Hypermodernism (chess)
Encyclopedia
Hypermodernism is a school of chess
that emerged after World War I. It featured challenges on the chess ideologies presented by central European masters, such as on Wilhelm Steinitz
’ approach to the centre. It also challenged in particular the dogmatic rules set down by Siegbert Tarrasch
. The Hypermoderns took satisfaction in challenging the guidelines of the previous generation and demonstrating with concrete games and victories that these challenges could be done successfully. Nimzowitsch for example delighted in showing how games could be won through indirect control of the center, challenging some of Tarrasch's dogmatic views that the center had to be occupied by pawns. Nimzowitsch advocated controlling the center of the board with distant pieces rather than with pawns
, thus inviting the opponent to occupy the center with pawns which can then become objects of attack. However, this was only part of the Hypermodern framework - which Nimzowitsch encapsulated in the seminal chess work called "My System
" which was to greatly influence many future generations of chess players. It introduced and formalized concepts of the pawn chain, overprotection, undermining, prophylaxis, restraint, rook on the seventh rank, knight outposts
, the dynamics of the Isolated Queen's pawn
, and other areas of chess, showing how the teachings and prescriptions of Tarrasch could be successfully challenged.
Although none of the primary exponents of the Hypermodern School ever achieved the title of World Chess Champion, they were among the world's strongest players. World Champion Alexander Alekhine
was associated with hypermodernism though his style was more of a blend with the Classical School.
In practice, hypermodernism has not replaced the classical theory of Steinitz and Tarrasch. Instead, modern chess textbooks describe hypermodernism as an addition, or extension, to classical theory.
Hypermodern openings
include the Réti Opening
, King's Indian Defence
, Queen's Indian Defence
, Nimzo-Indian Defence
, Grünfeld Defence
, Bogo-Indian Defence
, Old Indian Defence
, Catalan Opening
, King's Indian Attack
, Alekhine's Defence
, Modern Defence, Pirc Defence
, Larsen's opening
, Sokolsky Opening
, and to a lesser degree the English Opening
. Openings such as 1.a3
do not constitute hypermodern openings since, although they delay the occupation of the centre with pawns, they also delay development which is not consistent with Hypermodernism.
and other mid-19th century players of his era understood many of the ideas that we now consider as hypermodern . The Hypermodern School of chess theory came to prominence in the 1920s. Leading members were Aron Nimzowitsch
, Richard Réti
, Ksawery Tartakower, and Gyula Breyer
, who all came from central Europe
. They felt that chess was becoming boring, slow and unworthwhile. They also believed that chess could not be defined by a simple set of laws or principles, such as those laid out by the German Siegbert Tarrasch
.
Their ideas were thus a challenge to the existing orthodoxy popularised by Tarrasch in the 1890s. This orthodoxy was a rather dogmatic distillation of the ideas worked out by the great chess pioneer Wilhelm Steinitz
. Steinitz was the first player who in his play demonstrated a mastery of positional chess ideas and the ideas he developed came to be known as the "Classical" or "Modern" school of thought. This school of thought emphasized the importance of "static" advantages such as avoidance of pawn weaknesses, strong outposts for knights
, and striving for "good" rather than "bad" bishops
in locked pawn positions. This school of thought was in turn a reaction to the earlier swashbuckling style of Adolf Anderssen
, Henry Blackburne
and others who represented the Romantic
school.
In 1922, Richard Réti published Die neuen Ideen im Schachspiel (the English
translation, Modern Ideas in Chess, was published in 1923), an examination of the evolution of chess thinking from the time of Paul Morphy
through the beginning of the hypermodern school. Tartakower's book Die hypermoderne Schachpartie (The hypermodern chess game) was published in 1924. Nimzowitsch's famous book Mein System (My System) was published in 1925 through to 1927 in five installments. It included elements of Hypermodernism, but was largely a text on positional chess.
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
that emerged after World War I. It featured challenges on the chess ideologies presented by central European masters, such as on Wilhelm Steinitz
Wilhelm Steinitz
Wilhelm Steinitz was an Austrian and then American chess player and the first undisputed world chess champion from 1886 to 1894. From the 1870s onwards, commentators have debated whether Steinitz was effectively the champion earlier...
’ approach to the centre. It also challenged in particular the dogmatic rules set down by Siegbert Tarrasch
Siegbert Tarrasch
Siegbert Tarrasch was one of the strongest chess players and most influential chess teachers of the late 19th century and early 20th century....
. The Hypermoderns took satisfaction in challenging the guidelines of the previous generation and demonstrating with concrete games and victories that these challenges could be done successfully. Nimzowitsch for example delighted in showing how games could be won through indirect control of the center, challenging some of Tarrasch's dogmatic views that the center had to be occupied by pawns. Nimzowitsch advocated controlling the center of the board with distant pieces rather than with pawns
Pawn (chess)
The pawn is the most numerous and weakest piece in the game of chess, historically representing infantry, or more particularly armed peasants or pikemen. Each player begins the game with eight pawns, one on each square of the rank immediately in front of the other pieces...
, thus inviting the opponent to occupy the center with pawns which can then become objects of attack. However, this was only part of the Hypermodern framework - which Nimzowitsch encapsulated in the seminal chess work called "My System
My System
My System is a book on chess theory written by Aron Nimzowitsch. Originally over a series of five brochures from 1925 to 1927, the book — one of the early works on hypermodernism — introduced many new concepts to followers of the modern school of thought...
" which was to greatly influence many future generations of chess players. It introduced and formalized concepts of the pawn chain, overprotection, undermining, prophylaxis, restraint, rook on the seventh rank, knight outposts
Outpost (chess)
An outpost is a square which is protected by a pawn and which cannot be attacked by an opponent's pawn. In the figure to the right, c4 is an outpost, occupied by White's knight...
, the dynamics of the Isolated Queen's pawn
Isolated pawn
In chess, an isolated pawn is a pawn which has no friendly pawn on an adjacent file. An isolated queen's pawn is often called an isolani. Isolated pawns are usually a weakness because they cannot be protected by other pawns...
, and other areas of chess, showing how the teachings and prescriptions of Tarrasch could be successfully challenged.
Although none of the primary exponents of the Hypermodern School ever achieved the title of World Chess Champion, they were among the world's strongest players. World Champion Alexander Alekhine
Alexander Alekhine
Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine was the fourth World Chess Champion. He is often considered one of the greatest chess players ever.By the age of twenty-two, he was already among the strongest chess players in the world. During the 1920s, he won most of the tournaments in which he played...
was associated with hypermodernism though his style was more of a blend with the Classical School.
In practice, hypermodernism has not replaced the classical theory of Steinitz and Tarrasch. Instead, modern chess textbooks describe hypermodernism as an addition, or extension, to classical theory.
Hypermodern openings
Chess opening
A chess opening is the group of initial moves of a chess game. Recognized sequences of opening moves are referred to as openings as initiated by White or defenses, as created in reply by Black. There are many dozens of different openings, and hundreds of named variants. The Oxford Companion to...
include the Réti Opening
Réti Opening
The Réti Opening is a hypermodern chess opening whose traditional or classic method begins with the moves:White plans to bring the d5-pawn under attack from the flank, or entice it to advance to d4 and undermine it later...
, King's Indian Defence
King's Indian Defence
The King's Indian Defence is a common chess opening. It arises after the moves:Black intends to follow up with 3...Bg7 and 4...d6.The Grünfeld Defence arises when Black plays 3...d5 instead, and is considered a separate opening...
, Queen's Indian Defence
Queen's Indian Defense
The Queen's Indian Defense is a chess opening defined by the movesBy playing 3.Nf3, White sidesteps the Nimzo-Indian Defense that arises after 3.Nc3 Bb4. The Queen's Indian is regarded as the sister opening of the Nimzo-Indian, since both openings aim to impede White's efforts to gain full control...
, Nimzo-Indian Defence
Nimzo-Indian Defence
The Nimzo-Indian Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:This hypermodern opening was developed by Grandmaster Aron Nimzowitsch who introduced it to master-level chess in the early 20th century. Unlike most Indian openings the Nimzo-Indian does not involve an immediate fianchetto,...
, Grünfeld Defence
Grünfeld Defence
The Grünfeld Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:-History:The first instance of this opening is in an 1855 game by Moheschunder Bannerjee, an Indian player who had transitioned from Indian chess rules, playing black against John Cochrane in Calcutta, in May 1855: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4...
, Bogo-Indian Defence
Bogo-Indian Defence
The Bogo-Indian Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:-Variations:White has three viable moves to meet the check. 4.Nc3 is a transposition to the Kasparov Variation of the Nimzo-Indian, therefore the main independent variations are 4.Bd2 and 4.Nbd2.-4...
, Old Indian Defence
Old Indian Defense
The Old Indian Defense is a chess opening defined by the moves:This opening is distinguished from the King's Indian Defense by Black developing his king's bishop on e7 rather than fianchettoing it at g7...
, Catalan Opening
Catalan Opening
The Catalan is a chess opening which can be considered to be White adopting a mixture of the Queen's Gambit and Réti Opening: White plays d4 and c4 and fianchettoes the white bishop on g2. A common opening sequence is 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2, though the opening can arise from a large number...
, King's Indian Attack
King's Indian Attack
The King's Indian Attack , also known as the Barcza System , is a chess opening system for White, most notably used by Bobby Fischer. Its typical formation is shown in the diagram to the right....
, Alekhine's Defence
Alekhine's Defence
Alekhine's Defence is a hypermodern chess opening that begins with the moves:Black tempts White's pawns forward to form a broad pawn centre, with plans to undermine and attack the White structure later in the spirit of hypermodern defence. White's imposing mass of pawns in the centre often includes...
, Modern Defence, Pirc Defence
Pirc Defence
The Pirc Defence |grandmasters]]), sometimes known as the Ufimtsev Defence or Yugoslav Defence, is a chess opening characterised by Black responding to 1.e4 with 1...d6 and 2...Nf6, followed by ...g6 and ...Bg7, while allowing White to establish an impressive-looking centre with pawns on d4 and e4...
, Larsen's opening
Larsen's Opening
Larsen's Opening is a chess opening starting with the move:It is named after the Danish Grandmaster Bent Larsen...
, Sokolsky Opening
Sokolsky Opening
The Sokolsky Opening is an uncommon chess opening:According to various databases, out of the twenty possible first moves from White, 1.b4 ranks ninth in popularity...
, and to a lesser degree the English Opening
English Opening
In chess, the English Opening is the opening where White begins:A flank opening, it is the fourth most popular and, according to various databases, anywhere from one of the two most successful to the fourth most successful of White's twenty possible first moves. White begins the fight for the...
. Openings such as 1.a3
Anderssen's Opening
Anderssen's Opening is a chess opening defined by the opening moveIt is named after unofficial World Chess Champion Adolf Anderssen, who played it three times in his 1858 match against Paul Morphy...
do not constitute hypermodern openings since, although they delay the occupation of the centre with pawns, they also delay development which is not consistent with Hypermodernism.
History
Howard StauntonHoward Staunton
Howard Staunton was an English chess master who is generally regarded as having been the world's strongest player from 1843 to 1851, largely as a result of his 1843 victory over Saint-Amant. He promoted a chess set of clearly distinguishable pieces of standardised shape—the Staunton pattern—that...
and other mid-19th century players of his era understood many of the ideas that we now consider as hypermodern . The Hypermodern School of chess theory came to prominence in the 1920s. Leading members were Aron Nimzowitsch
Aron Nimzowitsch
Aron Nimzowitsch was a Russian-born Danish unofficial chess grandmaster and a very influential chess writer...
, Richard Réti
Richard Réti
Réti composed one of the most famous chess studies, shown in this diagram. It was published in Ostrauer Morgenzeitung 4 December 1921. It seems impossible for the white king to catch the advanced black pawn, while the white pawn can be easily stopped by the black king...
, Ksawery Tartakower, and Gyula Breyer
Gyula Breyer
Gyula Breyer was a Hungarian chess player. He was a leading member of the hypermodern school of chess theory, which favored controlling the center with pressure from the flanks....
, who all came from central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
. They felt that chess was becoming boring, slow and unworthwhile. They also believed that chess could not be defined by a simple set of laws or principles, such as those laid out by the German Siegbert Tarrasch
Siegbert Tarrasch
Siegbert Tarrasch was one of the strongest chess players and most influential chess teachers of the late 19th century and early 20th century....
.
Their ideas were thus a challenge to the existing orthodoxy popularised by Tarrasch in the 1890s. This orthodoxy was a rather dogmatic distillation of the ideas worked out by the great chess pioneer Wilhelm Steinitz
Wilhelm Steinitz
Wilhelm Steinitz was an Austrian and then American chess player and the first undisputed world chess champion from 1886 to 1894. From the 1870s onwards, commentators have debated whether Steinitz was effectively the champion earlier...
. Steinitz was the first player who in his play demonstrated a mastery of positional chess ideas and the ideas he developed came to be known as the "Classical" or "Modern" school of thought. This school of thought emphasized the importance of "static" advantages such as avoidance of pawn weaknesses, strong outposts for knights
Knight (chess)
The knight is a piece in the game of chess, representing a knight . It is normally represented by a horse's head and neck. Each player starts with two knights, which begin on the row closest to the player, one square from the corner...
, and striving for "good" rather than "bad" bishops
Bishop (chess)
A bishop is a piece in the board game of chess. Each player begins the game with two bishops. One starts between the king's knight and the king, the other between the queen's knight and the queen...
in locked pawn positions. This school of thought was in turn a reaction to the earlier swashbuckling style of Adolf Anderssen
Adolf Anderssen
Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen was a German chess master. He is considered to have been the world's leading chess player in the 1850s and 1860s...
, Henry Blackburne
Joseph Henry Blackburne
Joseph Henry Blackburne , nicknamed "The Black Death", dominated British chess during the latter part of the 19th century. He learned the game at the relatively late age of 18 but quickly became a strong player and went on to develop a professional chess career that spanned over 50 years...
and others who represented the Romantic
Romantic chess
Romantic chess was the style of chess prevalent in the 19th century. It was characterized by brash sacrifices and open, tactical games. Winning was secondary to winning with style, so much, in fact, that it was considered unsportsmanly to decline a gambit...
school.
In 1922, Richard Réti published Die neuen Ideen im Schachspiel (the English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
translation, Modern Ideas in Chess, was published in 1923), an examination of the evolution of chess thinking from the time of Paul Morphy
Paul Morphy
Paul Charles Morphy was an American chess player. He is considered to have been the greatest chess master of his era and an unofficial World Chess Champion. He was a chess prodigy...
through the beginning of the hypermodern school. Tartakower's book Die hypermoderne Schachpartie (The hypermodern chess game) was published in 1924. Nimzowitsch's famous book Mein System (My System) was published in 1925 through to 1927 in five installments. It included elements of Hypermodernism, but was largely a text on positional chess.
External links
- [fr] A la découverte des échecs hypermodernes avec MI Gerard Welling a large article by Dany Sénéchaud on Mieux jouer aux échecs