Customer Reviews

My System: A Chess Manual on Totally New Principles (Chess Classics)

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I have a chess library that contains several hundred dollars worth of books. And looking at them there are three that I have learned more from than all the rest: MY SYSTEM by Aron Nimzowitsch, IDEAS BEHIND THE CHESS OPENINGS by Reuben Fine, and COLLE SYSTEM by George Koltanowski. To do justice to this book, and to understand what Nimzowitsch is saying in it, will require a commitment of both time and effort from the reader. Don't pick this book up and expect to polish it off in a weekend 'cause this book is to The Chess World what Chemistry 101 is to Science. An aspiring chess player won't get anywhere without Nimzowitsch's concepts of: overprotection, centralization, open lines, surrender of the center, pawn structure, attacking strategies, defense strategies. Many International Grandmasters admit to cutting their teeth on this book. Nimzowitsch's concepts on middlegame play are the bedrock upon which solid, effective chess skills are made. He instructs the reader on sound opening play and then moves into the middlegame and endgame phases in greater depth than does Fine (see above book). His approach to chess could be called scientific: his analysis of a position by its strong and weak points allows the reader to understand what to strive for and what to plan for when moving the pieces from one square to another. Moves are made for a reason; Nimzowitsch teaches those reasons. This book won't make you a World Champion, but you won't become one without it. This is a must-have book

Nimzowitch was probably in the top five in the world in the late 1920s, and an original thinker. This book presents a number of important strategical ideas that all chessplayers should know, e.g. blockade, weak colour complexes. Nimzo had a number of catchy terms which help people remember them, e.g. a passed pawn's lust to expand, absolute 7th rank. The book also contains instructive annotated games.

But there are a few problems, some of which are pointed out in John Watson's fine book "Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy: Advances since Nimzowitsch":

Nimzo's tempo counting lessons are the height of naivety -- Watson showed simple ways for black to get a good game despite being many tempi down.

Nimzo's idiosyncratic lines of the advance French give Black an easy game as Watson shows, by a well-timed ...f6. As Watson also points out, this attack at the head of the pawn chain is effective quite often, despite Nimzo's counsel to attack pawn chains at the base. To be fair, this is often the right strategy.

Overprotection has never gained the support of most grandmasters.

Nimzo's famous dxc5 in the advanced French against Salwe is alleged to be revolutionary and contrary to the alleged dogmatism of the Tarrasch school, and even Watson concurs. But they both overlook that Tarrasch himself had pointed out that this gives white a good game, which is why he played ...cxd4 against Paulsen many years before. Nimzo even presents this game in a fairly favorable light.

Overall though, this is a very handy book for club players up to say 1800-2000, although it's debatable whether this is better than the Euwe/Kramer two volume set or Pachman's trilogy.

My copy of My System has been around. It is dog-eared, the pages have yellowed a bit and the price on it is marked $2.95. I recall many years ago that I had put a great deal of time into this book, but I'm not sure that I got a lot out of it then. Despite the smothering praise for this book given below, it is not without its flaws. Firstly, the book is not easy reading. The formal and stodgy early twentieth century prose makes one feel as if he is wading through molasses just to get to the point. The writing is unnecessarily wordy -- younger readers will have a tough time with the vocabulary. My System was revolutionary in its day but there are several newer books that I feel have ecclipsed it. Ludek Pachman's Modern Chess Strategy is an excellent book as is Jeremy Silman's How to Reassess Your Chess. If a "C - B" strength player were to ask how to get to 2000, I'd have him start with either of those first. Other excellent books of this genre are Lar! ry Evans' New Ideas in Chess, Michael Stean's curiously misnamed Simple Chess and almost any of Max Euwe's books. That said, this is a great book to browse through. If I were planning to study isolated queen pawn positions, for instance, I would get out Nimzovich, Pachman, et al, and go through each chapter on the IQP in succession. The areas where there was common ground would serve to reinforce the learning and the areas where there were differences would broaden it -- a win-win situation. Buy this book, but don't buy the "greatest chess book ever" hype.

In reference to other's comments of this book, I would like make something painfully clear: this is not a book for those wishing to improve their tactical ability. Clearly, the tactics are what make strategic, positional chess possible; if you lack the proper tactics, this book will prove largely meaningless to you. Too often, beginners make moves that make obvious threats, but in studying this book, Nimzowitch asks the reader to suspend his or her need for blatant brutality and commence with real chess sophistication. Falling into Scholar's and Fools Mates are not problems of this book for an obvious reason: they are brutalities and blunders that don't truly conform to the ideas of long-term strategy and conceptualization. Of course, Nimzowich was a master tactician - a calculator second only to Capablanca and Alekhine in his day - but his "Elements" are not tacticians tricks. His "Elements" are the basis for positional play and the "wars of attrition", and this follows logically in the second part of the book.

Of necessity, practice your tactics seprately and buy this book, not with the intention of improving your tournament results (though that will happen with time), but with the intention of furthering your understanding of true chess strategy.

(I would like to mention a piece of advice for those who purchase this book: with every move that Nimzowitch makes, ask yourself 'What are the strategically important points?' and 'How does this move fit into the larger plan?'. And, when the finishing combination does come, ask yourself 'How did this tactical situation arise from the strategy that preceded it?' i.e. 'How was this logically prefaced by the previous, positional moves?' With this, understanding this books should prove to be somewhat more rewarding and easier to understand on the whole. Remember to take your time.)

Easy read book with short chapters, each discussing a single tactical idea. A classic. All new chess players wishing to play in tournaments should read and understand the many tactical possibilities. I began with this book many years ago and still recommend it to all young players. Most books I had read said you had to have a PLAN. How do you make a PLAN? No problem after reading this book.

It discusses tactics relating to: forks, pins, scewers, open files, rooks on 7th and 8th ranks, knights strong in games with many pawns, bishops gain strength with fewer pawns, rooks weak in the early stages of the game but very strong in the ending, pawn structure, doubled pawns, isolated pawns, pawns on the rook files, pawn chains, pawn islands, discovered attacks, discovered checks, central play, space, and many more tactical elements. Rod Owen

This is an invaluable book for a serious chess student. I would higly recommend it for improving one's game and understanding chess at a deeper level. By all means, study the brilliant combinations of Tal's and Fischer's games and study all the current chess theory. But if you want to learn the foundations of positional play, this is the book to start with. It's a timeless classic.

--Alexander Shaumyan, poet and chess player

I am currently a B class player. In my last 8 months of tournament play, my rating jumped 510 points (from 1241 to 1751) I managed to accumulate about five 1st place finishes. This book was (and still is) the only book I have completed studying . Every good thing you have heard about this book is true. Nimzowitsch himself said, "A thorough knowledge of the elements takes us more than half the road to mastership." These elements are presented in this book. A MUST own for any low rated player seeking to improve. I have to metion that merely just reading it is not gonna provide a miracle cure (some amateurs expect that is what will happen) but application of his ideas and theories will definetely help you. Also, I had owned this book for about a year and a half and had read and reread the first few chapters several times before I finally 'got it' and when I did, I really did. This book forced me to change the way I think and thus the way I play and thats when results came. In the foreword by Yasser Seirawan, he said this book forces you to think, even if you agree with Aron's style or not. I have quite a few chess friends who think that Nimzowitch is "slow and boring", but you better believe they know his theories and recognize and use them in their games, he really provides you with knowledge of essential chess elements. This book should be a stepping stone into any chess knowledge as long as you internalize what he says. Enjoy

Quite simply, if you are looking to improve your chess, you cannot do better than to read this book. This is not merely my own personal opinion. A while ago I met hit a sort of brick-wall in terms of improving my rating, and spent a long time looking at what strong players said was the best way to improve your game. Almost without exception, they recommended this book. I now regret that I did not study it more deeply years ago. The main reason was that I was frustrated by the descriptive notation in the copy that was loaned to me by a former National Champion. Now it is in algebraic rather than descriptive notation you have no excuse. It covers the most important elements of positional play, and despite what some people might have you believe, is written in an entertaining manner. Of course not everything in the book is correct, but being exposed to the ideas and ways of thinking presented can only be good for your game. If you are serious about improving your rating, your understanding of chess, and enjoyment of the game, get this book.

My System is must for every chess player who has started playing in tournaments. Even though the book was written long back the ideas are still very fresh and you can't afford to improve your chess without this classic. Minority attack, development strategies, outposts for knights, etc are beautifully explained.

When you get the very basics of chess down this is the next book for you - if you are intermediate level player, 1500+. The first few chapters are rather easy to read but as you go on it gets more difficult especially if you can't follow a few chess lines in algebraic form and a few basic concepts. The book is divided in three parts: elements, positional play and annotated games, to illustrate the points the author is trying to make in the first two sections. In part two the author combines concepts from the first part to illustrate how positional play works.

This book will teach invaluable information you need to know about pawn structure and positional elements. Philidor said, "pawns are the soul of chess." This is well known concept but is it really? Can you capitalize on your opponents weak pawn structure or position when there is little or no tactical play? My Sytem will give you the necessary "exposure" to some chess concepts you will need to know about to defeat a higher rated opponent that will not allow you bombard his position tactically. I say "exposure" because this book can not cover all the bases of positional play and strategy alone and will not make you a master rated player right away. Other books written more recently will reinforce the concepts of positional play and pawn structure as well as cover new concepts Nimzowitsch did not cover. I have over ten books and by far this has been the most helpful in terms of improving the skills of a intermediate player (me). Even an advance player can profit from this book if only as a refresher course on pawn play and positional play. Other books I recomend are: by john Nunn, secrets of positional play; and Drazen Marovic, dynamic pawn play in chess.