Chessville
...by Chessplayers, for Chessplayers!

Today is

Site Map

If you have disabled Java for your browser, use the Site Map (linked in the header and footer).

Chessville
logo by
ChessPrints

Advertise
with
Chessville!!

Advertise to
thousands
of chess
fans for
as little
as $25.

Single insert:
$35
x4 insert:
@ $25 each.

From the
Chessville
Chess Store

An Introduction to Chess Strategy for the Novice Player

The Hypermodern Center

The “Scientific School” championed by Tarrasch and Steinitz dominated chess until the end of World War I. The good doctor’s name is often used synonymously with the term dogmatic, but he is not given enough credit either as a teacher or as a player. Today, he would be termed a “super” grandmaster even though he never won the world title. He had the misfortune to be a contemporary of Emanuel Lasker, who certainly ranks as one of the strongest players of all time, and was probably the single most dangerous opponent Tarrasch could have faced in a world championship match. Nevertheless, Tarrasch’s teachings influenced a generation of chess players and much of what we read in middlegame manuals today flows from his teachings and from those of Wilhelm Steinitz, the other founder of the Scientific School.

Probably the greatest representative of this school was Jose Raul Capablanca, who replaced Lasker as World Champion after the First World War. A player of great natural talent, Capablanca was extremely difficult to beat and even predicted the death of the game through the advent of too many draws. Onto this stage stepped the masters of the Hypermodern School of chess who were determined to prove Capablanca and the Scientific School wrong, and the battleground was to be the center. Whereas Tarrasch and the old school advocated building a large center by occupying it with pawns and trying to maintain it at all costs, the Hypermoderns preached that this type of center could be undermined by attacking it with pieces and pawns. If White couldn’t maintain that center, then Black would have an advantage after it had been liquidated.

Rather than focus on defense as Steinitz had preached for Black, Hypermoderns preferred the counterattack, and the openings they played illustrated this. The King’s Indian, the Queen’s Indian, the Nimzo Indian, and the Grunfeld are examples of hypermodern defenses against d4, while the Alekhine and certain variations of the Sicilian represent hypermodern attempts against e4. For White, the Reti Opening, and the Catalan are two excellent examples of the Hypermodern approach. The leading Hypermoderns included Richard Reti, Aaron Nimzowitsch, Gyula Breyer, Alexander Alekhine, and Efim Bogoljubow. Saviely Tartakower is something of a transitional figure between the two groups, but is accounted as being among the Hypermoderns in Richard Reti’s Modern Ideas in Chess, which, along with My System by Aaron Nimzowitsch, is accounted as being the Hypermodern manifesto.

A classic illustration of the hypermodern approach to the center is the Four Pawns Attack in the King’s Indian defense. According to classical theory, Black should be blown off the board by this approach, and without proper countermeasures, he will be. The Hypermoderns took their lumps, but their approach paid a huge dividend in helping to re-invigorate the game.

Saemisch,F – Euwe,M [E78]
Wiesbaden, 1925
[click here for an interactive board]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f4 The Four Pawns Attack against the King's Indian. This position can also arise from the Modern Benoni. 5...0–0 6.Nf3 c5 Black strikes at the center with his c-pawn 7.d5 e6 8.Bd3 exd5 9.cxd5 This is a typical Four Pawns Attack position. 9...Qb6 White's previous move is inferior to Be2. Better for black would have been b5!? or Bg4, but this was very early in the development of the line. Euwe is preventing White from castling here. 0–0 and c4+ wins the Bishop on d3. 10.Nd2 This is a popular move in this type of position 10...Ng4 Another anti-castling idea. 11.0–0 Bd4+ 12.Kh1 Nf2+ and Black wins the exchange. 11.Nc4 Qd8 12.Be2 h5 13.Nb5 a6 14.Nbxd6 b5 15.Nxc8 bxc4 16.e5 White has one a pawn and begins to mobilize his center. 16...Qxc8 17.h3 Nh6 18.g4 Here White, begins to launch an all out Kingside attack 18...Nd7 19.gxh5 Qd8 Black begins his counter attack. One of the problems with pawn storms on the same side as your king is that they tend to leave his Majesty in jeopardy. 20.0–0 Qh4 21.Rf3 gxh5 22.Rc3 Rae8 23.Bd2 White is trying to complete his development 23...Nxe5 For Black it is now or never. This piece sacrifice unleashes a powerful attack on the king. 24.fxe5 Rxe5 White's King is on an open file. 25.Be1 Qe7 Threatening to win his piece back 26.d6 Qe6 27.Bf1 Rg5+ 28.Rg3 Qe3+ 29.Kg2 Bf2 fails to Rxg3+ 29…Bd4 30.Rxg5+ Qxg5+ White resigned at this point. 0–1

Nimzowitsch,A - Saemisch,F [E18]
Copenhagen, 1923
Queens Indian Defense
[click here for an interactive board]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Be7 6.0–0 0–0 7.Nc3 d5 8.Ne5 Qc8 9.cxd5 Nxd5 10.Nxd5 Bxd5 11.e4 Bb7 12.Qa4 c5 13.d5 b5 14.Qb3 exd5 15.exd5 Bd6 16.Bf4 Qc7 17.Nd3 a6 18.a4 c4 19.Qa3 Bxf4 20.Nxf4 Nd7 21.axb5 axb5 22.Qe7 Qd8 23.d6 Bxg2 24.Kxg2 Nf6 25.Rfd1 Rxa1 26.Rxa1 Qxe7 27.dxe7 Re8 28.Ra7 g5 29.Ne2 Nd5 30.Nd4 Nxe7 31.Nxb5 Nc6 32.Nd6 Nxa7 33.Nxe8 Nb5 34.Nf6+ Kg7 35.Nd5 f6 36.Kf3 Kf7 37.Nc3 Nd4+ 38.Ke4 Nb3 39.Kd5 Nd2 40.h3 f5 41.Nd1 Kf6 42.Ne3 Ne4 43.Nxc4 Nxf2 44.b4 Ke7 45.b5 Kd7 46.b6 Ne4 47.Ne5+ Kc8 48.Kc6 Nf6 49.Nd3 Nd7 50.b7+ Kd8 51.Kd6 Nb8 52.Nb4 Nd7 53.Nc6+ Ke8 54.Kc7 1–0

Reti,R - Capablanca,J [A15]
New York New York (5), 03.1924
English Opening
[click here for an interactive board]
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.b4 Bg7 4.Bb2 0–0 5.g3 b6 6.Bg2 Bb7 7.0–0 d6 8.d3 Nbd7 9.Nbd2 e5 10.Qc2 Re8 11.Rfd1 a5 12.a3 h6 13.Nf1 c5 14.b5 Nf8 15.e3 Qc7 16.d4 Be4 17.Qc3 exd4 18.exd4 N6d7 19.Qd2 cxd4 20.Bxd4 Qxc4 21.Bxg7 Kxg7 22.Qb2+ Kg8 23.Rxd6 Qc5 24.Rad1 Ra7 25.Ne3 Qh5 26.Nd4 Bxg2 27.Kxg2 Qe5 28.Nc4 Qc5 29.Nc6 Rc7 30.Ne3 Ne5 31.R1d5 1–0

Steiner,E - Tartakower,S [B03]
Ujpestt, 1934
Alekhine Defense
[click here for an interactive board]
1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.c4 Nb6 4.d4 d6 5.f4 dxe5 6.fxe5 Bf5 7.Be3 Nc6 8.a3 e6 9.b4 Be7 10.Nf3 f6 11.b5 Na5 12.Nbd2 0–0 13.Qc1 Nd7 14.exf6 Bxf6 15.Be2 Rc8 16.0–0 c5 17.bxc6 Rxc6 18.Qe1 Nb6 19.Rc1 Qe7 20.c5 Nd5 21.Bb5 Rcc8 22.Rf2 Rfd8 23.h3 h6 24.g4 Bg6 25.Rg2 e5 26.dxe5 Bxe5 27.Bg5 Bf6 28.Qxe7 Bxe7 29.Bxe7 Nxe7 30.Ne5 Rd5 31.Re1 0–1