CHESS
Thoroughly modern Xavielly
Raymond Keene
The phrase 'Hypermodern Chess' often Crops up in annotations and it is worth explaining what this means. In brief, hypermodernism was a movement in chess thought which peaked during the 1920s. It was led by grandmasters such as Alekhine, Nimzowitsch, Rai, Tartakower, Griinfeld and Breyer, and it more or less paralleled the advent of Dada or surrealism in art or, indeed, the atonal musical system of Schoenberg. The essence of hypermodern- isn't was that bishops were to be developed on the flank, in fianchetto (on g2, b2, b7 or g7). Further, that the central pawns could be held back without lessening one's influ- ence on the important central zone. Final- ly, that it was permissible to accept a weakness in one's own camp provided that it led to an increase in dynamism. All this came as a reaction against the classical chess of players like Dr Tarrasch, Karl Schlechter and even Capablanca him- self when he was playing in mechanical mode. This had led to rather too many sterile games. The bible of hypermodern chess was Nimzowitsch's My System, but it Was the Franco-Polish grandmaster, Dr Xavielly Tartakower, who documented the entire movement and its intellectual roots in his massive tome Die Hypermoderne Schachpartie. Here are two games by leading exponents of hypermodernism Which demonstrate the principles they espoused.
Reti — Breyer: Berlin 1920; Sicilian Dragon. I e4 e5 2 NO Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 g6 5 Nc3 Bg7 t Be3(16 7 Be2 Nf6 8 0-0 h5 This is typical of reyer's unorthodox approach. Whereas Black y;ould normally play 8 . . . 0-0 Breyer decides; ,..1 true Hypermodern fashion, to undermine White's central installations with a manoeuvre on the extreme flank. The correct answer to this his h3 followed by 10 f4. Reti's reply weakens position and justifies Black's manoeuvre. 9 f3 h4 in „ - Qd2 Nh5 11 Nd5 e6 12 Nc3 Ng3 A shock. If terrors in the open 'h' file, not the least of these hg • . . Rh1+ foowed b . . .Qh4+• If 13 183 hxg3 14 Bg5 Qxll 15 g5! Qxy g5 Bxd4+ 16 Rf2 Bxf2+ 17 Kfl Rhl mate. 13 Rfdl Nxe2+ 14 Ncxe2 h3 15 Nxc6 bxc6 16 Bd4 Nothing dismayed by Black's flank operations, White hopes to win Black's d6 pawn free of charge. Nevertheless, Black has sufficient resources against this so it would have been more sensible to play the immediate 16 Qxd6 Oxd6 17 Rxd6 when Black's two bishops compensate him for the lost pawn. 16 . . . e5 17 Bc5 Ba6! The key resource which Reti had overlooked or underestimated. If now 18 Qxd6 White will lose the knight on e2 or 18 Bxd6 Qb6+ 19 Kfl 0 0 0 when White is in all sorts of trouble on both sides of the board. Having been surprised by Black's 17th move White goes into a full retreat and the dominant factor becomes White's shattered kingside, which has been wrecked by the bold advance of the black 'h' pawn. 18 Be3 hxg2 19 Ng3 Qh4 20 Qxg2 d5 21 Nfl? d4 22 Bf2 Qf6 23 c3 In his wretched condition White resolves to sacrifice the exchange for a modicum of counterplay. 23 . . . Be2 24 cxd4 Bxf3 25 dxe5 Qf4 26 Qg3 Qxg3+ 27 Bxg3 Bxdl 28 Rxdl Rh5 29 Ne3 BxeS 30 BxeS RxeS 31 Nc4 Re6 32 e5 Rd8 33 Rfl Ke7 34 Rf4 c5 The smoke has cleared, White has nothing for his lost material and the rest is down to technique. 35 63 Rd4 36 Rf3 f6 37 exf6+ Rxf6 38 Re3+ Re6 White resigns.
Appel — Tartakower: Lodz 1938; Tartakower Defence.
1 NO Nf6 2 c4 d6 3 d4 Bg4 It has always struck me as unfair that so many of the hypermodern grandmasters, apart from Tartakower, have an opening or defence named after them. Thus, there is Reti's Opening 1 Nf3, Alekhine's Defence 1 e4 Nf6, the Grunfeld Defence 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 d5 and the Nimzowitsch- Indian 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4. The variation employed by Tartakower in this game is as hypermodern as any of those I have just mentioned. There is no doubt that Tartakower was its inventor and that he practised it fre- quently and with great success, Keres and Schlechter numbering amongst his victims. I therefore propose that henceforth this variation should properly be known as the Tartakower Defence. 4 Qb3 Bxf3 5 gxf3 Or 5 Qxf3 Nc6 6 d5 Ne5 7 Qb3 Qc8 Schlechter — Tartakower,
Vienna 1917. 5 . . . Qc8 6 f4 g6 7 Bg2 c6 8 Nd2 More energetic is 8 e4 Bg7 9 e5. 8 . . . Bg7 9 0-0 0-0 10 NO Nbd7 11 Be3 e6 12 Racl Rd8 13 Rfdl Qb8 14 Bd2 Qc7 15 Qa3 a5 16 Qa4 Ne4 17 Be3 f5 18 Qc2 Ndf6 19 Nel d5 The game has transposed into a kind of Dutch Defence, Stonewall Varia- tion, where Black has succeeded in ridding himself of his problem queen's bishop. Black now proceeds to build up a decisive attack against the white king under the shelter of his central pawn triangle. 20 c5 Ng4 21 Nd3 Qe7 22 h3 Nxe3 23 fxe3 Qh4 24 Rfl Kh8 25 Qdl g5 26 Qel Qh6 27 Kh2 g4 28 Rhl Rg8 29 Kgl Position after 29 Kg1 (Diagram) 29 . . . Bxd4 A splendid sacrifice which breaks down White's defences. 30 hxg4 White goes meekly to his doom, but if 30 exd4 gxh3 31 Qfl Rxg2+ 32 Qxg2 Rg8 33 Qxg8+ Kxg8, winning easily due to Black's dominating central knight and White's exposed king. 30 . . . Bxe3+ 31 Kfl Qxhl+ 32 Bxhl Rxg4 33 Bg2 Nd2+ 34 Qxd2 Bxd2 White resigns.
The hypermoderns, with their openings designed to lure on and expose their opponent's central pawns to later counter- attack, may have thought that they had discovered the ultimate El Dorado of chess truth and wisdom. Nevertheless, we now know that both the. hypermoderns and the classicists, with their brutal occupation of the centre and direct development of their bishops on solid central squares such as f4, c4, b5 and g5 can lay equal claim to the final verities in chess. Kasparov's style, for example, the most effective ever seen, is a pleasing blend of both the classical and the hypermodern.
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