ARON NIMZOWITSCH (born Nov-07-1886, died Mar-16-1935, 48 years old) Latvia (federation/nationality Denmark) [what is this?] Aron Nimzowitsch was born in Riga, Latvia (then part of the Russian Empire) in 1886. He came to prominence in the chess world just before the First World War. He finished joint second with Rudolf Spielmann, half a point behind Akiba Rubinstein, at San Sebastian (1912). He was Russian Champion in 1913 (jointly with Alexander Alekhine) at St. Petersburg. Like Alekhine and others, he fled Russia after the 1917 Russian revolution. He initially moved to Berlin. In 1922, he finally settled in Copenhagen, Denmark, where he lived for the rest of his life. Nimzowitsch won a string of international events in the mid-1920s which led him to challenge Jose Raul Capablanca to a world championship match in 1925, but negotiations dissolved after monetary backing could not be found. He took first place at Copenhagen (1923), Dresden (1926), Karlsbad (1929) and Frankfurt (1930). Nimzowitsch's chess theories flew in the face of convention. He had a lengthy and bitter conflict with Siegbert Tarrasch over which ideas constituted proper chess play. While Tarrasch refined the classical approach of Wilhelm Steinitz, that the center had to be controlled and occupied by pawns, Nimzowitsch shattered these dogmatic assumptions, and proposed the controlling of the center with pieces from afar. In this way, the opponent is invited to occupy the center with pawns which thus become the targets of attack. This idea became known as the hypermodern school of chess thought. Nimzowitsch, along with other hypermodern thinkers such as Richard Reti, revolutionized chess with their argument that controlling the center of the board matters more than actually occupying it. Nimzowitsch is also a highly-regarded chess writer, most famously for his controversial 1925 book My System, which is considered a classic by some prominent modern players but derided by others. Other books include Chess Praxis, which further expounds the hypermodern idea, and the seminal work The Blockade (Die Blockade in German), which explores the strategy implied by his famous maxim, "First restrain, then blockade, finally destroy!" As a profound opening theoretician, Nimzowitsch has left a legacy of variations, many of which are still popular today. The Nimzo-Indian Defense (1.d4 ♘f6 2.c4 e6 3.♘c3 ♗b4) is one of the best-respected defenses to 1.d4, to such an extent that most players avoid it with 3.Nf3 or 3.g3. He played a key role in the development of two important lines in the French Defense: the Winawer Variation (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.♘c3 ♗b4) and the Advance Variation (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5). His name is also attached to the Sicilian, Nimzovich-Rubinstein (B29) Variation (1.e4 c5 2.♘f3 ♘f6), the Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack (1.♘f3 followed by 2.b3), the Nimzowitsch Defense (1.e4 ♘c6), and the Nimzo-English (1.c4 ♘f6 2.♘c3 e6 3.♘f3 ♗b4). He suddenly took ill at the end of 1934, and died of pneumonia three months later on March 16, 1935 in Copenhagen. Wikipedia article: Aron Nimzowitsch Last updated: 2023-06-27 11:05:43

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page 1 of 29; games 1-25 of 713  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. A Nimzowitsch vs NN 1-0 18 1896 Riga B01 Scandinavian 2. E Schroeder vs A Nimzowitsch 0-1 20 1903 Cafe Kaiserhof offhand game C63 Ruy Lopez, Schliemann Defense 3. B Blumenfeld vs A Nimzowitsch 1-0 29 1903 Berlin C45 Scotch Game 4. Tarrasch vs A Nimzowitsch ½-½ 71 1904 Offhand game D07 Queen's Gambit Declined, Chigorin Defense 5. E Cohn vs A Nimzowitsch 0-1 30 1904 14th DSB Congress - Hauptturnier A C41 Philidor Defense 6. Vidmar vs A Nimzowitsch 1-0 48 1904 14th DSB Congress - Hauptturnier A D02 Queen's Pawn Game 7. A Nimzowitsch vs W Hilse 1-0 65 1904 14th DSB Congress - Hauptturnier A C27 Vienna Game 8. B Gregory vs A Nimzowitsch 1-0 36 1904 14th DSB Congress - Hauptturnier A A30 English, Symmetrical 9. P Kaegbein vs A Nimzowitsch 1-0 42 1904 14th DSB Congress - Hauptturnier A D07 Queen's Gambit Declined, Chigorin Defense 10. A Nimzowitsch vs Duras 1-0 55 1904 14th DSB Congress - Hauptturnier A B15 Caro-Kann 11. A Nimzowitsch vs L Forgacs 0-1 52 1905 Austro-Hungarian championship C45 Scotch Game 12. A Nimzowitsch vs Schlechter 0-1 26 1905 Austro-Hungarian championship B22 Sicilian, Alapin 13. H Wolf vs A Nimzowitsch ½-½ 34 1905 Austro-Hungarian championship C63 Ruy Lopez, Schliemann Defense 14. L Forgacs vs A Nimzowitsch   0-1 34 1905 Austro-Hungarian championship C63 Ruy Lopez, Schliemann Defense 15. A Nimzowitsch vs Albin 1-0 38 1905 Austro-Hungarian championship B02 Alekhine's Defense 16. A Nimzowitsch vs Spielmann 1-0 42 1905 Nimzowitsch - Spielmann, 1st Match C45 Scotch Game 17. A Nimzowitsch vs Spielmann 1-0 20 1905 Cafe Orlando di Lasso offhand C44 King's Pawn Game 18. Spielmann vs A Nimzowitsch 1-0 19 1905 Nimzowitsch - Spielmann, 1st Match B15 Caro-Kann 19. A Nimzowitsch vs Spielmann   1-0 35 1905 Nimzowitsch - Spielmann, 1st Match C45 Scotch Game 20. A Nimzowitsch vs Spielmann ½-½ 36 1905 Nimzowitsch - Spielmann, 1st Match C45 Scotch Game 21. A Nimzowitsch vs K Satzinger   1-0 35 1905 1st simul B22 Sicilian, Alapin 22. A Nimzowitsch vs Fr Teltscher 1-0 28 1905 1st simul B20 Sicilian 23. A Nimzowitsch vs D Przepiorka ½-½ 25 1905 Barmen Meisterturnier B B22 Sicilian, Alapin 24. Spielmann vs A Nimzowitsch 1-0 30 1905 Barmen Meisterturnier B C25 Vienna 25. A Nimzowitsch vs L Forgacs 0-1 33 1905 Barmen Meisterturnier B C45 Scotch Game  page 1 of 29; games 1-25 of 713

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< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 74 OF 76 ·  Later Kibitzing> Jan-13-16    bunbun: where is the joke game annotated in the style of Nimzo.."all these moves are my intellectual property", "you cannot be faulted for not understanding" lol Jan-13-16    disasterion: <bunbun> The immortal overprotection game: Nimzowitsch vs Systemsson, 1927 Jan-13-16    bunbun: YES!!! thank you disasterion :) Mar-16-16    TheFocus: Rest in peace, Aron Nimzowitsch!!! Mar-16-16    Granny O Doul: Now you've gone and woken him up. Jun-20-16    bamonson: keypusher: <WhiteRook48: Nimzowitsch once played a game of live chess against Capablanca. The pieces were humans, and Capablanca's queen was a comely film actress. He sensed that the Cuban wanted to retain her on the board at all costs, so he would have a chance to meet her later. Slyly, Nimzowitsch constantly tried to force an exchange of queens, to which the the champion spurned at great disadvantage. It may have been the only time "Nimzo" ever had "Capa" on the run.> Assiac tells a similar story, but with unnamed chess masters. Supposedly whoever is smitten with the chess queen notices that the "pieces" are leaving after they are removed from the board, so he decides to keep the queen on at all costs, moving her to and fro and getting a worse position all the time. He finally resigns and runs to the queen and asks her out for dinner. She says, no, she's "dead beat" from moving around so much and is going home to bed. The only living pieces game of Capablanca's I know of is this one, which was apparently pre-arranged. Capablanca vs H Steiner, 1933" --- I'm curious where Whiterook48 found this anecdote. I found the same anecdote, worded a little differently, by George Koltinowski in one of his Chess Chat columns from September 1966. He also claims it was Nimzovich and Capablanca in the living chess match, but does not cite where this information came from, just that it was a "pre-war" game. Kolty was entertaining but not known for getting his facts straight. Assiac, by contrast, is a much more reliable historian. He cites the story as from the "NEW STATESMAN AND NATION" but does not give a date, though clearly it was pre-1951. Presumably he would surely have mentioned Capa and Nimzovich had they been mentioned in the article. Anyone have additional information? Jun-20-16    TheFocus: It is a hoax. Aron and Jose did not play that live game. Jun-21-16    bamonson: TheFocus: It is a hoax. Aron and Jose did not play that live game. I'm not sure 'hoax' is the right word. I agree Nimzo and Capa didn't actually play *this* game. I think it's more apt to be two different stories meshed together. What I'm looking for are the original sources. I cited one, the "NEW STATESMAN AND NATION" but there must be something else. Jul-09-16    Ron: <The great mobility of the King forms one of the chief characteristics of all endgame strategy. In the middle game the King is a mere 'super', in the endgame on the other hand - one of the 'principals'. We must therefore develop him, bring him nearer to the fighting line> - Aron Nimzowitsch. Ron says: Steinitz was making that point decades before Nimzowitsch. Aug-17-16    whiteshark: <The Life and Chess of Aron Nimzowitsch> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GISE... Sep-29-16    Ron: Back in the 1990s, one of the coffee houses where I played chess got a new patron, and he read _My System_. That new patron then proceeded to overprotect in each of his first couple chess games! That seemed kinda silly to me. But I got useful ideas from Nimzo. For example, the way to play against a hyper-modern defense is to occupy the center and over-protect it. I was known as being skillful with my knights. When analyzing over the board, I look to see what I can achieve by moving the same knight in each of my next two moves. Or even in each my next three moves. I think that was in the spirit of Nimzo (and Petrosian). Sep-29-16    brankat: Steinitz: "I make my King fight." Nov-07-16    parisattack: Happy Birthday, Herr Nimzowitsch. Tempus fugit but the ideas of the Stormy Petrel of Chess live on. Nov-07-16    TheFocus: Happy birthday, Stormy Petrel!! One of my favorite players!! And Player of the Day. Nov-07-16    dashjon: Happy Birthday Herr Grossmaster May-27-17    whiteshark: <Hypermodern Poem> I bought a book by Nimzowitsch But to me it made no sense For I thought that a prophylactic Was a form of French Defence. J Hayes Source: http://www.kingpinchess.net/2013/10... :) May-27-17    RookFile: You can get all the benefits of Nimzo without the baloney just by studying Petrosian's games. Petrosian was stronger tactically and played more dynamically - but of course, prophylatic play, overprotection, etc. are very much to be found in Petrosian's games. May-27-17    Ron: You know, I always get a kick out of reading <RookFile>'s posts on Nimzowitsch. May-29-17    whiteshark: <Quote of the Day> "The <old dogmas>, such as the ossified teaching on the center, the worship of the open game, and in general the whole formalistic conception of the game, <who bothers himself today> about any of these? " -- Nimzowitsch May-29-17    Sally Simpson: Hi Rookfile, The irony is that Petrosian picked up loads from Nimzovitch. From an Edward Winter review of 'The Games of Tigran Petrosian, Volume I, 1942-1965,' compiled by Eduard Shekhtman " His reminiscences repeatedly stress the influence of Nimzowitsch, whose Chess Praxis was the first serious chess book which he studied. For Petrosian, that volume was ‘not a work of reference but a book kept under my pillow – a bedtime story for a chess child’" http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/... I've thumbed through 'Chess Praxis' only playing over a handful of games. But that kind of proven endorsement is encouraging. Here we have a player who we know got to be one of the greats and that book, in Petrosian's own words, helped a great deal. Much better than a review on any recent primer book on chess. How will we ever know if it is any good till someone 40-50 later says "Yes, this book helped me tremendously." I know Nimzovitch liked using 'baloney' but in some cases it does work. I know I got the fact that it's not good to shed what imitative you may have by creating a weakness in the enemy position unless you can attack it. His explanation that how will you know a man sitting down has severe limp unless you can throw something at him so he chases you. Finally sunk that one in. May-29-17    Gypsy: If I were to believe in re-incarnation, I would by now have a strong suspicion that <Rookfile> is in fact a Nimzo re-incarnate. May-29-17    Nietzowitsch: People who create their own drama deserve their own <karma>. Jul-17-17    RookFile: The threat is always stronger than the execution. Jul-18-17    RookFile: So I know that Petrosian studied from Nimzo. He did a good job of taking what was useful, and also adding a more dynamic content to his game than what Nimzo had. Nov-07-17    parisattack: 'Blessed with a catchy prefix' - Larry Evans, MCO 10. Happy Birthday, Nimzo! Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 76) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 74 OF 76 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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