Raymond Keene

Zugger zugged

issue 17 August 2019

The German expression zugzwang means ‘compulsion to move’ and is most often seen in the endgame. Consider the following position on Diagram 1.
 
It is Black to move. If Black were not obliged to move he could draw by waiting for White to play 1 c7+ Kc8 2 Kc6 with a draw by stalemate. Instead Black is compelled to move, thus losing after 1 … Kc8 2 c7 Kb7 3 Kd7 winning by pawn promotion to queen or even rook.
 
The most famous zugzwang occurred in this week’s game, a classic, where the great Aron Nimzowitsch reduced his opponent to an utter paralysis on a board full of pieces. Notes based on those by Garry Kasparov in his My Great Predecessors series (Everyman Chess).
 
The puzzle this week shows the tables turned with an even greater player, Alexander Alekhine, snaring Nimzowitsch in another lethal middle-game zugzwang.
 
Saemisch-Nimzowitsch: Copenhagen 1923; Queen’s Indian Defence
 
1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 b6 4 g3 Bb7 5 Bg2 Be7 6 Nc3 0-0 The main move is 6 … Ne4! 7 0-0 d5 8 Ne5 c6 Stronger is 8 … Na6.









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