My System Chapter 6 - Elements of Endgame Strategy

Right, I got enough positive feedback to continue, so we're rolling on to week six of the Forum Book Club on My System by Aron Nimzowitsch. This week we're looking at Chapter 6: On Exchanging. Have a look through it and come back with anything you found particularly enlightening or particularly mystifying.

Topics covered in this chapter:

1. Centralization
2. The aggressive Rook position and the active officer in general
3. The rallying of all isolated detachments
4. The combined advance
5. The materialization of files.

Also, I'm aware that not everyone's reading at the same rate, so if you're a bit behind then feel free to comment on an older thread.

Links to previous threads:
Chapter 1 - On the Centre and Development
lichess.org/forum/general-chess-discussion/my-system-chapter-1-on-the-centre-and-development
Chapter 2 - On Open Files
lichess.org/forum/general-chess-discussion/my-system-chapter-2-on-open-files
Chapter 3 - The Seventh and Eighth Ranks
lichess.org/forum/general-chess-discussion/my-system-chapter-3-the-seventh-and-eighth-ranks
Chapter 4 - The Passed Pawn
lichess.org/forum/general-chess-discussion/my-system-chapter-4-the-passed-pawn
Chapter 5 - On Exchanging
https://lichess.org/forum/general-chess-discussion/my-system-chapter-5-on-exchanging

Right, some thoughts.

Generally - interesting chapter, although obviously endgame strategy is a massive topic to condense down to ten or twelve pages! I only recently grokked the thing that he's hinting at in the introduction (and in an earlier chapter, IIRC) - that you can't really understand positional chess without understanding the endgame, because the advantages that positional chess plays for are generally realized in the endgame.

Centralization. If there's one thing that everyone knows about endgame strategy it's the importance of king centralization, right? But I really like the way that he ties the various theoretical rook and pawn positions into the more general ideas of king centralization and shelter rather than treating them as just being techniques that you need to know independently for very specific situations.

The active rook / piece activity. "Elasticity" is a nice way of looking at piece activity, particularly in the endgame: can the piece do it's main job (defending something or threatening something) while also doing something else? This seems like a bit of a running theme in the book - we saw it applied to blockading pieces as well. I like the application of this to the greater elasticity of attackers over defenders, too.

Dr Tarrasch's Formula: "the rook's proper place is behind a passed pawn, be it his own or an enemy one." I'd heard this before (maybe on a previous reading of My System) but it's nice concrete advice.

Rallying of isolated detachments. I'd not previously come across the idea of the "hole stopper" - the importance of putting a piece on the square vacated by an advancing pawn.. I can't quite visualize why this is an important thing to do? "Combined advance" is a nice phrasing, though.

Materialization of open lines - I still don't understand exactly what Nimzovich means by "materialization" - am I right in thinking that the basic point here is a special case of the general idea that the endgame is where you turn a positional advantage to account, n this case using an open line to penetrate the opponent's position and make threats that are unpleasant for the opponent to deal with?

I'm still working through the examples at the end - I'll probably link to a study once I've done that...

#1
"I still don't understand exactly what Nimzovich means by "materialization" Materialisation means turning a positional advantage into a material advantage, i.e. convert to a win.

# 2

" Materialization..... am I right in thinking that the basic point here is.....you turn a positional advantage to account, in this case using an open line to penetrate the opponent's position and make threats that are unpleasant for the opponent to deal with ? "

I think it's even more concrete than that : As tpr stated above, turning it into material and/or, a specfic winning plan.

From my notes, while I was thinking about the question and attempting to formulate an answer :

-- In the middlegame domination of a file manifests in the position containing a lot of "Potential  Energy", ready to be converted into some other type of advantage**.   

-- By Materialization, Nimzovich  seems to mean turning that potential  energy into a more concrete advantage.   In his first example, diagram 74, he converts control of the 5th rank into the win of another pawn.  In his 2nd example, diagram 74a, through his control of the c file, white it able to use the threat of infiltration of the 7th rank to force the win of a pawn.   

( I ran both of those positions through stockfish and played out multiple possible lines. And in all cases, with best play the side with control of the file forced the win of material )

One more :  His 4th example,  diagram 75

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1645118
( Start position after 26....Re7 )

I didn't analyze this whatsoever, just ran through the moves. However in running through the remainder of the game, it certainly appears as if Capa used his domination of the f -file to force the win of black's h -pawn.  And black resigned a few  moves later, since the white rook's  control of the kingside prevented him from stopping the white h -pawn from queening.  

( ** Note a similarity to chapter 4, where we learned of the tremendous potential energy inherent in a protected passed pawn on the 6th or 7th rank : If your position is otherwise positionally solid and strong, it is often possible to find a combination that either forces the pawn home, or forces the opponent to give up so much material to stop it that the game is decided )