nimzo.academy

Project approval after AI review on 2 November 2026. Human proofreading is still pending.

“My System”: how the book is built

At a glance

“My System” is Aaron Nimzowitsch’s main work. It appeared in instalments from 1925 and was complete by 1927. In the first part he explains the elements of the game, such as open files, the passed pawn and the pawn chain. The second part is about positional play with prophylaxis, restraint and overprotection.

In short

Nimzowitsch builds his book like a course. First come the single building blocks, which he calls “elements”. Then he shows how to join them into a plan in positional play.

The first part has nine chapters. They range from development in the opening, through open files and the passed pawn, to the pawn chain. Each chapter ends with examples and often with a small outline.

The second part has five chapters. They deal with prevention, with weak and strong pawns and with patient play against a weakness. An appendix tells how Nimzowitsch defended his new ideas against the teaching of his time.

Below you will find each main chapter with one sentence about its content. The links lead to the original German text. The course lessons take up many of the chapters and explain them in simple steps.

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

How you can read the book

The book is about a hundred years old. So its language sometimes sounds unusual, and Nimzowitsch likes to write with wit and exaggeration. It is best to read a chapter together with the matching lesson.

Play through the examples on a board. That way you see how an idea works in a real position. Today players judge some of his verdicts differently; but the basic ideas are still instructive.

Where to find it in Nimzowitsch

  • My System: I. Teil, 1. Kapitel - Zentrum und Entwicklung (original text)

    Developing the pieces, tempo, the centre and grabbing pawns in the opening.

  • My System: I. Teil, 2. Kapitel - Die offene Turmlinie (original text)

    How an open file comes about, what a rook uses it for and what the outpost has to do with it.

  • My System: I. Teil, 3. Kapitel - Die 7. und 8. Reihe original text not yet published

    A rook’s attack on the seventh and eighth ranks, with five special cases.

  • My System: I. Teil, 4. Kapitel - Der Freibauer (original text)

    The passed pawn, its blockade, the work of the blockader and when a passed pawn should advance.

  • My System: I. Teil, 5. Kapitel - Der Abtausch original text not yet published

    When an exchange pays off and what it means for the position.

  • My System: I. Teil, 6. Kapitel - Die Elemente der Endspiel-Strategie original text not yet published

    The elements of endgame strategy: centralisation, the active rook and how the pieces work together.

  • My System: I. Teil, 7. Kapitel - Der gefesselte Stein original text not yet published

    The pin and the question of how a pinned piece gets free again.

  • My System: I. Teil, 8. Kapitel - Das Abzugsschach original text not yet published

    The discovered check, the windmill and the double check.

  • My System: I. Teil, 9. Kapitel - Die Bauernkette original text not yet published

    The pawn chain, its base and the attack against it.

  • My System: II. Teil, 1. Kapitel original text not yet published

    What positional play is: prophylaxis, the mobility of the whole pawn mass and the centre.

  • My System: II. Teil, 2. Kapitel - Der Doppelbauer und Hemmung original text not yet published

    Doubled pawns, restraining enemy pawns and the “mysterious” rook moves.

  • My System: II. Teil, 3. Kapitel - Der isolierte Damenbauer und seine Nachkommenschaft original text not yet published

    The isolated queen’s pawn, the isolated pawn couple, hanging pawns and the bishops.

  • My System: II. Teil, 4. Kapitel - Wie man starke Punkte systematisch überdeckt und wie man schwache Bauern bzw. Punkte loszuwerden sucht original text not yet published

    How to overprotect strong points and how to get rid of weak pawns or points.

  • My System: II. Teil, 5. Kapitel - Das Lavieren gegen eine feindliche Schwäche. Der kombinierte Angriff an beiden Flügeln. Besteht zwischen eben angedeuteten zwei Stratagemen eine gewisse Wahlverwandtschaft? original text not yet published

    Manoeuvring against a weakness and the attack on both wings.

  • My System: Nachtrag - Zur Geschichte der Schachrevolution 1911-1914 original text not yet published

    Nimzowitsch’s look back at the “chess revolution” of 1911 to 1914 and its consequences.