 0 0 I/2 0 0 0 1 l/2 * 0 l/2 1 4
14 Muller 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 l/2 0 1 1/2 0 1 * 0 I 4
15 Naegeli 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1/2 0 1/2 0 1/2 1 * l/2 3
16 Joss 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 I/2 1/2 0 0 l/2 0 0 1/2 * 2
The Cro..,.,,n Prince: .)elected Clam'.\. 1929-1931 235
I Nimzowitsch 6 1/2
2 Lundin 6
3 Stahlberg 51/2
4 J. Enevoldsen 5
5/6 Stoltz 4 1/2
Gemz0e 4 1/2
Stahlberg-Nimzowitsch
Gothenburg 1934 - 1st match game
Nimzo-lndian Defence
1 d4 e6
Inviting transposition to a
And again the d-pawn is block- French Defence, but Stahlberg po-
aded: (strategical) law is law and 1itely declines.
law shall be kept! And the law 2 c4 lbf6
says: 'A passed pawn shall be 3 lbc3 Jtb4
blockaded'. 4 'ir'b3
29 g5 The Spielmann variation which
30 h3 .l:i.gd8 was Stahlberg's favourite line at
31 'it>e3 l:::d4 the time and which he employed
Allows an exchange of rooks, consistently in this match.
whereafter the loss of the d-pawn 4 .. lbc6
can no longer be stopped. But also Rejecting 4 ... c5 which had
after 31 ... 'lt>b7 32 lle5 .l:i.d4 33 brought Nimzowitsch such a re-
llxg5 llxc4 34 l:rg4 the loss of the sounding success versus Bogol-
pawn was inevitable. jubow at San Remo. Nimzowitsch
32 l:te8 J:xe8+ probably feared that Stahlberg had
33 'it>xd4 :td8+ prepared some improvements for
34 'it>c3 l:te8 White over this famous game. In
35 .l:i.xd3 .:e2 the third and fifth games of this
36 :td2 :te3+ match Nimzowitsch did adopt
37 'it>d4 :tel 4 ... c5 and his fears turned out to be
On 37 ... l:te8 there comes 38 l:t.f2 quite justifiable, since Stahlberg
(threatening to play 39 f4) 38 ... .:f8 won on both occasions!
238 Tlze Crown Prince: Selel'ted Game.~ 1929-1931
stronger. The text leads by force to crease their contact and co-
a position characteristic of a mi- operation White's position evinces
nority attack where Black has ~~e a marked and steady deterioration -
traditional kingside counterplay but in other words: White is caught in a
White has no minority attack! strategic pincer-movement, which
17 ... exd5! appears in a particularly plastic
The half-open e-file is essential fo1111.
to Black's attacking plans. 22 'ii'd2 'ii'a5
18 lllbc3 .lta6 23 lllc3 f5
Black's bishop is a good piece 24 llle2 l:tf6
so it might seem strange to prepare 25 'it>h 1!
its exchange for a white knight. A good try. Stahlberg wants to
However, Nimzowitsch wants to manoeuvre his knight to e5 (via g I
reduce White's possibilities by and f3) whence it will shield his
removing a potential blockader of position from frontal assault.
Black's kingside pawns. 25 ... h6
19 llla4 .ltxe2 26 lllgl
20 'ii'xe2 'ii'a7 Overlooking or underestimating
Coming round to support his Black's excellent reply. He should
knight. have played 26 g3.
21 l:tfdl l:tae8! 26 ... f4!
velopment with, e.g. 13 ... .l:tc8. should eventually decide the game
14 l:tcl iie7 in White's favour.
The bishop must retire in this di- After the defensive text Nim-
rection otherwise the pin becomes zowitsch plays with wonderful pre-
unbearable. The possibility of ... g7- cision to bring about an ending
g5 (as an alternative method of which is lost for Black, despite
clearing the pin) hardly comes into initial appearances to the contrary.
consideration. 20 l:txc8 l:txc8
15 'ii'b3 iixf3 21 lLif4!
Consistent but faulty. Better was Much better than the immediate
15 ... 'ii'd7 followed by withdrawal capture. White retains the king's
of the bishop to e6. bishop which will be very powerful
16 gxf3 'it'd7 in the coming ending.
Or 16 ... lLle5 17 l2Jd4 parrying all 21 . 'it'b5
the threats and emphasising There is no really satisfactory
White's positional advantage. After alternative. With this move Black
17 ... tLlxd3 18 'it'xd3 White's con- pins his hopes on the drawing pro-
trol of the f5 square and the possi- pensity of the opposite bishops.
bility of lLld4-f5 would even make 22 'it'xb5 axb5
it worth his while to consider a plan 23 lLlxd5 lLixd5
involving ~h 1, l:tg I and the build- 24 l:txd5 l:ta8
up of pressure on the g-file against 24 ... iixb2 25 .l:txb5 would sim-
g7. ply shed a second pawn. Now after
17 l:tfdl l:tac8 25 l:txb5 l:txa2 26 Ilxb7 ilh4!
18 iixf6! iixf6 grants Black excellent counter-
19 iie4 lLle7 chances, while 25 a3? ilxb2 26
l:txb5 iixa3 27 l:txb7 would make
the win, if indeed there is a win, a
most arduous process. The efficient
method by which Nimzowitsch
solves this technical problem is
most impressive.
25 l:tc5!
Facilitating the entry of the rook
to the 7th rank. Note the immediate
25 l:td7? fails to 25 ... l:.xa2!. Now
25 ... l:txa2?? would allow mate.
25 'it>f8
It makes little difference whether
Black plays ... ii.xb2 at once or
His best chance was the active prefaces it with this move. After
l 9 ... d4! 20 iixc6 l:txc6 21 tt:\xd4 all, Black must waste a move
iixd4 22 exd4 with some play somewhere to deal with the mate
against White's scattered pawns to threat.
make up for White's extra material. 26 Jid5
However, the passed d-pawn Realising another facet of 25
244 l'he Crown Prince: ,()efelted Game.1 1929-1931
Lundin-Nimzowitsch
Stockholm 1934
Queen 's Gambit - Baltic Defence
1 d4 d5
2 l2Jf3 .llf5!
3 c4 e6
4 e3 c6
5 .lld3 .llb4+!
Quite an amusing thought. Black
will play ... l2Jg8-e7. Why? Is the 14 e4 dxe4!
knight not better placed on f6? The Herewith begins a light-square
answer is given in the following campaign of counterplay, which,
note. without the opponent committing
6 l2Jc3 l2Je7 any greater errors, slowly forces
The no1111al moves 'ili'c2 or 'ili'e2, him to his knees. On the other
with the aim of carrying through hand, it would have been danger-
e3-e4, could now be parried as ous for Black to engage in
follows: 7 'ili'c2? dxc4! and the 14 ... .llxg3 15 fx:g3 dxe4 16 l2Jg5
The Cro}vn Prince: Selected Game.1 1929-1931 245
33 .. g6
34 <t>n 'it>g7
A finesse, one rather expects
34 ... 'it>f7. But the case is this, that
on 35 h5 Black reserves for himself
the manoeuvre 35 ... l1h8 36 hxg6
l1hl + 37 'it>g2 l:.bl with conspicu-
ous advantage.
35 'iii>e2 'it>f7
Now that can well be played, for
on 36 h5 winning is 36 ... l1h8 37
After Wxf5 the e4 point becomes hxg6+ 'ltixg6, and the black rook
easy prey for Black. presses 1n anyway.
24 'it'xf5 gxf5 36 'it>d3 tt::lf6
246 The Crown Prince: Selected Game.1 1929-1931
6 lb.b5
The key move of White's open-
ing variation. Lasker follows Alek-
hine 's famous victory over Nim-
zowitsch from San Remo 1930. We have already referred to the
The alternative is 6 a3, e.g. 'odds-giving style', and this move
6 ... .i.xc3 7 .i.xc3 lb.bc6 8 l2\f3 constitutes a further example. In
cxd4 (or 8 ... c4!? 9 .i.e2 b5 10 0-0 My System Nimzowitsch wrote:
.i.d7 11 'ir'd2 a5, Bernstein-Nim- 'Lasker plays by preference - and
zowitsch, also from Zurich 1934) 9 with inimitable virtuosity - this
0..xd4 0..xe5! 10 0..xe6 .i.xe6 11 style. It is this that might make
.i.xe5 0-0 12 .i.d3 lb.c6 13 .i.g3 people believe that the heel of
'ir'f6 with a good game for Black, Achilles lay for Lasker in his
Tringov-Uhlmann, Skopje 1972. treatment of the opening. But such
6 .i.xd2+ a judgement rests on an entire mis-
7 'ir'xd2 0-0 . '
conception.
8 c3 Indeed, 9 g4 is, objectively
As Alekhine played, but Nim- speaking, a rather weak move
zowitsch has prepared some im- which disjoints White's kingside
provements over the intervening pawn constellation in return for the
three years. White dare not loosen nebulous gain of postponing (not
his centre with 8 dxc5 in view of preventing) the unde1111ining thrust
8 ... 0..d7 9 'ir'c3 a6 10 0..d6 'ir'c7 11 ... f7-f6. However, the number of
b4 b6 and White's structure begins games won by Lasker after a sup-
to crumble. It is interesting that the posedly 'inferior' treatment of the
248 The Crown Prince: Selected Game~ 1929-1931
knight on h3, and the knight must 42 ... llie6, which is actually very
emerge into play via h3, if it is go- strong. In fact, Nimzowitsch could
ing to emerge at all, since the black have played ... llie6 on move 40.
knight on d4 denies access to the 41 'Wtd3 lliel+
other egress squares e2 and f3; 42 'Wte2 tt:lg2
3) White's e-pawn is isolated. 43 'it>f3
But this is not to say that the pawn Not 43 'it>d3? tlif4+ 44 tlixf4
is weak, although it does eventually 'it>xf4 45 'it>d4 h4 46 e5 'it>f5 47
fall. The real significance of the 'iiid5 h3 and promotes with check.
'isolani' is quite otherwise: 'It is 43 .. tt:lh4+
not only the isolani itself that tends 44 'it>e3 llig6
to become a weakness, but also the
complex of squares surrounding it.
In this the principal evil is to be
found' (My System, Part II, Chapter
3).
In the course of this ending
Black's control over the e5 square
assumes paramount importance and
is absolutely essential to his plans
for victory.
36 'it>cl cbf6
37 ~d2 ~eS(!)
His Black Majesty occupies
himself by keeping the vital square
wat 111 for his good friend the The point of Nimzowitsch's
knight, who pays him the honour of knight manoeuvre was to get this
a visit there some 12 moves later. piece into contact with e5. It looks
38 'Wte3 hS now as if White's knight has some
39 a3 freedom, but this freedom is illu-
Reinfeld in Hypermodern Chess sory.
claims that White missed a draw 4S lligS
here with 39 llih3 llic2+ 40 'iii>f3 He jumps at the chance after his
tlib4 41 llif4 !. I cannot believe this. years of imprisonment.
Why not 39 tlih3 llie6! when Black 4S .. 'it>f6
achieves the ideal restrictive posi- 46 llih7+ 'it>g7
tion I outlined above?, e.g. 40 llif2 47 lligS 'it>f6
llif4 (and not 40... llig5 41 b4.') 41 48 llih7+ 'it>e7!
c,i(f3 h4! 42 a4 (42 ~e3 b5 43 ~f3 If now 49 ~d4 tt:lf8 ! 50 tt:lgS
llie6 44 ~e3 llic5) 42 ... llie6 43 llie6+-+. A fine example of the
~e3 llic5-+. principle: recu/er pour mieux sau-
39 as ter.
40 llih3 llic2+ 49 llig5 llie5
A tease. If 41 'it'd2 then Threatening 50 ... llic4.
41 ... tlid4 42 ..ti>e3, hoping for repe- so 'it>d4 'it>d6
tition, Black would have to play Sl llih3
The Crown Prince: Selected Gan1e.1 1929-1931 251
Dutch Defence, 41
Dory's Defence, 153
French Defence, 7, 32, 38, 40, 45, 51, 52, 81, 91, 100, 246
King's Gambit, 89
King's Indian Defence, 185
Nimzowitsch Attack (1 b3 / l ll'if3 and 2 b3), 59, 75, 76, 77, 116, 124,
136, 137, 143, 159, 170,208,214,227
Nimzowitsch Defence (1 e4 ll'ic6), JO, 109, 113, 153
Nimzo-Indian Defence, 37, 65, 67, 68, 69, 71, 80, 163, 166, 176. 191, 221
237
Queen's Gambit:
Baltic Defence, 205, 244
254 Index of Openings
Reti's Opening, 74
Ruy Lopez, 82, 88
Haakansson, 51 Reti, 71
Henneberger, 218 Romih, 62, J99
Hilse, 84 Rubinstein, J 0, 69, 95, 129, 136,
170
Johner, H., 214
Johner, P., 65 Salwe, 91
256 Index of Pla_yers
Tarrasch,35,52,85 Yates, 60