Restraining in time

Step 1 of 7

Look first

A game of Nimzowitsch’s from 1923. He has White; Bernstein has Black. On the kingside both sides have the same number of pawns.

You are playing White. Which black pawn has advanced much further than your pawn on the same file?

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, black knightc8, black bishopd8, emptye8, emptyf8, black rookg8, black kingh8, emptya7, emptyb7, black pawnc7, black queend7, emptye7, black bishopf7, black pawng7, black pawnh7, black pawna6, black pawnb6, emptyc6, black pawnd6, emptye6, emptyf6, black knightg6, emptyh6, emptya5, emptyb5, emptyc5, white pawnd5, black pawne5, emptyf5, emptyg5, emptyh5, emptya4, emptyb4, white pawnc4, emptyd4, white pawne4, black pawnf4, emptyg4, emptyh4, white knighta3, white pawnb3, emptyc3, white knightd3, emptye3, white pawnf3, emptyg3, emptyh3, emptya2, emptyb2, white bishopc2, white queend2, emptye2, emptyf2, white pawng2, white pawnh2, white pawna1, emptyb1, emptyc1, white kingd1, white rooke1, emptyf1, white bishopg1, emptyh1, white rook Mark or unmark

Position as a list

White

• King c1
• Queen c2
• Rook d1
• Rook h1
• Bishop b2
• Bishop f1
• Knight c3
• Knight h4
• Pawn a3
• Pawn b4
• Pawn c5
• Pawn d4
• Pawn e3
• Pawn f2
• Pawn g2
• Pawn h2

Black

• King g8
• Queen c7
• Rook a8
• Rook f8
• Bishop c8
• Bishop e7
• Knight b8
• Knight f6
• Pawn a6
• Pawn b7
• Pawn c6
• Pawn d5
• Pawn e4
• Pawn f7
• Pawn g7
• Pawn h7

Step 2 of 7

Decide

The same number of pawns does not mean the same amount of space.

You are playing White. What is Black threatening on the kingside, even though both sides have the same number of pawns there?

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 c1
• Queen c2
• Rook d1
• Rook h1
• Bishop b2
• Bishop f1
• Knight c3
• Knight h4
• Pawn a3
• Pawn b4
• Pawn c5
• Pawn d4
• Pawn e3
• Pawn f2
• Pawn g2
• Pawn h2

Black

• King g8
• Queen c7
• Rook a8
• Rook f8
• Bishop c8
• Bishop e7
• Knight b8
• Knight f6
• Pawn a6
• Pawn b7
• Pawn c6
• Pawn d5
• Pawn e4
• Pawn f7
• Pawn g7
• Pawn h7

What is Black threatening on the kingside?

Nothing: equal numbers of pawns cannot achieve anything e4–e3: the pawn on e4 is about to become a passed pawn f7–f5, g7–g5 and f5–f4: an attack as if with a real majority

Step 3 of 7

Try it

The same game, two moves later. Nimzowitsch has played g2–g3 so that his knight can step out of the way via g2, and has then moved it to g2. Black has played f7–f5.

You are playing White. Black wants to advance with f5–f4. How do you stop the pawn on f5?

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 b5 – pawn from b4 to b5a4 – pawn from a3 to a4Na4 – knight from c3 to a4Nb5 – knight from c3 to b5Nxd5 – knight from c3 captures on d5Nxe4 – knight from c3 captures on e4Ne2 – knight from c3 to e2Nb1 – knight from c3 to b1Na2 – knight from c3 to a2g4 – pawn from g3 to g4Ba1 – bishop from b2 to a1Qb3 – queen from c2 to b3Qa4 – queen from c2 to a4Qd3 – queen from c2 to d3Qxe4 – queen from c2 captures on e4Qd2 – queen from c2 to d2Qe2 – queen from c2 to e2Qb1 – queen from c2 to b1f3 – pawn from f2 to f3f4 – pawn from f2 to f4Nf4 – knight from g2 to f4Nh4 – knight from g2 to h4Ne1 – knight from g2 to e1h3 – pawn from h2 to h3h4 – pawn from h2 to h4Kd2 – king from c1 to d2Kb1 – king from c1 to b1Rd2 – rook from d1 to d2Rd3 – rook from d1 to d3Re1 – rook from d1 to e1Be2 – bishop from f1 to e2Bd3 – bishop from f1 to d3Bc4 – bishop from f1 to c4Bb5 – bishop from f1 to b5Bxa6 – bishop from f1 captures on a6Rg1 – rook from h1 to g1 Play move

Position as a list

White

• King c1
• Queen c2
• Rook d1
• Rook h1
• Bishop b2
• Bishop f1
• Knight c3
• Knight g2
• Pawn a3
• Pawn b4
• Pawn c5
• Pawn d4
• Pawn e3
• Pawn f2
• Pawn g3
• Pawn h2

Black

• King g8
• Queen c7
• Rook a8
• Rook f8
• Bishop c8
• Bishop e7
• Knight b8
• Knight e8
• Pawn a6
• Pawn b7
• Pawn c6
• Pawn d5
• Pawn e4
• Pawn f5
• Pawn g7
• Pawn h7

Step 4 of 7

Why does it work?

Nimzowitsch calls something like this a majority “of an ideal nature”. Here he means an advantage in the pawn position, not a greater number of pawns. The black pawn on e4 stands further forward than the white pawn on e3. In this position, that gives Black room for a pawn attack, although both sides have the same number of pawns on the kingside.

If you do not restrain in time, you let the opponent’s pieces break free.

Step 5 of 7

New position, same idea

Here you see what happens when nobody restrains. A game from 1924: Kinch has White, Nimzowitsch has Black. Earlier, White chose not to blockade the black pawns on the kingside.

You are playing Black. With Rf8+ you would win a piece, but Nimzowitsch found something stronger. With which quiet bishop move do you threaten mate?

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 Rf8+ – rook from e8 to f8Re7 – rook from e8 to e7Re6 – rook from e8 to e6Re5 – rook from e8 to e5Re4 – rook from e8 to e4Re3 – rook from e8 to e3Rxe2 – rook from e8 captures on e2Rd8 – rook from e8 to d8Rc8 – rook from e8 to c8Rb8 – rook from e8 to b8Ra8 – rook from e8 to a8Kh8 – king from g8 to h8Kf7 – king from g8 to f7Kf8 – king from g8 to f8c6 – pawn from c7 to c6c5 – pawn from c7 to c5g6 – pawn from g7 to g6g5 – pawn from g7 to g5h6 – pawn from h7 to h6h5 – pawn from h7 to h5Ba5 – bishop from b4 to a5Bc5 – bishop from b4 to c5Bd6 – bishop from b4 to d6Be7 – bishop from b4 to e7Bf8 – bishop from b4 to f8Bc3 – bishop from b4 to c3Bd2 – bishop from b4 to d2Be1 – bishop from b4 to e1Ba3 – bishop from b4 to a3Bb5 – bishop from c4 to b5Ba6 – bishop from c4 to a6Bd5 – bishop from c4 to d5Be6 – bishop from c4 to e6Bf7 – bishop from c4 to f7Bd3 – bishop from c4 to d3Bxe2+ – bishop from c4 captures on e2Bb3 – bishop from c4 to b3Ba2 – bishop from c4 to a2 Play move

Position as a list

White

• King f1
• Rook b7
• Knight c1
• Knight e2
• Pawn b2
• Pawn d4
• Pawn g2
• Pawn h2

Black

• King g8
• Rook e8
• Bishop b4
• Bishop c4
• Pawn c7
• Pawn g7
• Pawn h7

Step 6 of 7

Your plan on the other wing

A teaching position of our own, not a historical game. On the queenside each side has three pawns. Check what Black intends and which answer you can prepare.

You are playing White. Black would like to play b6–b5. Compare Nc3, a4 and h3: which two candidates make this advance harder? Choose one of them and 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.

87654321

abcdefgh

Which piece should the pawn become?

Queen Rook Bishop Knight

Cancel

Position as a list

White

• King g1
• Rook f1
• Knight b1
• Pawn a2
• Pawn b2
• Pawn c4
• Pawn f2
• Pawn g2
• Pawn h2

Black

• King g8
• Rook f8
• Knight f6
• Pawn a6
• Pawn b6
• Pawn c5
• Pawn f7
• Pawn g7
• Pawn h7

Which plan fits?

Develop the knight on b1 to c3 Move the pawn on a2 to a4 Move the pawn on h2 to h3

Why is this plan good?

I add control of b5 and can win a pawn after the advance. A pawn may never move to a controlled square. Black has an extra pawn on the queenside.

Step 7 of 7

Nimzowitsch and today

Aaron Nimzowitsch: looking at the board differently