[blind-chess] Annotated Game #102: Aron Nimzowitsch - Frank James Marshall, Bad Kissingen 1928
- From: "Roderick Macdonald" <rjmacdonald@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Blind-Chess Mailing List" <blind-chess@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2012 15:57:01 -1000
Annotated Game #102:
Aron Nimzowitsch - Frank James Marshall, Bad Kissingen 1928
Adapted and Condensed from
Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
Contents:
++1. Aron Isaevich Nimzowitsch
++1.A Life
++1.B Chess career
++1.C Legacy
++1.D Personality
++1.E Notable chess games
++2. Frank James Marshall
++2.A Chess career
++2.B Assessment
++2.B1 Marshall's famous 23. ... Qg3!!
++2.B2 Opening theory
++2.B3 Win over Capablanca with Black
++2.C Quotes
++2.D Books
++3. Aron Nimzowitsch - Frank James Marshall, Bad Kissingen 1928
++1. 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.
++1.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.
++1.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.
++1.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?!
++1.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."
++1.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.
++2. Frank James Marshall
Frank James Marshall (August 10, 1877 - November 9, 1944), was the
U.S. Chess Champion from 1909-1936, and was one of the world's
strongest chess players in the early part of the 20th century.
++2.A Chess career
Marshall was born in New York City, and lived in Montreal, Canada
from ages 8 to 19. He began playing chess at the age of 10 and by
1890 was one of the leading players in Montreal.
He won the U.S. chess championship in 1904, but did not accept the
title because the current U.S. champion, Harry Nelson Pillsbury,
did not compete.
In 1906, Pillsbury died and Marshall again refused the championship
title until he won it in competition in 1909.
In 1907 he played a match against World Chess Champion Emanuel
Lasker for the title and lost eight games, winning none and drawing
seven. They played their match in New York, Philadelphia,
Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Chicago, and Memphis from January 26
to April 8, 1907.
In 1909, he agreed to play a match with a young Cuban named Jose
Raul Capablanca, and to most people's surprise, lost eight games,
drew fourteen and won only one.
After this defeat, Marshall did not resent Capablanca; instead, he
realized the young man had immense talent and deserved recognition
by the chess community. The American champion worked hard to assure
Capablanca had the chance to play at the highest levels of
competition.
Marshall insisted that Capablanca be permitted to enter the San
Sebastian tournament in 1911, an exclusive championship promising
to be one of the strongest yet in history. Despite much protest at
his inclusion, Capablanca won the tournament.
Marshall finished fifth at the St. Petersburg tournament in 1914,
behind World Champion Lasker, future World Champions Capablanca and
Alekhine, and former World Championship challenger Tarrasch, but
ahead of the players who did not qualify for the final: Ossip
Bernstein, Rubinstein, Nimzowitsch, Blackburne, Janowski, and
Gunsberg. According to Marshall's 1942 autobiography, which was
reportedly ghostwritten by Fred Reinfeld, Tsar Nicholas II
conferred the title of "Grandmaster on Marshall and the other four
finalists. Chess historian Edward Winter has questioned this,
stating that the earliest known sources that support this story are
an article by Robert Lewis Taylor in the June 15, 1940 issue of The
New Yorker and Marshall's autobiography.
In 1915, Marshall opened the Marshall Chess Club in New York.
In the 1930s, Marshall captained the US team to four gold medals at
four Chess Olympiads. During one round, he returned to the board
and found that his comrades had agreed to three draws. After he
finished his own game, he gave each of them a stern talk
individually on how draws do not win games or matches.
In 1936, after holding the U.S. championship title for 27 years, he
relinquished it to the winner of a championship tournament. The
first such tournament was sponsored by the National Chess
Federation, and held in New York. The Marshall Chess Club donated
the trophy, and the first winner was Samuel Reshevsky.
++2.B Assessment
Marshall was best known for his great tactical skill. One aspect of
this was the "Marshall swindle", where a trick would turn a lost
game around. Andrew Soltis writes that, "In later years his prowess
at rescuing the irretrievable took on magical proportions". Not so
well known now, but appreciated in his day, was his endgame skill.
++2.B1 Marshall's famous 23. ... Qg3!!
In his famous game against Stepan Levitsky at Breslau 1912,
Marshall concluded with a stunning sham sacrifice of his queen,
allowing it to be captured three different ways:
1.d4 e6 2.e4 d5 3.Nc3 c5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.exd5 exd5 6.Be2 Nf6 7.O-O Be7
8.Bg5 O-O 9.dxc5 Be6 10.Nd4 Bxc5 11.Nxe6 fxe6 12.Bg4 Qd6 13.Bh3
Rae8 14.Qd2 Bb4 15.Bxf6 Rxf6 16.Rad1 Qc5 17.Qe2 Bxc3 18.bxc3 Qxc3
19.Rxd5 Nd4 20.Qh5 Ref8 21.Re5 Rh6 22.Qg5 Rxh3 23.Rc5 Qg3!! 0-1
This move is considered one of the most brilliant moves ever played
(Tim Krabbe ranked it third.) Legend has it that the spectators
showered the board with gold pieces after Marshall's stunning last
move.
++2.B2 Opening theory
Frank Marshall has a number of chess opening variations named after
him. Remarkably for a player who died over 60 years ago, two gambit
variations that are still theoretically important today are named
after him. One is the Marshall Attack in the Ruy Lopez (1. e4 e5 2.
Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3
d5). Marshall's first well-known game with this opening was against
Jose Raul Capablanca in 1918, although Marshall had previously
played it in other games that did not gain widespread attention.
Even though Capablanca won in a game widely regarded as a typical
example of his defensive genius, Marshall's opening idea became
quite popular. Black gets good attacking chances and scores close
to 50 percent with the Marshall, an excellent result for Black. The
Marshall Attack is so well-respected that many top players often
choose to avoid it with "Anti-Marshall" variations such as 8.a4.
An important gambit in the Semi-Slav Defense is also named after
Marshall. That "Marshall Gambit" begins 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 e6
4. e4!? Now the main line runs 4. ... dex4 5. Nxe4 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 (6.
Nc3 saves the pawn but is not considered dangerous) Qxd4 7. Bxb4
Qxe4+ 8. Be2 with sharp and unclear play.
Another opening named after Marshall is the Marshall Defense to the
Queen's Gambit (1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nf6). It is generally considered
inferior to the Queen's Gambit Declined (2. ... e6), Slav Defense
(2. ... c6), and Queen's Gambit Accepted (2. ... dxc4).
++2.B3 Win over Capablanca with Black
Although Marshall lost to Capablanca far more often than he won (+2
-20 =28), he was one of a few players ever to beat him with the
Black pieces. The game was played in Havana in 1913:
1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nf6
3. Nxe5 d6
4. Nf3 Nxe4
5. d4 d5
6. Bd3 Bg4
7. O-O Nc6
8. c3 Be7
9. Nbd2 Nxd2
10. Bxd2 O-O
11. h3 Bh5
12. Re1 Qd7
13. Bb5 Bd6
14. Ne5 Bxe5
15. Qxh5 Bf6
16. Bf4 Rae8
17. Re3 Rxe3
18. fxe3 a6
19. Ba4 b5
20. Bc2 g6
21. Qf3 Bg7
22. Bb3 Ne7
23. e4 dxe4
24. Qxe4 c6
25. Re1 Nd5
26. Bxd5 cxd5
27. Qe7 Qc8
28. Bd6 h6
29. Rf1 f6
30. Re1 Rd8
31. Bc5 Kh7
32. Qf7 Qf5
33. Be7 Qd7
34. Kf1 Rf8
35. Qe6 Qxe6
36. Rxe6 Re8
37. Re2 Kg8
38. b3 Kf7
39. Bc5 Rxe2
40. Kxe2 f5
41. Kd3 Ke6
42. c4 bxc4+
43. bxc4 g5
44. g4 f4
45. Bb4 Bf6
46. Bf8 dxc4+
47. Kxc4 f3
48. d5+ Ke5
49. Kd3 Kf4
50. Bd6+ Be5
51. Bc5 Kg3
52. Ke4 Bf4
53. d6 f2
0-1
Capablanca rarely lost in the endgame.
++2.D Quotes
* The hardest thing in chess is to win a won game.
++2.E Books
* Frank Marshall, My Fifty Years of Chess, 1942, ISBN
1-84382-053-6 (2002 Hardinge Simpole edition).
* Andy Soltis, Frank Marshall, United States Chess Champion:
A Biography With 220 Games, 1994, ISBN 0-89950-887-1.
++3. Aron Nimzowitsch - Frank James Marshall, Bad Kissingen 1928
Bad Kissingen 1928, Round 7
White: Aron Nimzowitsch
Black: Frank James Marshall
Result: 0-1
ECO: A50 - Irregular Indian Opening, Saemisch Variation, Marienbad
Variation
Notes by R.J. Macdonald
1. d4 Nf6
2. c4 b6
(This sequence of moves is loosely known as an irregular Indian opening, and
the move 2. ... b6 is known as the Saemisch Variation.)
3. Nc3
(The Marienbad Variation.)
3. ... Bb7
4. Bg5 e6
5. Qc2
(5. Rb1 Be7 6. e3 h6 7. Bh4 d6 8. f3 c5 9. dxc5 bxc5 10. Bd3 0-0 11. Nge2 d5
12. cxd5 exd5 13. 0-0 Nbd7 14. Na4 Re8 15. Kh1 Bf8 16. Bb5 Qa5 17. Nac3 Rxe3
18. Nxd5 Nxd5 19. Bxd7 Qxa2 0-1, as in the game M. Drasko (2465) - I. Sokolov
(2545), Yugoslavia 1988.)
5. ... h6
6. Bh4 Be7
7. e4
(White has a very active position.)
7. ... 0-0
(Black has a cramped position. 7. ... g5 8. Bg3 Nh5 9. f3 Nxg3 10. hxg3 c5 11.
d5 Bd6 12. Nge2 Qc7 13. O-O-O Bxg3 14. Nb5 Bf4+ 15. Kb1 Qe5 16. dxe6 Bc6 17.
Nd6+ Ke7 18. Nxf7 Qxe6 19. Nxh8 Be5 20. Nc3 Na6 21. Nd5+ Kf8 22. g3 1-0 in 45
moves, as in the game F. Prieto Gallardo (2064) - F. Madera Fernandez, Oviedo
2004.)
8. e5
(White threatens to win material: e5xf6. 8. Nf3 c5 offers equal chances.)
8. ... Nd5
(8. ... Nh5 9. Bxe7 Qxe7 10. Nh3 gives black a slight edge.)
9. Bg3
(9. cxd5 Bxh4 10. Bc4 c6 11. dxe6 dxe6 offers equal chances.)
9. ... Nb4
(Black threatens to win material: Nb4xc2. 9. ... Nxc3 10. bxc3 d5 11. Nf3 is
strong for black.)
10. Qb3
(10. Qd1 d6 11. exd6 Bxd6 leads to equality.)
10. ... d5
(10. ... N8c6 11. Nf3 f6 12. d5 Nxe5 13. Nxe5 fxe5 14. Be2 gives black a slight
advantage.)
11. exd6 Bxd6
12. 0-0-0
(White has an active position.)
12. ... N8c6
13. Bxd6
(13. Rd2!? gives black a slight advantage.)
13. ... Qxd6
(13. ... cxd6? 14. d5 Nxa2+ 15. Qxa2 gives white a moderate advantage. The text
move gives black a moderate advantage.)
14. a3 Nxd4
(Better is 14. ... Qf4+ 15. Rd2 Nxd4 16. Qxb4 a5, giving black a moderate
advantage.)
Key Move Diagram:
r4rk1/
pbp2pp1/
1p1qp2p/
8/
1nPn4/
PQN5/
1P3PPP/
2KR1BNR
Position after black's 14th move.
15. Rxd4??
(15. Qxb4 saves the game: 15. ... c5 16. Qa4 offers equal chances.)
15. ... Qxd4
(Black now has a very strong position.)
16. axb4
(16. Qxb4 Qxf2 17. Nh3 Qe3+ 18. Kb1 Rad8 is very strong for black.)
16. ... Qxf2
17. Qd1
(17. Nh3 is no salvation after 17. ... Qe3+ 18. Kb1 Rfd8 with a decisive
advantage for black.)
17. ... Rfd8
(After 17. ... a5 Black can relax: 18. Nh3 Qe3+ 19. Qd2 Qxd2+ 20. Kxd2 Rfd8+
21. Ke2 axb4 22. Nd1 is very strong for black.)
18. Qe2
(18. Nf3 Qe3+ (18. ... Rxd1+?! is clearly weaker: 19. Nxd1 Qxf3 20. gxf3 with
equal chances) 19. Nd2 a5 gives black a decisive advantage.)
18. ... Qf4+
19. Kc2 a5
20. bxa5 Rxa5
21. Nf3 Ra1
22. Kb3
(22. Nd2 doesn't improve anything after 22. ... b5! (Double attack e4/e4) 23.
cxb5 Rd4 with a very strong position for black.)
Key Move Diagram:
3r2k1/
1bp2pp1/
1p2p2p/
8/
2P2q2/
1KN2N2/
1P2Q1PP/
r4B1R
Position after white's 22nd move.
22. ... b5!
(Pinning c4.)
23. Qe5
(If 23. Nxb5 Bc6; if 23. cxb5 Bd5+, Pinning.)
23. ... bxc4+
24. Kb4 Qc1
25. Nb5
Key Move Diagram:
3r2k1/
1bp2pp1/
4p2p/
1N2Q3/
1Kp5/
5N2/
1P4PP/
r1q2B1R
Position after white's 25th move.
25. ... c5+!
(White resigned. 26. Kxc5 Rd5+ 27. Qxd5 Bxd5 wins easily for black.)
0-1
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