Candidate: the pawn that leads the majority

In short

Imagine three white pawns against two black ones on a wing. None of the white pawns is passed yet. But one of them has no black pawn directly in front of it on its file. It is the least hindered.

Nimzowitsch explains the difference with a picture. A pawn directly in front of you is like an enemy who blocks your way. A pawn on the next file is more like a talkative person from next door on the stairs. They hold you up when you are in a hurry, but they are not an enemy.

As a joke, Nimzowitsch gives the pawn with nobody facing it a title, as at a university: it is the candidate. His rule follows from this. The candidate advances first, and the other pawns accompany it in a clever order.

If the wrong pawn moves first, the opponent can slow down the whole majority with a single pawn move. Nimzowitsch often sees this mistake in inexperienced players. He jokes that perhaps they cannot decide between left and right. So, he says, they choose the pawn in the middle.

Start with lesson 31. There you find the candidate and let it move first. Lesson 16 reminds you what a passed pawn is. In te Kolste – Nimzowitsch, a companion clears the way for the candidate.

Summarized by the editors in their own words. This is not a quotation.

Almost a passed pawn already

For Nimzowitsch, the candidate is almost a passed pawn already. That is why similar rules apply to it. It pushes forward and sometimes even sacrifices itself so that a piece behind it gets a good square. The article on the passed pawn explains more about this.

When you defend against a majority

The defender does the opposite. Nimzowitsch recommends first making the candidate immobile and then putting pressure on it. If a companion has to advance and the candidate is left behind, you can blockade it. After that it often falls altogether.

In “The Blockade” he shows this in his game against Tartakower, Copenhagen 1923. There he first prevents the candidate from advancing. At the same time he places his pieces so that he could blockade a new passed pawn at once. Lesson 31 uses this game as a new position.

What holds today

The candidate rule is still a good signpost today, especially in the endgame. But always check the actual position: where are the kings, and which squares are controlled?

Where to find it in Nimzowitsch

• My System: I. Teil, 4.1 Zur Orientierung. Der in mancher Beziehung störende Nachbar und das in jeder Beziehung unangenehme Gegenüber. Die Bauernmehrheit. Der Kandidat. Die Geburt des Freibauern. Die Regel vom Kandidaten. (original text)

  The passed pawn, the troublesome pawn next door and the hostile pawn opposite, the pawn majority, the candidate and the rule that it advances first.

• The Blockade: Abschnitt VI original text not yet published

  The same explanation and rule, shown with a majority of three pawns against two, with the typical mistake of inexperienced players.

• The Blockade: Abschnitt VII original text not yet published

  Defending against a majority: slow the candidate down, make it backward and blockade it, shown in the game against Tartakower.

• My System: I. Teil, 4.2a Der erste Grund original text not yet published

  The candidate is almost a passed pawn; in te Kolste – Nimzowitsch it sacrifices itself so that a knight gets a square.

In the course

• The pawn with a clear path
• The candidate goes first
• te Kolste – Nimzowitsch, Baden-Baden 1925