The majority in the center

Step 1 of 6

Look first

A position from “The Blockade”. In the center and on the kingside there are four white pawns against three black ones.

You are playing White. Tap the candidate of your majority.

Arrow keys move the focus across the squares. Enter or Space marks a square or removes the mark.

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abcdefgh

Which piece should the pawn become?

Queen Rook Bishop Knight

Cancel

Choose a square from a list

Square a8, black rookb8, emptyc8, emptyd8, emptye8, emptyf8, black rookg8, black kingh8, emptya7, black pawnb7, black pawnc7, emptyd7, black queene7, emptyf7, black pawng7, black pawnh7, black pawna6, emptyb6, emptyc6, black pawnd6, emptye6, emptyf6, emptyg6, emptyh6, emptya5, emptyb5, emptyc5, emptyd5, emptye5, white pawnf5, white pawng5, emptyh5, emptya4, emptyb4, emptyc4, emptyd4, emptye4, emptyf4, emptyg4, emptyh4, emptya3, emptyb3, emptyc3, emptyd3, emptye3, emptyf3, emptyg3, emptyh3, emptya2, white pawnb2, white pawnc2, emptyd2, emptye2, white queenf2, emptyg2, white pawnh2, white pawna1, emptyb1, emptyc1, emptyd1, emptye1, white rookf1, white rookg1, white kingh1, empty Mark or unmark

Position as a list

White

• King g1
• Queen e2
• Rook e1
• Rook f1
• Pawn a2
• Pawn b2
• Pawn e5
• Pawn f5
• Pawn g2
• Pawn h2

Black

• King g8
• Queen d7
• Rook a8
• Rook f8
• Pawn a7
• Pawn b7
• Pawn c6
• Pawn f7
• Pawn g7
• Pawn h7

Step 2 of 6

Decide

A majority in the center stands close to the enemy king. It can do more than just create a passed pawn.

You are playing White. What is the biggest threat your majority poses to Black?

Arrow keys move the focus across the squares. Enter or Space selects a piece and moves it to a highlighted square. Escape cancels the selection.

87654321

abcdefgh

Which piece should the pawn become?

Queen Rook Bishop Knight

Cancel

Position as a list

White

• King g1
• Queen e2
• Rook e1
• Rook f1
• Pawn a2
• Pawn b2
• Pawn e5
• Pawn f5
• Pawn g2
• Pawn h2

Black

• King g8
• Queen d7
• Rook a8
• Rook f8
• Pawn a7
• Pawn b7
• Pawn c6
• Pawn f7
• Pawn g7
• Pawn h7

What is your biggest threat?

e5–e6: the candidate advances f5–f6: a wedge against the black king’s position

Step 3 of 6

Try it

A game by Nimzowitsch from 1923, which he shows in “The Blockade”. He has White; Brinckmann has Black and more pawns in the center.

You are playing White. Which pawn move freezes the black majority in the center?

Arrow keys move the focus across the squares. Enter or Space selects a piece and moves it to a highlighted square. Escape cancels the selection.

87654321

abcdefgh

Which piece should the pawn become?

Queen Rook Bishop Knight

Cancel

Choose a move from a list

Move Qa5 – queen from b4 to a5Qc5 – queen from b4 to c5Qd6 – queen from b4 to d6Qxe7+ – queen from b4 captures on e7Qc4 – queen from b4 to c4Qc3 – queen from b4 to c3Qd2 – queen from b4 to d2Qb3 – queen from b4 to b3Qb2 – queen from b4 to b2Qb1 – queen from b4 to b1Qa3 – queen from b4 to a3Qa4 – queen from b4 to a4Nf5 – knight from h4 to f5Nxg6 – knight from h4 captures on g6Nf3 – knight from h4 to f3Re4 – rook from e3 to e4Re5 – rook from e3 to e5Rxe6 – rook from e3 captures on e6Rf3 – rook from e3 to f3R3e2 – rook from e3 to e2Rd3 – rook from e3 to d3Rc3 – rook from e3 to c3Rb3 – rook from e3 to b3Ra3 – rook from e3 to a3g4 – pawn from g3 to g4f3 – pawn from f2 to f3f4 – pawn from f2 to f4Kf3 – king from g2 to f3Kh3 – king from g2 to h3Kh2 – king from g2 to h2Kh1 – king from g2 to h1Kg1 – king from g2 to g1Kf1 – king from g2 to f1R1e2 – rook from e1 to e2Rf1 – rook from e1 to f1Rg1 – rook from e1 to g1Rh1 – rook from e1 to h1Rd1 – rook from e1 to d1Rc1 – rook from e1 to c1Rb1 – rook from e1 to b1Ra1 – rook from e1 to a1 Play move

Position as a list

White

• King g2
• Queen b4
• Rook e1
• Rook e3
• Knight h4
• Pawn a6
• Pawn b5
• Pawn c6
• Pawn d4
• Pawn f2
• Pawn g3

Black

• King f7
• Queen c7
• Rook e7
• Rook e8
• Knight f8
• Pawn a7
• Pawn b6
• Pawn d5
• Pawn e6
• Pawn f6
• Pawn g6

Step 4 of 6

Why does it work?

A majority in the center threatens two things: a passed pawn and an attack on the king, for example with a wedge like f5–f6. That is why Nimzowitsch recommends not letting its pawns advance to the fifth rank in the first place.

First you hinder the majority: you control the squares its pawns want to move to. But the goal is the blockade, a piece directly in front of the passed pawn.

Step 5 of 6

New position, same idea

A game by Nimzowitsch from 1927. Goldstein has White, Nimzowitsch has Black. White has let their pawns in the center advance quickly.

You are playing Black. The white center pawns stand on d4 and e5. How do you stop the passed pawn so that the whole majority stays put?

Arrow keys move the focus across the squares. Enter or Space selects a piece and moves it to a highlighted square. Escape cancels the selection.

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Which piece should the pawn become?

Queen Rook Bishop Knight

Cancel

Choose a move from a list

Move Ra7 – rook from a8 to a7Ra6 – rook from a8 to a6Ra5 – rook from a8 to a5Ra4 – rook from a8 to a4Rxa3 – rook from a8 captures on a3Bc7 – bishop from b8 to c7Bd6 – bishop from b8 to d6Bxe5 – bishop from b8 captures on e5Ba7 – bishop from b8 to a7Re8 – rook from f8 to e8Rd8 – rook from f8 to d8Rc8 – rook from f8 to c8Kh8 – king from g8 to h8b6 – pawn from b7 to b6Be8 – bishop from f7 to e8Bg6 – bishop from f7 to g6Bh5 – bishop from f7 to h5Be6 – bishop from f7 to e6Bd5 – bishop from f7 to d5Bc4 – bishop from f7 to c4Bb3 – bishop from f7 to b3Ba2 – bishop from f7 to a2g6 – pawn from g7 to g6g5 – pawn from g7 to g5c5 – pawn from c6 to c5h5 – pawn from h6 to h5b4 – pawn from b5 to b4 Play move

Position as a list

White

• King g1
• Rook a1
• Rook e1
• Bishop d3
• Knight f3
• Pawn a3
• Pawn b2
• Pawn d4
• Pawn e5
• Pawn g2
• Pawn h2

Black

• King g8
• Rook a8
• Rook f8
• Bishop b8
• Bishop f7
• Pawn b5
• Pawn b7
• Pawn c6
• Pawn g7
• Pawn h6

Step 6 of 6

Nimzowitsch and today

Aaron Nimzowitsch: looking at the board differently