In my pantheon of heroes a particular place of honour is occupied by the hypermodern grandmaster Richard Réti, the first to adopt the double fianchetto since the days of Howard Staunton.
Réti-Yates: New York 1924; Réti Opening (See diagram 1)
12 Rc2 This manoeuvre connected with this rook move must have struck onlookers as nothing short of revolutionary. Réti is planning to place his queen, the most powerful piece, on the extreme flank at a1. This is consistent with his theory that occupying the centre with pawns in classical style, as Black has chosen to do, exposes the pawns to pressure from the wings. 12 … Bd7 13 Qa1 Ng6 14 Rfc1 Bc6 15 Nf1 Qd7 In his book My System, Nimzowitsch advocated countering eccentricity with eccentricity by overprotecting Black’s e5 pawn with ….Qb8. 16 Ne3 h6 In my opinion this is the real error. By permitting White to advance in the centre with d4, supported by the strength of queen and bishop, Yates loses control.
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