My System Chapter 3 - The Seventh and Eighth Ranks • page 1/2 • General Chess Discussion • lichess.org

Right, we're onto week three of the Forum Book Club on My System by Aron Nimzowitsch. This week we're looking at Chapter 3: the Seventh and Eight Ranks. Have a look through it and come back with anything you found particularly enlightening or particularly mystifying.

Topics covered:
1.Introductory and general. Endgame or Mddlegame. The choice of an objective. "Thou shalt not wander about!"
2. The convergent and revolutionary attack in the 7th rank. The win of a point or pawn with acoustical echo (simultaneous check).
3. The five special cases in the 7th rank.

Links to previous threads:
Chapter 1 - On the Centre and Development
https://lichess.org/forum/general-chess-discussion/my-system-chapter-1-on-the-centre-and-development#1
Chapter 2 - On Open Files
https://lichess.org/forum/general-chess-discussion/my-system-chapter-2-on-open-files#1

Right, we're onto week three of the Forum Book Club on My System by Aron Nimzowitsch. This week we're looking at Chapter 3: the Seventh and Eight Ranks. Have a look through it and come back with anything you found particularly enlightening or particularly mystifying. Topics covered: 1.Introductory and general. Endgame or Mddlegame. The choice of an objective. "Thou shalt not wander about!" 2. The convergent and revolutionary attack in the 7th rank. The win of a point or pawn with acoustical echo (simultaneous check). 3. The five special cases in the 7th rank. Links to previous threads: Chapter 1 - On the Centre and Development https://lichess.org/forum/general-chess-discussion/my-system-chapter-1-on-the-centre-and-development#1 Chapter 2 - On Open Files https://lichess.org/forum/general-chess-discussion/my-system-chapter-2-on-open-files#1

RamblinDave edited

#2

My initial reaction to this chapter is basically that it feels a bit odd, and I think he explains why in the first section - he needs to follow the chapter on open files by justifying the importance of the invasion of the seventh rank as an objective, but a lot of that has to do with endgame strategy, which he isn't ready to get into yet. So instead we get what is essentially a short chapter demonstrating some middlegame tactical motifs that can arise from an early invasion of the seventh rank.

I guess it's fine, but I don't feel like I got anything particularly deep from it. I'd be interested to hear from anyone who felt otherwise, in case there's something I missed?

My initial reaction to this chapter is basically that it feels a bit odd, and I think he explains why in the first section - he needs to follow the chapter on open files by justifying the importance of the invasion of the seventh rank as an objective, but a lot of that has to do with endgame strategy, which he isn't ready to get into yet. So instead we get what is essentially a short chapter demonstrating some middlegame tactical motifs that can arise from an early invasion of the seventh rank. I guess it's fine, but I don't feel like I got anything particularly deep from it. I'd be interested to hear from anyone who felt otherwise, in case there's something I missed?

jomega

#3

#2 I feel as you do that Nimzo had to follow up on the previous chapter's open files concept.

It seems to me that the entire "First Part: The Elements" of the book is a mixture of opening, middelgame, endgame, as opposed to a more concentrated exposition of each phase in turn. The advantage of such an approach is showing how the different phases of the game connect together. However, the disadvantage is that the novice may feel like the exposition is jumping around in topics.

An example of a more concentrated exposition of the phases of the game is "The Game of Chess" by Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch. Tarrasch, in that book, orders the exposition as a) rules of the game b) endgame c) middlegame d) opening principles e) various openings e) illustrative games. The disadvantage with Tarrasch's approach is the most people want to start playing the game after learning the rules! They will object to Tarrasch's remark that comes right before "various openings". Here is what Tarrasch says there:

"The beginner who has studied enthusiastically with many repetitions and has assimilated the foregoing subject-matter can now - but only now - start to play games with other people. ... I expressly warn him against trying to learn by heart the following openings [the 'various openings' section]. A terrible thought! He must thoroughly assimilate the principles and then, when he has played a game, he should study the application of those principles to the particular opening adopted. Thus he will discover the inner significance of the various openings."

Back to Nimzo...

I never noticed before that Nimzo changed terms here. In the previous chapter it was "evolutionary" and now it is "convergent". He used "converging" at the end of section 4 in the last chapter also, so it seems a synonym for him.

I like the way he presents diagrams that are the exemplars and then starts adding pieces to them to show specific play with respect to the exemplar positions. In this way he shows, without talking about that as a method, how one can think about patterns and do analogous reasoning. This is also one of the methods of "deliberate practice".

His examination of one way to think about diagram 31 is interesting. First considering the point g7 as the one to attack, because the White Rook directly attacks it on the 7th, he does a calculation to show it will not work. Then he turns attention to h7 as the point to attack. I find that many people do not consider that as a possible attack point because their visualization of the attacks of the White Rook stops at g7 instead of continuing to the edge of the board. For Nimzo this is so obvious (internalized) that he doesn't even mention it! His analysis of diagram 31 is a little off, but his points are well made.

The terminology "acoustical echo" is strange, and I don't think it survived. Instead, writers today would point out, as Nimzo mentions, that it can be important to gain tempos with checks and to use "zigzaging" in the attack. "Zigzaging" is what some call those Queen maneuvers on unguarded squares.

I've seen people deride the section on the "five special cases". Their argument is that there are many cases in the 7th rank; so why these? I think we should look at this section as Nimzo giving "the elements" (title of part 1, after all) of play in the 7th rank, and these are the most important exemplars in his view.

#2 I feel as you do that Nimzo had to follow up on the previous chapter's open files concept. It seems to me that the entire "First Part: The Elements" of the book is a mixture of opening, middelgame, endgame, as opposed to a more concentrated exposition of each phase in turn. The advantage of such an approach is showing how the different phases of the game connect together. However, the disadvantage is that the novice may feel like the exposition is jumping around in topics. An example of a more concentrated exposition of the phases of the game is "The Game of Chess" by Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch. Tarrasch, in that book, orders the exposition as a) rules of the game b) endgame c) middlegame d) opening principles e) various openings e) illustrative games. The disadvantage with Tarrasch's approach is the most people want to start playing the game after learning the rules! They will object to Tarrasch's remark that comes right before "various openings". Here is what Tarrasch says there: "The beginner who has studied enthusiastically with many repetitions and has assimilated the foregoing subject-matter can now - but only now - start to play games with other people. ... I expressly warn him against trying to learn by heart the following openings [the 'various openings' section]. A terrible thought! He must thoroughly assimilate the *principles* and then, when he has played a game, he should study the application of those principles to the particular opening adopted. Thus he will discover the inner significance of the various openings." Back to Nimzo... I never noticed before that Nimzo changed terms here. In the previous chapter it was "evolutionary" and now it is "convergent". He used "converging" at the end of section 4 in the last chapter also, so it seems a synonym for him. I like the way he presents diagrams that are the exemplars and then starts adding pieces to them to show specific play with respect to the exemplar positions. In this way he shows, without talking about that as a method, how one can think about patterns and do analogous reasoning. This is also one of the methods of "deliberate practice". His examination of one way to think about diagram 31 is interesting. First considering the point g7 as the one to attack, because the White Rook directly attacks it on the 7th, he does a calculation to show it will not work. Then he turns attention to h7 as the point to attack. I find that many people do not consider that as a possible attack point because their visualization of the attacks of the White Rook stops at g7 instead of continuing to the edge of the board. For Nimzo this is so obvious (internalized) that he doesn't even mention it! His analysis of diagram 31 is a little off, but his points are well made. The terminology "acoustical echo" is strange, and I don't think it survived. Instead, writers today would point out, as Nimzo mentions, that it can be important to gain tempos with checks and to use "zigzaging" in the attack. "Zigzaging" is what some call those Queen maneuvers on unguarded squares. I've seen people deride the section on the "five special cases". Their argument is that there are many cases in the 7th rank; so why these? I think we should look at this section as Nimzo giving "the elements" (title of part 1, after all) of play in the 7th rank, and these are the most important exemplars in his view.

LloydThompson

#4

# 2, I actually did find the chapter quite useful. For me it was another good one. I was just late getting to work on it - could not start it until Monday. But it's going to help my game after a couple more revisits so that I can remember/internalize it.

For instance, not long ago I had a game where the white rooks dominated my 7th rank. I could have held the position, but there was so much else going on in the game (menacing queen, threatening pawns ) that I failed to move my king in the correct direction ----> and maintain close contact with one of the rooks. I think if it happens again I'll remember what to do, because now I've had the lesson broken down into its simplest elements. Nimzovich always seems to start with the most basic positions and then slowly adds more elements on top of that foundation. His starting positions seem so elementary, but I now think I understand how it helps the learning process. For instance in my game there were initially intervening pieces on the 8th rank, so the mate threat was masked. By the time I realized that I could not manuever without dealing with the hidden mate threat, I had to give up big material to avoid it. Now I think I'm capable of understanding the hidden elements before they completely surface.

Keep it Up ! I think some of the chapters will prove to be quite good/useful. I'm still a lazy studier, but once I get going (and the book club definitely helps), it seems I can learn a lot, and the mental pictures stay with me. Especially the way Nimzo does it.

# 2, I actually did find the chapter quite useful. For me it was another good one. I was just late getting to work on it - could not start it until Monday. But it's going to help my game after a couple more revisits so that I can remember/internalize it. For instance, not long ago I had a game where the white rooks dominated my 7th rank. I could have held the position, but there was so much else going on in the game (menacing queen, threatening pawns ) that I failed to move my king in the correct direction ----> and maintain close contact with one of the rooks. I think if it happens again I'll remember what to do, because now I've had the lesson broken down into its simplest elements. Nimzovich always seems to start with the most basic positions and then slowly adds more elements on top of that foundation. His starting positions seem so elementary, but I now think I understand how it helps the learning process. For instance in my game there were initially intervening pieces on the 8th rank, so the mate threat was masked. By the time I realized that I could not manuever without dealing with the hidden mate threat, I had to give up big material to avoid it. Now I think I'm capable of understanding the hidden elements before they completely surface. Keep it Up ! I think some of the chapters will prove to be quite good/useful. I'm still a lazy studier, but once I get going (and the book club definitely helps), it seems I can learn a lot, and the mental pictures stay with me. Especially the way Nimzo does it.

RamblinDave

#5

Well, we'll get on to passed pawns and restraint next, which seems to be where Nimzovitch starts to enjoy himself...

RamblinDave

#6

Incidentally, part of my motivation in suggesting this series of threads is to see whether my opinion changes on closer acquaintance, but for the moment I'm still sort of stuck with the feeling that The Elements is kind-of a grab-bag of topics? Compared to something like Pachman's Complete Chess Strategy, for instance, with its very methodical tackling of the pieces in order, then the elements of pawn structure, then characteristics of playing for the centre, then characteristics of playing on the wings, the first section of My System feels, ironically, less systematic.

Which isn't to say that I'm not getting anything out of it, just that I'm not sure how well it would function as a comprehensive introduction to positional ideas.

Incidentally, part of my motivation in suggesting this series of threads is to see whether my opinion changes on closer acquaintance, but for the moment I'm still sort of stuck with the feeling that The Elements is kind-of a grab-bag of topics? Compared to something like Pachman's Complete Chess Strategy, for instance, with its very methodical tackling of the pieces in order, then the elements of pawn structure, then characteristics of playing for the centre, then characteristics of playing on the wings, the first section of My System feels, ironically, less systematic. Which isn't to say that I'm not getting anything out of it, just that I'm not sure how well it would function as a comprehensive introduction to positional ideas.

vio7 edited

#7

#6
my system is basically a collection of his various lectures which apparently were quite popular and profitable for him.

i was always too lazy to finish this book(i havnt actually finished any chess book yet).
i will give it another try with this book club.

#6 my system is basically a collection of his various lectures which apparently were quite popular and profitable for him. i was always too lazy to finish this book(i havnt actually finished any chess book yet). i will give it another try with this book club.

dboing

edited

#8

Systematic. What feels methodical to one may look like cacophony to another. It may depend on how one is wired to find patterns in the information being fed, across multiple sessions and many orders of time scale.
Edit: sorry i edited myself as i did not like how what I wrote could be misunderstood. but I was finding systematic thoughts outside of the game phase ordering, within concepts with respect to each others. Many games view.

Systematic. What feels methodical to one may look like cacophony to another. It may depend on how one is wired to find patterns in the information being fed, across multiple sessions and many orders of time scale. Edit: sorry i edited myself as i did not like how what I wrote could be misunderstood. but I was finding systematic thoughts outside of the game phase ordering, within concepts with respect to each others. Many games view.

boilingFrog

#9

“I don't know why we are here, but I'm pretty sure that it is not in order to enjoy ourselves.”
― Ludwig Wittgenstein

“I don't know why we are here, but I'm pretty sure that it is not in order to enjoy ourselves.” ― Ludwig Wittgenstein

tpr

#10

#6
I find it very systematic. In the first he identifies the elements of the game and discusses these, and in the second part he passes on to positional play, using the elements.
#7
It was neither popular nor profitable. Several mediocre critics criticized it. Nimzovich was poor and could not raise the money to play for the World Championship.

#6 I find it very systematic. In the first he identifies the elements of the game and discusses these, and in the second part he passes on to positional play, using the elements. #7 It was neither popular nor profitable. Several mediocre critics criticized it. Nimzovich was poor and could not raise the money to play for the World Championship.