chess-The Oxford Companion to Chess - First Edition by David Hooper & Kenneth Whyld

300 scHools oF cHEss
The ncw school bcgan 1872 3. Steinitzs ganes
al Vicnra 18?3. in which he nancuvres on bolh
sides ol the board in his search for advanlage,
contrast sharply with the viole.t attacks thal
characterize thc games of his match Nirh Anders
scn in 1866. Sieinilz had definne ideas about tbe
two nost important asPects oi Positional play:
control oI tbe cenhe and concern for thc pawn
lomation. He would .oncede
prolidiag he had no paN. Neaknesses or vould
ac.ept a DEFTNSNE CENTRE: borh po$ibiliies
became acceptable because ol tne impro,cmrnts
he made io defersivc tcchnique. He took especial
.arc with paan play. eventually reaching a sone
what extrene view: a playershould makc f,o pawn
moves otber rhan thosc .cccssary for developnenra
thc unmolcd pawns would retain a kind of
passive mobiliry, rhe greatest nunber of opions
would be available, atd .o pavn weak.esses
would be fealed. Above all Sleinilzdevelopedtbe
techniques nccNsary fo. ha.dling lhese nany
positional lactoG In tne Intetnational Che$
Mogazine. 1aa5, p. 98- he wriics: "rne assault
against th. king\ side forms the exceptionwhereas
in forner days it sas made fte rule. Generatly at
lhe oursel rhe atrack is directed chicflytoNards the
cenbe orthc quecn\wins. . . The indis..ininate
king ssideattack hasbeensupenededbystrategic
2l mrn,hvre\ hfches and counler narches fot
gaining and accumulating small advantageson an,
Apa fion hn precursor, L. Paulsen. Stinitz
had lew lollowers in rhe 1870sr rhe nost notable,
perhaps-wasBURN, Bythc 1890s the sreal najority
ol active mastem had been influenced in varying
deeree by rhe renets ot tbe ne! school. Some ol
steiniL\ ideas, hosever- sere nor Nidcly
accepled. hsrcR sas onc of thosc who undeslood
rhat thc delcnsive potentialola cranped position
was aninherenl cbaracrenstic ol the gane, and he ,
beeme. like Steinnz, tbe areatesr detensive player
ofhis ine. cErcoRrN respcctcd Stcinitz andshared
sonc of his vicss. ln particular Chigo.in believed
i! rhe delensive centre and hls investigations
esrablished the lasting popularily of thc .LosE
DEFEN'E Of thE SPANISH OPININC
URMSCH became the nert Sreat leacher. He
tolo*ed Steinitz in nany respects, norably as
regards the tso bishops and thc importancc ollhe
queentside majoriry. Above all Tarasch believed
that mobility sas the dominanl nralegic factor,
th.t steinnz had overrated lhe importancc ol
so-callcd paNn wcakncses, that a playerwould be
unable to exploil these iI be lacked mobility This
wrM uselul.ore.tive hul Trffasch\ vieN ofrhc
gamc was in somc scnses narroN. even dogmalic.
Because ceding a half-centre or mainlaining a
delensive cenrre would seem to inply a loss ol
mobility hereteded such cent, al for mati ons . EUWE
calls the period 190G-l4lheyearsoI'lechniqueand
routine *hen lhe new ideas sere being worled
out and reined . These yeais sere doninaled by
T,n^!.h\ vi.vs F.r !,rions re,!.nr rhos. llke
.r BuNcA, Lasker, and NinzoNilsch, Nho
undesrood steinitz belter, kePl tbeir oNn.ounscl.
Thedlpernotle narement
BREYER, Nimzosilsch, and R6rr Nere the leading
theorists olthh novemenr which fiounshed in fie
1920s. Nimzowirsch, the tounder, was also the
mosi consnlent Praclilioner
Mosl othcr masten
used hypermodcrn mclhods occasionally as an
addilional scapon in then armoury. The nove
menr was largely a reaction lron the iigid vicws
held by Taiasch and sas prin.ipauy concerned
{ith lhe problcm olthe opening and control oifie
centrc. The middle-game continued to be plaFd in
the manne. adlocated by Stcinitz althougb the
revival offlank oNnings led to middle ganes no1
unlike rhosc of the English school.
The pnnciples oi Steinirz scrc applied io lhe
very 6rs! noles of the eame. hitheno taken lor
granted. After 1 e4 e5 2 NB Nc6 3 Bb5 Black-s
6xed e-pawn becones anobject olauack.lotcing
him to play deiensively. Also attcr I d4 d5 2 c4
Black's d paNn bccomcs an objecr oI atrack
Should Black thus setupone ofhis cenfe pawnsas
a targer? WIat else should Black play? Thc ansNcr
lal, in Sleinnz\ concepl that allpaan mo,es carry
rhe s€edsolapaNn aeakncss IIWbitc plays 1d,l
then the squarc e4 h weakened to the exlenl lhal n
cannot be atlacked by Whne\ dpasn. Black
should rherelore rry ro contol e4. but anhout
setdns up a rarsel by L . . d5. One sayoldoins
this isto playthe DUT.BDEFENCE (1 . . f5) whnh
was revived by rARrArcwER and ArE(lrNr.
Anotberway islo control c4 with pieces,lhe basn
OI thc OIEEN.S INDhN DEFENCE ANd tbE NIMrc
rNDraN DEFENCE, borh pioneered by Nimzowlhch
Aier I e4 Bla c[ could reply 1. . . c5 (thcsrctr-raN
DEENCE), lor lhe pawi at.5 hanunlikelytarger.Il
it$erewronglo.Blacklosetupa centrepawnas a
ta.get would lhis also be wrong tor White? Rdri
answered tbe quesdon by inve.ting the Rali
Systen: rhe cenfte wasto bc dominated bypieces
rather than paw.s. (The Siaunton System. a
precedent. was probably unknowd ro Rdi.) Ii it
vere Brong to Place a cenrre paNn on rhe iourth
rankatthe start olihcgamc thcn itmighr be right
to indu.c thc opponent to do so. Philidorwamed ol
the dareer ol setling up a pa
and rhe practical erpresion ol such a daneei n
seen in the c&tNF.r.o DEFFNC.. In the ALEKHTNtr
D.F.N.E Black immediately altacks Whitespawn
at e4. so that WIne must enherplal supinelyorset
up ad .dvaned pasn cenbe that gives Black a
targct in thc play that folloNs. The Sicilian Defence
Nas re-investigated: Black does not ain lo play .
(l5- but ro set up a small centrc as in tnc DRAGoN
vAOArroN (invcnred by L. Paulsen) and the
s.HEvENrN.Er !^Rr\roN. The nank opening 1 c4
(ENGLrss opENrNG) s6 re!i'ed, Tarrakoser declaring
it lo be the openine of thc lutuc. For ma.y
opcniflgs rhc nanchetto was used. a development
ihat has remained lashionable.
The hypernodern nolemenl led to increasing