Zugzwang: when every move does harm

In short

In chess you are not allowed to pass. Usually that is no problem, because a move can improve your position. But sometimes every possible move does harm. This situation is called zugzwang.

The word is older than Nimzowitsch. In his books he uses it like a well-known technical term. For him zugzwang is a tool that you should use often in the endgame.

In pawn endgames he uses zugzwang to lure enemy pawns forward. There his king can reach them more quickly later. He advises preparing this even before the decisive exchange.

Zugzwang also helps when maneuvering against a weakness. Against von Gottschall, Nimzowitsch plays for a long time against the pawn on c5 until White has no good move left. According to Nimzowitsch, White now has to weaken its own protective setup. White pushes a pawn forward on the kingside.

Start with the game Sämisch – Nimzowitsch. After that, the game against von Gottschall shows you zugzwang while maneuvering against a weakness. Lesson 42 begins shortly after White’s pawn move in this game.

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

The “Immortal Zugzwang Game”

In Copenhagen 1923, Nimzowitsch ties up the white pieces more and more tightly. After his move 25…h6, according to Nimzowitsch, White has no useful move left. White resigned. Black would then only have had to wait with the king, he writes.

Already in “My System”, Nimzowitsch calls the game by this well-known name. In “The Blockade” he places it next to the famous “Immortal Game”. There, he says, a sacrifice shows its greatest effect; here it is zugzwang.

Today’s view

Strictly speaking, it is zugzwang when the side to move would be better off if it were allowed to pass. Today’s analyses show that against Sämisch, White was already lost before that move; the obligation to move did not create the loss. Even so, the game shows nicely how a tied-up position makes every move difficult.

A related device is the waiting move. It changes nothing important and only passes the duty to move on to the opponent. The duel of the kings in pawn endgames is also based on zugzwang; more on this in the article on the opposition.

Where to find it in Nimzowitsch

• My System: I. Teil, Partie-Beispiele zu den ersten drei Kapiteln (original text)

  Sämisch – Nimzowitsch as an example of the outpost, with the final move that, according to Nimzowitsch, declares zugzwang, and the name “immortal zugzwang game”.

• The Blockade: Partie 9 original text not yet published

  The same game as an example of restraint in the widest sense; Nimzowitsch compares its zugzwang with the sacrifice in the “Immortal Game”.

• My System: I. Teil, 4.6 Die privilegierten Freibauern original text not yet published

  On privileged passed pawns: zugzwang as a tool to lure enemy pawns forward before the king sets off.

• Chess Praxis: 5. Das Lavieren gegen feindliche Schwächen bei gegebenem eigenen Terrainvorteil original text not yet published

  Maneuvering against enemy weaknesses; in the game against von Gottschall, zugzwang joins in as a helper.

• Chess Praxis: Partie 72 (original text)

  Von Gottschall – Nimzowitsch, Hanover 1926, with a zugzwang position in an endgame with rook and bishop.

In the course

• Attack on both wings
• von Gottschall – Nimzowitsch, Hanover 1926
• Sämisch – Nimzowitsch, Copenhagen 1923