Aaron Nimzowitsch

Aaron Nimzowitsch (originally Niemzowitsch), (November 7, 1886 (Riga) - March 16, 1935), was a latvian grandmaster of chess. With his new ideas in chess strategy he was the forerunner of the so-called hypermoderns.

He wrote two books on chess strategy: Mein System (My System) (1925) and Die Praxis meines System (The Practice of my System) (commonly known as Chess Praxis). It is said that 99 out of 100 chess masters have read My System. Main features in these books are the theory of the Blockade (of a free pawn), the Control of the Centre and the Überdeckung.

Many Chess openings and variations are called after him, the most famous being the Nimzo-Indian Defence[?] (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4), and the lesser played Nimzowitch Defence[?] (1.e4 Nc6).

One of the concepts of the Hypermoderns is that the centre cannot only be occupied by pawns, but also controlling it with pieces (Bishops and Knights).