An appreciation of Aron Nimzowitsch

@CSKA_Moscou said in #6:
> Hi dear Kc ! I like this blog as well !
> Regarding the game Nimzo' - Menchik, I didn't know it! Vera Menchik was a positional and tactical player, who was close to Capablanca's ideas. I don't know if we can consider Sonja Graf as a hypermodernist, she was more creative and close to certain hypermodern ideas, but her opening choices were more classic in taking the center. Reti respected Tarrasch, and was more moderate than Nimzo regarding the legacy of the older generation. I'm a bit surprised that you don't mention that in the Reti opening, one of his choices was to have an offset "center" using c4 and b4, it was very original and I think the effect can still be useful online, especially for blitzes.

Yep, the main thing I wanted to show from that game was the overprotection of the e5 square - how the Nimzowitsch gambit really is making a gambit out of the concept. Also Nimzo has won another key game there. And Hans Kmoch did a funny fictitious "Immortal overprotection game" on the concept.

@Kingscrusher-YouTube said in #11:
> Yep, the main thing I wanted to show from that game was the overprotection of the e5 square - how the Nimzowitsch gambit really is making a gambit out of the concept. Also Nimzo has won another key game there. And Hans Kmoch did a funny fictitious "Immortal overprotection game" on the concept.

I have not found any epistolary correspondence between Freud and the Hypermodernist leaders, but the ideas of prophylaxis and overprotection come directly from Freud in "Zeitgemässes über Krieg und Tod", where in the essay on death, we find ideas of which it is certain that the hypermodernists were aware and that they have or used them. there would be a kind of symbolic consideration of the game with WW1, a search for decadence and eccentricity in contradiction of absolute theory. and there would perhaps be indirectly a connection between defeat, the checkmate as the death of the King, and human death, hence these concepts of overprotection

Brilliant stuff as always KC - best YouTube chess commentator

Great article, enjoyed reading it

1. The correct transliteration of his name into English is Nimzovich,
2. In my opinion Bogoljubov's style is not close to hypermodernism at all, he was basically a very talented tactician. In fact I'd argue that Alekhine and to a degree even Lasker had more hypermodern elements in their styles than Bogo.
3. I know this is very controversial take but in my opinion My system is not a great book to learn chess from. I've never seen a game of chess won by chess prophylaxis.

@Hagredion said in #15:
> 1. The correct transliteration of his name into English is Nimzovich,

Ok

> 2. In my opinion Bogoljubov's style is not close to hypermodernism at all, he was basically a very talented tactician.

Yes, he was Closer to Idea of Tarrasch and Lasker

> In fact I'd argue that Alekhine and to a degree even Lasker had more hypermodern elements in their styles than Bogo.

Alekhine was not a hypermodernist and he found them "degenerate". Alekhine was an heir of Lasker and his psychological chess, which drew criticism from his contemporaries for being fickle and irregular in tournaments.

> 3. I know this is very controversial take but in my opinion My system is not a great book to learn chess from.

> I've never seen a game of chess won by chess prophylaxis.

eh ? I can show you lots of them, even recent games. op talks about the impact of this book on History and its impact to learn chess

Alekhine even invented a hypermodern opening, the Alekhine defense.

@Hagredion said in #17:
> Alekhine even invented a hypermodern opening, the Alekhine defense.

this is not a hypermodern opening, because the goal of the Alekhine defense is not to control the center indirectly, but only to push White to play boldly to create gaps in the center, and there is no no notion of hypermodern prophylaxis since it is an offensive opening

One must mention Richard Reti's Best games by Golembek
My personal favorite book. His games in this collection are truly poetic. To me the most impactful Hypermodernist.

@CSKA_Moscou said in #18:
> this is not a hypermodern opening, because the goal of the Alekhine defense is not to control the center indirectly, but only to push White to play boldly to create gaps in the center, and there is no no notion of hypermodern prophylaxis since it is an offensive opening

Not sure about that - one hypermodern notion is that occupying the center can be a downside - so for example also in the Kings Indian Defence, and Gruenfeld, the opponent is invited to occupy the center. Later the occupation can be attacked. In the Alekhine defence, there are even fianchetto bishop variations where black later will be hitting the center hard with either d6, or sometimes even a d5 to provoke c5 and then later e5 is dangerous for White's center. A hypermodern opening to me includes things like the Alekhine Defence and Nimzowitsch Defence - as well as the King's Indian Defence and Gruenfeld. Wiki lists some hypermodern openings at: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypermodernism_(chess)

"Hypermodern openings include the Réti Opening, King's Indian Defence, Queen's Indian Defence, Nimzo-Indian Defence, Nimzowitsch Defence, Grünfeld Defence, Bogo-Indian Defence, Old Indian Defence, Catalan Opening, King's Indian Attack, Alekhine's Defence, Modern Defence, Pirc Defence, Larsen's Opening, and to a lesser degree the English Opening." - Wiki

There are quite a few notions of Hypermodern chess - but Breyer captured the idea that occupying the center can be weak with the famous quotation that after 1.e4 White's game is in its last throes.