Project approval after AI review on November 2, 2026. Human proofreading is still pending.
Lesson 43
Strong points as a source of energy
- What you will learn
- You recognize when extra protection improves a piece and when it costs time without preventing a plan.
- What you should already know
- How to overprotect important points
- Lesson 28: Overprotecting important points
Time: about 8 minutes
Thinking questions in this lesson
You can ask yourself these thinking questions in any position. They help you find a good move.
- What is the threat?
- Which pawn move changes the position?
- Which piece could be better placed?
Step 1 of 8
Look first
A game from 1927. Nimzowitsch has White, Székely has Black. Nimzowitsch has given up the pawn on d4, which supported the pawn on e5.
You are playing White. Which of your pawns do knight, rook and queen protect at the same time?
Arrow keys move the focus across the squares. Enter or Space marks a square or removes the mark.
Choose a square from a list
Position as a list
White
- King g1
- Queen g3
- Rook a1
- Rook e1
- Bishop c1
- Bishop d3
- Knight b1
- Knight f3
- Pawn a2
- Pawn b2
- Pawn c2
- Pawn e5
- Pawn f2
- Pawn g2
- Pawn h2
Black
- King e8
- Queen c7
- Rook a8
- Rook h8
- Bishop c5
- Bishop c8
- Knight c6
- Knight g6
- Pawn a7
- Pawn b7
- Pawn d4
- Pawn d5
- Pawn e6
- Pawn f7
- Pawn g7
- Pawn h7
Step 2 of 8
Decide
A game from 1922 with the same plan. Nimzowitsch has White, Håkansson has Black.
You are playing White. The pawn on f5 attacks your queen. What do you do?
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.
Position as a list
White
- King e1
- Queen g4
- Rook a1
- Rook h1
- Bishop c1
- Bishop d3
- Knight b1
- Knight f3
- Pawn a2
- Pawn b2
- Pawn c2
- Pawn e5
- Pawn f2
- Pawn g2
- Pawn h2
Black
- King e8
- Queen d8
- Rook a8
- Rook h8
- Bishop c8
- Bishop f8
- Knight c6
- Knight g8
- Pawn a7
- Pawn b7
- Pawn d4
- Pawn d5
- Pawn e6
- Pawn f5
- Pawn g7
- Pawn h7
Step 3 of 8
Try it
The same game, three white moves later.
You are playing White. Black attacks the pawn on e5 three times. With which move do you protect it a third time?
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.
Choose a move from a list
Position as a list
White
- King g1
- Queen g3
- Rook a1
- Rook f1
- Bishop c1
- Bishop d3
- Knight b1
- Knight f3
- Pawn a2
- Pawn b2
- Pawn c2
- Pawn e5
- Pawn f2
- Pawn g2
- Pawn h4
Black
- King e8
- Queen c7
- Rook a8
- Rook h8
- Bishop c8
- Bishop f8
- Knight c6
- Knight g6
- Pawn a7
- Pawn b7
- Pawn d4
- Pawn d5
- Pawn e6
- Pawn f5
- Pawn g7
- Pawn h7
Step 4 of 8
Compare two plans
Spielmann – Nimzowitsch, New York 1927. You play the black pieces. Judge the two suggested moves and then choose a reason. The feedback shows Nimzowitsch’s analysis.
You are playing Black. Compare Nge7 and g6 according to Nimzowitsch’s analysis: which move develops a piece, protects the knight on f5 and allows timely counterplay against d4? Then choose a reason.
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.
Position as a list
White
- King e1
- Queen e2
- Rook a1
- Rook h1
- Bishop c1
- Bishop d3
- Knight b1
- Knight g5
- Pawn a2
- Pawn b2
- Pawn c3
- Pawn d4
- Pawn e5
- Pawn f2
- Pawn g2
- Pawn h4
Black
- King e8
- Queen d8
- Rook a8
- Rook h8
- Bishop c8
- Bishop f8
- Knight f5
- Knight g8
- Pawn a5
- Pawn b6
- Pawn c7
- Pawn d5
- Pawn e6
- Pawn f7
- Pawn g7
- Pawn h5
Step 5 of 8
What has changed?
In the game Nimzowitsch at first decided differently. Now look at the new position. Check again what further protection is good for.
Black has played g6, White Nd2. White plans Nf1, f3 and g4. Now compare Be7 and Nge7: which of the two plans does Nimzowitsch prefer here, and which continuation explains the difference?
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.
Position as a list
White
- King e1
- Queen e2
- Rook a1
- Rook h1
- Bishop c1
- Bishop d3
- Knight d2
- Knight g5
- Pawn a2
- Pawn b2
- Pawn c3
- Pawn d4
- Pawn e5
- Pawn f2
- Pawn g2
- Pawn h4
Black
- King e8
- Queen d8
- Rook a8
- Rook h8
- Bishop c8
- Bishop f8
- Knight f5
- Knight g8
- Pawn a5
- Pawn b6
- Pawn c7
- Pawn d5
- Pawn e6
- Pawn f7
- Pawn g6
- Pawn h5
Step 6 of 8
Why does it work?
A strong point is a square or a piece on which your play rests. In the first examples it was the white pawn on e5, which cramps Black. In the comparison, by contrast, it was about protecting the black knight on f5.
Nimzowitsch counts overprotection as prophylaxis: he secures a point in advance instead of reacting only when danger comes.
The comparison shows a limit: extra protection is not an end in itself. It should improve the pieces at the same time and answer the opponent’s plan in time.
Against Spielmann, according to Nimzowitsch’s analysis, Nge7 served this purpose at first. After the inserted g6, further protection came too late for the plan described. What matters is the position, not the number of defenders alone.
Key idea
If you give a strong point extra protection, also check the activity of your pieces and the opponent’s next plan.
When does this apply?
Extra protection does not pay off automatically. The comparison shows Nimzowitsch’s analysis of two concrete positions; it does not prove a generally best sequence of moves.
Step 7 of 8
New position, same idea
A game from 1927. Nimzowitsch has White, Capablanca has Black. This time it is not about a pawn but about the square d4.
You are playing White. With which pawn move do you control the square d4 a fourth time?
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.
Choose a move from a list
Position as a list
White
- King g1
- Queen d3
- Rook a1
- Rook f1
- Bishop e3
- Knight e2
- Pawn a2
- Pawn b2
- Pawn c2
- Pawn e5
- Pawn f4
- Pawn g2
- Pawn h2
Black
- King e8
- Queen c7
- Rook a8
- Rook h8
- Knight b8
- Knight f5
- Pawn a7
- Pawn b7
- Pawn d5
- Pawn e6
- Pawn f7
- Pawn g7
- Pawn h7
Step 8 of 8
Nimzowitsch and today
Source
In “Chess Praxis” Nimzowitsch shows that pieces which overprotect a strong point end up well placed themselves: the point becomes, as he says, a source of energy for them. Only strong points that are fought over should be overprotected, not weak ones. Against Håkansson and Székely he gave up the pawn on d4 and overprotected the pawn on e5 instead; the pieces took over the pawn’s task. In the game against Spielmann, New York 1927, he calls one of his own moves a “false overprotection” (our translation). He later lost the game against Capablanca; in his words, that was not because of the overprotection. The texts are newly written for the course; the positions come from Nimzowitsch – Székely, Kecskemét 1927, Nimzowitsch – Håkansson, Kristiania 1922, Nimzowitsch – Capablanca, New York 1927, and Spielmann – Nimzowitsch, New York 1927.
- Chess Praxis, 3. Overprotection and other forms of prophylaxis (original text not yet published)
- Chess Praxis, game 58: Nimzowitsch – Håkansson (in German)
- Chess Praxis, game 59: Nimzowitsch – Székely (in German)
Today’s view (editorial note)
Overprotection counts today as one of Nimzowitsch’s best-known ideas. The German word for it is “Überdeckung”.