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Hypermodernism is aschool ofchess that emerged afterWorld War I. It featured challenges to the chess ideas of central European masters, includingWilhelm Steinitz's approach to thecentre and the rules established bySiegbert Tarrasch.
The Hypermodernists demonstrated their new ideas with games and victories.Aron Nimzowitsch, considered the founder and leading practitioner of hypermodernism,[1] showed that games could be won through indirectcontrol of the centre, breaking with Tarrasch's view that the centre must be occupied bypawns. Nimzowitsch advocated controlling the centre with distant pieces rather than with pawns, thus inviting the opponent to occupy the centre with pawns, which can then become targets of attack. This was part of the hypermodern framework, which Nimzowitsch encapsulated in his bookMy System, which greatly influenced many chess players. It introduced and formalised concepts of thepawn chain,overprotection,undermining,prophylaxis, restraint, rook on the seventhrank,knightoutposts, the dynamics of theisolated queen's pawn, and other areas of chess.
Although none of the primary exponents of the Hypermodern school ever achieved the title ofWorld Chess Champion, they were among the world's strongest players. World ChampionAlexander Alekhine was associated with hypermodernism, but his style was more of a blend with the Classical school.
In practice, hypermodernism has not replaced the classical theory of Steinitz and Tarrasch. Instead, modern chess textbooks describe hypermodernism as an addition, or extension, to classical theory.
Hypermodernopenings include theRéti Opening,King's Indian Defence,Queen's Indian Defence,Nimzo-Indian Defence,Nimzowitsch Defence,Grünfeld Defence,Bogo-Indian Defence,Old Indian Defence,Catalan Opening,King's Indian Attack,Alekhine's Defence,Modern Defence,Pirc Defence,Larsen's Opening, and to a lesser degree theEnglish Opening.
Howard Staunton and many of his 19th-century contemporaries understood various ideas associated with hypermodernism.[2] The Hypermodern school of chess theory came to prominence in the 1920s. Leading members wereAron Nimzowitsch,Richard Réti,Savielly Tartakower,Gyula Breyer,Efim Bogoljubov, andErnst Grünfeld, who all came fromCentral Europe.[3] They felt that chess was becoming boring, slow, and not worthwhile. They also believed that chess could not be defined by a simple set of laws or principles, such as those laid out bySiegbert Tarrasch.
Their ideas were thus a challenge to the existing orthodoxy popularised by Tarrasch in the 1890s. This orthodoxy was a rather dogmatic distillation of the ideas worked out by chess pioneerWilhelm Steinitz. Steinitz was the first player who in his play demonstrated a mastery ofpositional chess, and the ideas he developed came to be known as the "Classical" or "Modern" school of thought. This school of thought emphasised the importance of "static" advantages such as avoidance of pawn weaknesses, strong outposts for knights, and striving for"good" rather than "bad"bishops in positions with locked pawn structures. This school of thought was in turn a reaction to the earlier swashbuckling style ofAdolf Anderssen,Henry Blackburne, and others, who represented theRomantic school.
In 1922, Réti publishedDie neuen Ideen im Schachspiel (English:The New Ideas in Chess), an examination of the evolution of chess thinking from the time ofPaul Morphy through the beginning of the Hypermodern school. The name "hypermodern" was originated by Tartakower;[4] his bookDie hypermoderne Schachpartie (English:The Hypermodern Chess Game) was published in 1924. Nimzowitsch's bookMein System (English:My System) was published in 1925 through to 1927 in five installments. It discusses elements of hypermodernism, but focuses mainly on positional chess.
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