Nimzowitsch MBM - Extract
Nimzowitsch MBM - Extract
Nimzowitsch MBM - Extract
Nimzowitsch
move by move
www.everymanchess.com
Contents
About the Author
Bibliography
Series Foreword
Introduction
12
79
114
158
231
Index of Openings
277
Index of Opponents
278
Series Foreword
The Move by Move format is designed to be interactive, and is based on questions asked by
both teachers and students. It aims as much as possible to replicate chess lessons. All
the way through, readers will be challenged to answer searching questions and to complete exercises, to test their skills in key aspects of the game. Its our firm belief that practising your skills like this is an excellent way to study chess.
Many thanks go to all those who have been kind enough to offer inspiration, advice and
assistance in the creation of Move by Move. Were really excited by this series and hope that
readers will share our enthusiasm.
John Emms,
Everyman Chess
Introduction
Although he was neither world champion, nor even a direct world championship challenger, Aron Nimzowitsch was one of the most important and influential players in chess
history. He belongs to that select band of players (the other main one, ironically enough,
being his arch-enemy Tarrasch) who have influenced the development of chess style as
much (or more) by their writings than by their play. His books The Blockade, My System and
Chess Praxis have had an enormous influence on the game, and until the computer became the main source of chess experience for the present generation of players, it was
hard to find any strong player who had not read these books.
Given the wealth of literature on Nimzowitsch (see the Bibliography for the main
sources used in this book), I see no point in giving too much biographical information here.
Suffice it to say that he was born on 7th November 1886 (new style) into a Jewish family in
the city of Riga, which was then part of the Russian Tsarist Empire. Of course, Nimzowitschs name is indelibly associated with Denmark, but he did not settle in that country
until after the First World War. Bent Larsen, who was greatly influenced by Nimzowitsch,
famously joked that while he doubted that there really was a Soviet School of Chess (How
can Tal and Petrosian belong to the same school?), there is a Danish school, even if it was
founded by a Jew from Riga!.
Although a strong master before the Great War, it was in the mid-1920s that Nimzowitsch really started to flourish as a player, and was one of the top 4-5 players in the world
during the late 1920s and early 1930s. However, like some other possible challengers of the
pre-1948 period, he was destined never to get a shot at the world championship, although
it is probably fair to say that his eccentric and somewhat unstable play would not have
given him much chance in a match against such titans as Capablanca or Alekhine. He died
in Denmark on March 16th, 1935, at the sadly early age of 48.
As a player, Nimzowitsch is inextricably associated with the Hypermodern School, that
group of highly gifted young masters (including also Rti and Breyer), who emerged to
prominence after 1918, with their revolutionary ideas regarding chess strategy. These masters challenged the accepted idea that 1 e4 and 1 d4 were the only truly correct opening
moves, and more generally the theory that one should seek to occupy the centre with pawns
in the opening. They developed new opening systems, based on piece control of the centre
from a distance, and propagated their ideas in what became classic works of chess literature,
such as Rtis Modern Ideas in Chess and Nimzowitschs My System and Chess Praxis.
10
Introduction
annotations, both by Nimzowitsch himself and other contemporaries. Then, just weeks
before I put pen to paper (or, more accurately, fingers to keyboard), New in Chess published German enthusiast Rudolf Reinhardts similar volume, Aron Nimzowitsch 1928-1935,
which did much the same job for Nimzowitschs later years. Admittedly, there is a gap of
four years between the periods covered by these two volumes, but they were both enormously useful nonetheless, and the chess world owes their authors a profound debt of
gratitude for many years of painstaking research.
This has been a very enjoyable book to write, and I hope my readers will derive similar
pleasure from reading it. Nimzowitsch was a great player, whose best games are wonderfully instructive and also highly entertaining. The reader will find powerful attacks, fearless
defences, the deepest positional manoeuvres and filigree endgame technique. Most amazing of all are some of the positions Nimzowitsch was able to bring about I know of no
other master who could so often reduce opponents to zugzwang on a full board, or achieve
such visually striking positions, often even against opponents of the front rank. Enjoy!
Steve Giddins
Rochester, Kent,
May 2014
11
Game 4
A.Nimzowitsch-A.Olson
Copenhagen 1924
Sicilian Defence
1 f4 c5 2 e4
Transposing into a position, which became quite popular in the 1980s, thanks to the efforts of various English players, principally Mark Hebden.
2...c6
Eventually, it was established that the gambit 2...d5 3 exd5 f6! is quite promising for
Black, as a result of which the popularity of 2 f4 has declined markedly.
3 d3!?
A very modest approach by White, but one which conceals a specific and quite revolutionary idea for the time. The usual move is 3 f3.
3...g6 4 c4!?
W________W
[rDb1kgn4]
[0pDp0pDp]
[WDnDWDpD]
[DW0WDWDW]
[WDPDP)WD]
[DWDPDWDW]
[P)WDWDP)]
[$NGQIBHR]
W--------W
Question: This looks a strange way to play. White moves
only pawns, and creates a hole on d4. What is he playing at?
Answer: Nimzowitsch himself was very proud of this idea, and awards his last move two
exclamation marks. Objectively, of course, that is a wildly hyperbolic piece of punctuation,
but in some ways, the move 4 c4 does deserve to be hailed as something quite extraordinary. As usual with Nimzowitsch, prophylactic thinking lies at its heart.
Question: You mean he wants to stop Black playing ...d5?
Answer: No, no, nothing so crude. As Nimzowitsch himself points out, there is no hope of
42
W________W
[rDW1W4kD]
[0pDbhpgp]
[WDW0pDpD]
[DWDWDWDW]
[WDW0P)WD]
[DWDPDW)P]
[P)PDNDBD]
[$WGQDRIW]
W--------W
Looking at this structure, we can see that, as a result of the exchange, White has a
marked weakness on c2. Black has the obvious plan of putting his rooks on the open c-file,
pressing against the backward c2-pawn. For this reason, White usually cannot afford to
exchange off the d4-knight in such positions, but must either live with it, or go to elaborate
lengths to remove it, by moving his knight from c3 and then playing c2-c3.
But now imagine the last position, but with the white pawn on c4.
W________W
[rDW1W4kD]
[0pDbhpgp]
[WDW0pDpD]
[DWDWDWDW]
[WDP0P)WD]
[DWDPDW)P]
[P)WDNDBD]
[$WGQDRIW]
W--------W
43
W________W
[rDW1kDn4]
[0bDp0pgp]
[W0nDWDpD]
[DW0WDWDW]
[WDPDP)WD]
[DWHPDNDW]
[P)WDWDP)]
[$WGQIBDR]
W--------W
7 g4!?
Question: Goodness me! That looks pretty extravagant.
44
W________W
[rDW1kDW4]
[0bDphpgp]
[W0nDpDpD]
[DW0WDWDW]
[WDPDP)PD]
[DWHPDNDW]
[P)WDWDB)]
[$WGQIWDR]
W--------W
9 b5?!
Another very surprising move, fully in accordance with Nimzowitschs predilection for
such bizarre moves.
Question: He threatens 10 d6+?
Answer: Yes, but that is easily dealt with by the reply in the game. Nimzowitsch explains
that the real purpose of b5 is to weaken b6.
Question: What?
Answer: That is right! The idea is that Black will sooner or later be unable to resist kicking
the knight away by ...a6, which will weaken the b6-pawn.
Question: But that can hardly matter, surely?
Answer: I am inclined to agree that it looks a bit fanciful, but Nimzowitsch was so pleased
with himself that he again gave the move two exclamation marks! However, I would suggest that the straightforward 9 0-0 would be the choice of most players.
9...d6 10 0-0 a6
45
W________W
[rDW1kDW4]
[DbDWhpgp]
[p0n0pDpD]
[DW0WDWDW]
[WDPDP)PD]
[HWDPDNDW]
[P)WDWDB)]
[$WGQDRIW]
W--------W
11...0-0
Question: Cant Black play more energetically than this?
Answer: Yes, indeed, and possibly he should. The computer likes the counterattack 11...h5!?
12 g5 and now 12...c7, intending long castling. After 13 b1 0-0-0 14 d2 d5! Black looks
to be doing fine, which just underlines the rather eccentric nature of Whites 9th move.
12 e2 d7 13 e3 b4!?
Nimzowitsch writes: Otherwise there follows ad1 and d4, with advantage to White,
but this seems rather an optimistic assessment. I dont see any problems at all for Black
after either counterblow in the centre, with 13...f5 or 13...d5.
14 c2!
46
W________W
[rDWDW4kD]
[DbDqhpgp]
[p0W0pDpD]
[DW0WDWDW]
[WhPDP)PD]
[DWDPGNDW]
[P)NDQDB)]
[$WDWDRIW]
W--------W
Question: Doesnt this lose a pawn?
Answer: Yes, it is a positional sacrifice, which, Nimzowitsch says, ...is only possible because
b6 is undefended. Tactically, this is true, but it seems a rather slim justification for the
rather fanciful manoeuvre b5-a3-c2.
14...xb2 15 ab1 c3 16 xb4 xb4
16...cxb4 17 xb6 is the point of Nimzowitschs play.
Question: What does White have for his pawn?
Answer: Nimzowitschs idea is that, in order to hang on to the extra pawn without losing
b6 in return, Black has been forced to misplace his dark-squared bishop, which in turn
leaves his kingside dark squares weakened.
17 c1?!
Question: This looks rather slow!
Answer: It does, although it was all part of Nimzowitschs plan, and earns another exclamation mark from him. However, the direct 17 f5 is certainly a more natural way to follow up
the pawn sacrifice, and leaves White with reasonable compensation after 17...exf5 18 gxf5.
17...f6 18 b2 e5?
47
W________W
[rDWDW4kD]
[DbDqhWDp]
[p0W0W0pD]
[DW0W0WDW]
[WgPDP)PD]
[DWDPDNDW]
[PGWDQDB)]
[DRDWDRIW]
W--------W
Question: What is wrong with this? It looks logical to shut out the enemy bishop.
Answer: It is in principle, but tactically, the blockade on e5 can be undermined. I think Black
should just get on with something on the queenside, such as 18...b5, which has the merit of
removing the weakness on b6. I assume Nimzowitsch would have played something such
as 19 g5 fxg5 20 xg5, trying to attack the dark squares, but it is not particularly convincing after, for example, 20...h6 21 h3 d5.
19 g5!
Hammering away at the dark squares.
19...c6?!
Nimzowitsch gives 19...fxg5 20 xg5 (threatening h3) 20...c6 21 f5. This certainly
gives White compensation, but is no worse for Black than the game.
20 gxf6
Now the barricades on the long dark-square diagonal a1-h8 start to crumble, and the
fact that the black bishop on b4 is out of play really begins to be felt.
20...g4
20...xf6 21 fxe5 dxe5 22 xe5 xf1+ 23 xf1 xe5 24 f6 is winning for White a
striking illustration of how quickly Blacks position can collapse, once the long diagonal is
opened.
21 fxe5 dxe5
48
W________W
[rDWDW4kD]
[DbDWDWDp]
[p0nDW)pD]
[DW0W0WDW]
[WgPDPDqD]
[DWDPDNDW]
[PGWDQDB)]
[DRDWDRIW]
W--------W
22 e3!
An excellent move, which unpins the knight and aims the white queen at the weakened
kingside dark squares. White has conjured up a winning attack, almost from nowhere.
22...h5
22...xf6 23 xe5 xf1+ 24 xf1 xe5 25 xe5 e6 26 a1 is no better. Then, after
26...e7 White has a choice between 27 f2 and the more striking 27 c1! when Black is
defenceless against the queen and bishop battery on the long diagonal.
23 g5 c8 24 f7+ g7
W________W
[rDbDW4WD]
[DWDWDPip]
[p0nDWDpD]
[DW0W0WHq]
[WgPDPDWD]
[DWDP!WDW]
[PGWDWDB)]
[DRDWDRIW]
W--------W
Exercise: Can you spot a neat way to crown the attack?
Answer: 25 f4!!
The prelude to a delightful finish.
49
Game 5
A.Nimzowitsch-A.Rubinstein
Berlin 1928
Rti Opening
1 f3 d5 2 b3 f5
Unlike Wolf in Game 3, Rubinstein seizes the opportunity to develop his bishop outside
the pawn chain, rather than shutting it in with ...e6. However, as we will see, the harassing
of this bishop forms a major part of Whites subsequent plan.
3 b2 e6 4 g3 h6
50