Blockade

This week we discussed Die Blockade, ala Aaron Nimzovich's My System.

I love My System. I read it along with The Brothers Karamazov when I was a teenager. They are both classics and not your normal teen fare. They both require you to really read and listen to the written word.

I confess my memory played a trick on me...I thought the Blockade would be it's own chapter. It made such a strong impression on me and my early chess games. But it wasn't! It was actually covered under Passed Pawns.

And this makes a ton of sense. You can blockade non-passed pawns (usually candidates), so it is not an exclusive factor, but the passed pawn or the threat of it becoming passed is a major concern.

That said, Nimzovich goes on to highlight the need to not only blockade a pawn to keep it from promoting (eventually) but also, especially in the earlier stages of the game, to keep the pawn from moving forward at all! This is why you should undertake the blockade operation as earlier as possible.

Many times the blockade keeps the pawn from moving forward, freeing up pieces behind it. It also can keep the pawn from being sacrificed! So it has three purposes:

1. Halt the pawn's innate need to push with hopes of promoting
2. Halt the pawn from freeing the pieces behind it
3. Halt the pawn from sacrificing itself which could free lines, free the current square, pull a piece into the new square

The hardest thing for beginners is to figure out what to do when they reach the middle game. They can play through memorized opening theory, they can apply the principles of development and King Safety. But what do they do when all of that has been achieved? What if there are no obvious tactics? No Checks, Captures, or Attacks?

One of the things you can do is look for opportunities to Blockade.

PS Wanted to point out that Lichess doesn't have a theme for Blockade (or passed pawns) in their puzzles...should there be?