Aron Nimzovitch
Aron Nimzowitch was born on November 7, 1886 in Riga, Latvia. He came from a wealthy Jewish family and learned to play chess from his father. In 1904, he went to Germany to study philosophy, but later that same year began a career as a professional chess player. In 1922, he moved to Copenhagen where he lived until his death.
Nimzowitch's chess theories went against pre-existing convention. Although players like Alekhine, Lasker, and Capablanca did not stick to Tarrasch's rigid teachings, his ideas were nearly accepted universally. Tarrasch believed that the center had to be controlled by pawns and that development had to happen in support of this control. Beginners thought that these core ideas were irrefutable laws of nature like gravity. Nimzowitch shattered these assumptions. He discovered concepts like overprotection, control of the center by pieces instead of pawns, blockade, prophylaxis (playing to prevent the opponent's plans), and the fianchetto. He also formalized strategies using open files, outposts and invasion of the seventh rank, all of which are widely accepted today.
Nimzowitch wrote 3 books on chess strategy: Mein System (My System) (1925), Die Praxis meines System (The Practice of my System) (commonly known as Chess Praxis), and Die Blockade (The Blockade). Most consider My System to be Nimzowitch's greatest contribution to chess, and it is said that 99 out of 100 chess masters have read Mein System. This book contains his most important ideas. 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 his own games even when these games are more entertaining than instructive.
At the height of Nimzowitch's career, he was the 3rd best player in the world, behind Alekhine and Capablanca, although he never played either of them in a serious match. His most notable successes were 1st place finishes at Copenhagen 1928, the Carlsbad tournaments of 1929, 1933, and 1934 and second place behind Alekhine at San Remo in 1930. He never developed a knack for match play though; his best match success was a draw with Alekhine (though this match was only three games long and was in 1914, 13 years before Alekhine became world champion).
Nimzowitch has many chess openings and variations named after him, 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). Both of these openings exemplify his ideas about controlling the center with pieces. He was also important in the development of 2 French Defense systems: the Winawer Variation (in some places called the Nimzowitsch Variation (1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4) and the Advance Variation (1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5).
Nimzowitch influenced numerous other players, including Richard Reti and Tigran Petrosian. His influence is still felt today. He died on March 16, 1935 in Denmark. He is buried in Bispebjerg Cemetery in Copenhagen.
Download 339 chess games by Aron Nimzovitch
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