[blind-chess] Annotated Game #080: Friedrich Saemisch - Aron Nimzowitsch, Copenhagen 1923
- From: "Roderick Macdonald" <rjmacdonald@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Blind-Chess Mailing List" <blind-chess@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 26 Feb 2012 12:58:52 -1000
Annotated Game #080:
Friedrich Saemisch - Aron Nimzowitsch, Copenhagen 1923
Adapted and Condensed from
Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
Contents:
++1. Friedrich Saemisch
++1.A Main results
++1.B Contributions to opening theory
++2. Aron Isaevich Nimzowitsch
++2.A Life
++2.B Chess career
++2.C Legacy
++2.D Personality
++2.E Notable chess games
++3. Friedrich Saemisch - Aron Nimzowitsch, Copenhagen 1923
++1. Friedrich Saemisch
Friedrich (Fritz) Saemisch (September 20, 1896 - August 16, 1975)
was a German chess grandmaster (1950).
++1.A Main results
* 2nd at Berlin 1920
* 1st at Vienna, Austria in 1921 (champion of the first,
although unofficial, Austrian Chess Championship), above
Euwe, Breyer, Gruenfeld and Tartakower
* 2nd at Hamburg 1921
* equal 2nd with Tartakower, after Nimzowitsch, at Copenhagen
1923
* 3rd at Baden-Baden 1925, after Alexander Alekhine and Akiba
Rubinstein
* equal 1st with sir George Thomas at Spa, Belgium, 1926
* 1st at Dortmund 1928, above Reti, Johner and Bogoljubov
* equal 1st with Reti at Bruenn 1928
* 1st at Swinemuende 1930
In 1922 he won a match in Berlin against Reti (+4 -1 =3).
Perhaps his most famous game is his loss to Nimzowitsch at
Copenhagen 1923 in the Immortal Zugzwang Game. He also played many
beautiful games though, one of them being his win against Gruenfeld
at Carlsbad 1929, which won a brilliancy prize. In the same
tournament he also won against Capablanca. The great Cuban lost a
piece in the opening but did not resign, which usually happens in
such cases in grandmaster games, but to no avail, this disadvantage
being too much also for a player of his class.
At the age of 73 Saemisch played a tournament in memoriam of Adolf
Anderssen in Buesum, Germany, and another tournament in Linkvping,
Sweden, but lost all games in both events (fifteen in the former
and thirteen in the latter) on time control.
++1.B Contributions to opening theory
Saemisch is today remembered primarily for his contributions to
opening theory. Two major opening lines are named after him:
* a variation of the King's Indian: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3
Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3
* a variation of the Nimzo-Indian: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3
Bb4 4. a3
++2. Aron Isaevich Nimzowitsch
Aron Isaevich Nimzowitsch (born Aron Niemzowitsch and also known as
Aaron Nimzovich) (November 7, 1886 - March 16, 1935) was a Latvian-
born Danish unofficial chess grandmaster and a very influential
chess writer. He was the foremost figure amongst the hypermoderns.
++2.A Life
Born in Riga in Livonia, then part of the Russian empire, the
Jewish German-speaking Nimzowitsch came from a wealthy family,
where he learned chess from his father, who was a merchant. In
1904, he traveled to Berlin to study philosophy, but set aside his
studies soon and began a career as a professional chess player that
same year. He won his first international tournament at Munich
1906. Then, he tied for first with Alexander Alekhine at St.
Petersburg 1913/14 (the eighth All-Russian Masters' Tournament).
During the 1917 Russian Revolution, Nimzowitsch was in the Baltic
war zone. He escaped being drafted into one of the armies by
feigning madness, insisting that a fly was on his head. He then
escaped to Berlin, and gave his first name as Arnold, possibly to
avoid anti-Semitic persecution.
Nimzowitsch eventually moved to Copenhagen in 1922, which coincided
with his rise to the world chess elite, where he lived for the rest
of his life in one small rented room. In Copenhagen, he won twice
Nordic Chess Championship in 1924 and 1934. He obtained Danish
citizenship and lived in Denmark, until his death in 1935. Although
he had long suffered from heart trouble, his early death was
unexpected, taken ill suddenly at the end of 1934, he lay bedridden
for three months before dying of pneumonia. He is buried in
Bispebjerg Cemetery in Copenhagen.
++2.B Chess career
The height of Nimzowitsch's career was the late 1920s and early
1930s. Chessmetrics places him as the third best player in the
world, behind Alexander Alekhine and Jose Capablanca, from 1927 to
1931. His most notable successes were first-place finishes at
Copenhagen 1923, Marienbad 1925, Dresden 1926, Hannover 1926, and
the Carlsbad 1929 chess tournament, and second place behind
Alekhine at the San Remo 1930 chess tournament. Nimzowitsch never
developed a knack for match play, though; his best match success
was a draw with Alekhine, but the match was only two games long and
was in 1914, thirteen years before Alekhine became world champion.
Nimzowitsch never won against Capablanca, but fared better against
Alekhine. He even beat Alekhine with the black pieces, in their
short 1914 match at St. Petersburg. One of Nimzowitsch's most
famous games is his celebrated immortal zugzwang game against
Saemisch at Copenhagen 1923. Another game on this theme is his win
over Paul Johner at Dresden 1926. When in form, Nimzowitsch was
very dangerous with the black pieces, scoring many fine wins over
top players.
++2.C Legacy
Nimzowitsch is considered one of the most important players and
writers in chess history. His works influenced numerous other
players, including Savielly Tartakower, Milan Vidmar, Richard Reti,
Akiba Rubinstein, Bent Larsen, and Tigran Petrosian, and his
influence is still felt today.
He wrote three books on chess strategy: Mein System (My System),
1925, Die Praxis meines Systems (The Practice of My System), 1929,
commonly known as Chess Praxis, and Die Blockade (The Blockade),
1925. The last of these has just been reissued in a volume
containing both the German original and the English translation
published by Hardinge Simpole. However, much that is in it is
covered again in Mein System. It is said that 99 out of 100 chess
masters have read Mein System; consequently, most consider it to be
Nimzowitsch's greatest contribution to chess. It sets out
Nimzowitsch's most important ideas, while his second most
influential work, Chess Praxis, elaborates upon these ideas, adds
a few new ones, and has immense value as a stimulating collection
of Nimzowitsch's own games, even when these games are more
entertaining than instructive.
Nimzowitsch's chess theories flew in the face of convention. While
there were those like Alekhine, Emanuel Lasker, and even Capablanca
who did not live by Tarrasch's rigid teachings, the acceptance of
Tarrasch's ideas, all simplifications of the more profound work of
Wilhelm Steinitz, was nearly universal. That the center had to be
controlled by pawns and that development had to happen in support
of this control -- the core ideas of Tarrasch's chess philosophy --
were things every beginner thought to be irrefutable laws of
nature, like gravity.
Nimzowitsch shattered these assumptions. He discovered such
concepts as overprotection (the least important of his ideas from
a modern standpoint though still interesting and sometimes
applicable), control of the center by pieces instead of pawns,
blockade, and prophylaxis -- playing to prevent the opponent's
plans. He was also a leading advocate and exponent of the
fianchetto development of the bishops. Nimzowitsch also formalised
strategies using open files, outposts and invasion of the seventh
rank, all of which are widely accepted today. Others had utilized
such ideas in previous years, but he was the first to knit them
together into a cohesive whole.
Grandmaster (GM) Raymond Keene writes that Nimzowitsch "was one of
the world's leading Grandmasters for a period extending over a
quarter of a century, and for some of that time he was the obvious
challenger for the world championship. ... (He was also) a great
and profound chess thinker, second only to Steinitz, and his works-
Die Blockade, My System and Chess Praxis-established his reputation
as one of the father figures of modern chess." GM Robert Byrne
called him "perhaps the most brilliant theoretician and teacher in
the history of the game." GM Jan Hein Donner called Nimzowitsch "a
man who was too much of an artist to be able to prove he was right
and who was regarded as something of a madman in his time. He would
be understood only long after his death."
Many chess openings and variations are named after Nimzowitsch, the
most famous being the Nimzo-Indian Defence (1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3.
Nc3 Bb4) and the less often played Nimzowitsch Defence (1. e4 Nc6).
Nimzowitsch biographer Grandmaster Raymond Keene and others have
referred to 1. f4 followed by 2. b3 as the Nimzowitsch-Larsen
Attack. Keene wrote a book about the opening with that title. All
of these openings exemplify Nimzowitsch's ideas about controlling
the center with pieces instead of pawns. Nimzowitsch was also vital
in the development of two important systems in the French Defence,
the Winawer Variation (in some places called the Nimzowitsch
Variation; its moves are 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4) and the
Advance Variation (1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5). He also pioneered two
provocative variations of the Sicilian Defence, both regarded as
dubious today: the Nimzowitsch Variation, 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6,
which invites 3. e5 Nd5, similarly to Alekhine's Defence, and 1. e4
c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 d5?!
++2.D Personality
There are many entertaining anecdotes regarding Nimzowitsch--some
less savory than others. For example, he once missed the first
prize of a great rapid transit tournament in Berlin by losing to
Sdmisch; immediately upon learning this, Nimzowitsch got up on a
table and shouted "Gegen diesen Idioten muss ich verlieren!" ("That
I should lose to this idiot!").
Nimzowitsch was annoyed by his opponents' smoking. A popular, but
probably apocryphal, story is that once when an opponent laid a
cigar on the table, he complained to the tournament arbiters, "he
is threatening to smoke, and as an old player you must know that
the threat is stronger than the execution".
Nimzowitsch had lengthy and somewhat bitter dogmatic conflicts with
Tarrasch over whose ideas constituted 'proper' chess.
Nimzowitsch's vanity and faith in his ideas of overprotection
provoked Hans Kmoch to write a parody about him in February 1928 in
the Wiener Schachzeitung. This consisted of a mock game against the
fictional player "Systemsson", supposedly played and annotated by
Nimzowitsch himself. The annotations gleefully exaggerate the idea
of overprotection, as well as asserting the true genius of the
wondrous idea. Kmoch was in fact a great admirer of Nimzowitsch,
and the subject of the parody himself was amused at the effort.
Kmoch also wrote an article about his nine years with
Nimzowitsch:
Nimzovich suffered from the delusion that he was unappreciated and
that the reason was malice. All it took to make him blossom, as I
later learned, was a little praise. His paranoia was most evident
when he dined in company. He always thought he was served much
smaller portions than everyone else. He didn't care about the
actual amount but only about the imagined affront. I once suggested
that he and I order what the other actually wanted and, when the
food was served, exchange plates. After we had done so, he shook
his head in disbelief, still thinking that he had received the
smaller portion.
Nimzovitsch's colleague Tartakower observed of him, "He pretends to
be crazy in order to drive us all crazy."
++2.E Notable chess games
* Friedrich Saemisch vs Aron Nimzowitsch, Copenhagen 1923,
Queen's Indian Defence (E18), 0-1 The "Immortal Zugzwang
Game" sees Saemisch get tied up in knots.
* Paul Johner vs Aron Nimzowitsch, Dresden 1926, NimzoIndian
Defence, Rubinstein Variation (E47), 0-1 One of
Nimzowitsch's most famous games sees White fall deep into
passivity and get squeezed.
* Milan Vidmar vs Aron Nimzowitsch, New York 1927, Bogo-
Indian Defence (E11), 0-1 A crafty blending of strategy and
tactics.
* Richard Reti vs Aron Nimzowitsch, Berlin 1928, Nimzo-Indian
Defence (E38), 0-1 Two of the top hypermoderns cross swords
to showcase their latest ideas.
* Efim Bogoljubov vs Aron Nimzowitsch, San Remo 1930,
NimzoIndian Defence, Bogoljubov Variation (E23), 0-1
Another encounter of hypermodern heavyweights sees
Nimzowitsch with two knights in the endgame, and he handles
them perfectly.
++3. Friedrich Saemisch - Aron Nimzowitsch, Copenhagen 1923
Copenhagen 1923
White: Friedrich Saemisch
Black: Aron Nimzowitsch
Result: 0-1
ECO: E06: Closed Catalan Opening, Closed Variation
Notes by R.J. Macdonald
1. d4 Nf6
2. c4 e6
3. Nf3 b6
(Black adopts the setup of the Queen's Indian Defense.)
4. g3
(And white transposes into the Catalan Opening. Now each side will align their
light-squared bishops along the a8/h1 diagonal.)
4. ... Bb7
5. Bg2 Be7
6. Nc3 0-0
7. 0-0 d5
(The Closed Variation of the Catalan.)
8. Ne5 c6
9. cxd5 cxd5
10. Bf4 a6
11. Rc1 b5
12. Qb3!?
(Other possibilities here include (a) 12. Qd3 Qb6 13. g4 Nc6 14. g5 Nxe5 15.
Bxe5 Ne8 16. Qe3 Nd6 17. Bxd6 Bxd6 18. f4 Rac8 19. Kh1 Rc4 20. Rcd1 Qc7 21. a3
Bxa3 22. Nxb5 axb5 23. bxa3 Rc3 24. Rd3 Rc8 25. f5 exf5 26. Rxf5 Rxd3 1/2-1/2
in 38 moves, as in the game B. Khotenashvili (2410) - G. Bagaturov (2453),
Tbilisi 2010; or (b) 12. a4 b4 13. Nb1 Qb6 14. Nd2 Nc6 15. Nb3 Rfc8 16. Qd3 Na5
17. Nc5 Bc6 18. b3 Be8 19. g4 Nb7 20. Nxb7 Qxb7 21. Bf3 Ne4 22. Bxe4 dxe4 23.
Qd2 Qd5 24. Qb2 Rd8 25. e3 Rac8 26. Rc2 h5 0-1 in 41 moves, as in the game C.
Maderna - C. Guimard, La Plata 1941. 12. Nd3 Nbd7 gives white a slight edge.)
12. ... Nc6
(White now has a slight advantage.)
13. Nxc6 Bxc6
14. h3
(This move controls g4. 14. Ne4 dxe4 15. Rxc6 Qxd4 gives white a slight
advantage.)
14. ... Qd7
15. Kh2
(15. Bf3 Rfc8 would give black a slight edge.)
15. ... Nh5
(15... b4 16. Nb1 gives black a solid advantage.)
16. Bd2
(16. Be3 b4 17. Bf3 Nf6 gives black a solid advantage.)
16. ... f5
(16. ... b4 17. Nb1 gives black a solid advantage.)
17. Qd1
(17. Nb1!? looks like a viable alternative to reach equality.)
17. ... b4
(Black has a strong position.)
18. Nb1 Bb5
(18. ... Rac8 19. a3 bxa3 20. bxa3 is strong for black.)
19. Rg1
(19. Bf3 Nf6 is also strong for black.)
19. ... Bd6
(Perhaps better is 19. ... Rac8, maintaining a solid advantage.)
Key Move Diagram:
r4rk1/
3q2pp/
p2bp3/
1b1p1p1n/
1p1P4/
6PP/
PP1BPPBK/
1NRQ2R1
Position after black's 19th move.
20. e4?
(20. a4 Bxa4 21. b3 leaves black with a very strong position.)
20. ... fxe4
(Black's position is very strong.)
21. Qxh5 Rxf2
Key Move Diagram:
r5k1/
3q2pp/
p2bp3/
1b1p3Q/
1p1Pp3/
6PP/
PP1B1rBK/
1NR3R1
Position after black's 21st move.
22. Qg5?
(22. b3 seems indicated, but black still has a very strong advantage.)
22. ... Raf8
23. Kh1
(23. Rge1 is needed here, otherwise it's curtains at once: 23. ... R8f5 24. Qh4
with a very strong advantage for black.)
23. ... R8f5
24. Qe3
(24. Qh4 doesn't do any good after 24. ... Be7 25. Rc8+ Kf7 (25. ... Qxc8 26.
Qxe7 Bf1 27. Bxf1 Rxf1 28. Qc5 Qxc5 29. dxc5 is decisive for black.) 26. Qxh7
Qxc8 and black has a very strong advantage.)
24. ... Bd3
(24. ... Re2 nails it down: 25. Qb3 Ba4 26. Qe3 Rxe3 27. Bxe3 with a winning
advantage for black.)
25. Rce1
(25. Rge1 does not solve anything: 25. ... h6 is just too strong for black.)
25. ... h6
(White resigned. Only 25 moves have been played, and yet white is in a
zugzwang. The white queen is in danger of being trapped,and there is no
satisfactory way out. Black threatens 26. ... R5f3 27. Bxf3 Rxf3 28. Qxf3 exf3,
and black has a winning material advantage. White has several tries to give the
queen some breathing space, but all fail. If 26. Bc1 Bxb1 black is just 2 safe
pawns up. If 26. Bxb4 Bxb4 27. Qc1 Bxe1 black wins. If 26. Rc1 Re2 traps the
white queen. If 26. Rgf1 Bxf1 27. Bxf1 Rxf1+ 28. Rxf1 Rxf1+ black wins.)
0-1
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