My systemAron Nimzowitsch
My system
10mentions
5recommended by
9HN commenters
2010–2021first – last mentioned
56% recommend44% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Teaches positional chess principles such as open files, bishop pairs and pawn structure with a common-sense approach. It is readable and not overly long, offering a deep dive for club players past beginner level.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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…co-ordinating your bishop pair, keeping a strong pawn structure, etc. Two oldie but goodie books that teach these principles and are available as PDF's are Capablanca's A Primer of Chess [0] and Nimzowitsch's My System [1]. EDIT: memorizing openings ⊄ strategy. I understand strategy as applying good principles regardless of your opponent's moves, and tactics as calculating (mostly) forced move sequences. Also, strategy…
on “Chess tactics explained” ↗I'd highly recommend "My System" by Aron Nimzowitsch. A deep dive into positional play instead of specific tactics http://www.amazon.com/My-System-21st-Century-Edition/dp/1880...
on “Carlsen wins game 9, only needs 1 draw in 3 remaining games” ↗…One bad thing about chess is that computers are way better than humans, so no matter how good you get, you'll still suck compared to the computers. The book that helped me most with learning chess is "My System" by Aron Nimzowitsch.
on “World chess championship - live coverage (Game 3)” ↗Read Nimzowitsch's "My System": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_System Everything you need is in that book. It's not too long, and very readable. It has a very common-sense approach. Look for the 21st century edition at used book…
on “How to Get Good at Chess, Fast” ↗…say to your self, "I'm getting it!" Truth is that getting discouraged is the thing that stalls or scares off many / most novice chessplayers When you start getting up in the 1100-1300 range, pick up "My System" by Nimzowitsch and "How to Reassess your Chess" by Silman, "Soviet Middlegame Technique" by Romanovsky -- and after then, start learning openings in more detail. The biggest mistake most beginners make,…
on “Chessvision.ai – Analyze chess position from websites, images or video” ↗…eponymous essay isn't great. Open -- Andre Agassi's autobiography Inner Game of Tennis -- reread Winning Ugly -- Read this twice in 2016 (reread in progress). My mental game is volatile to say the least. My System (in progress) -- Aron Nimzowitsch's Chess study In a Sunburned Country -- Bill Bryson's description of his trip to Australia Sailing Made Easy -- ASA 101/102 Coastal Cruising Made Easy -- ASA 103 Buying…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?” ↗<nit>All my copies of 'My System', say Aron Nimzowitsch</nit> Great obsession though, pretty easy to relate to as well. Glad he found comics...
on “My Obsession with Chess” ↗…miss a tempo if you can attack when you need to. Of course in GM level classical chess missing few tempos could be equal to a loss and structure is very important. A Primer of Chess and Nimzowitsch's My System are targeted for IM/GM.
on “Chess tactics explained” ↗Thank you for the reply. I do not advocate "remembering all the 15 length opening sequence" either. > A Primer of Chess and Nimzowitsch's My System are targeted for IM/GM. This is an interesting assertion. How about you take a peek into either book?
on “Chess tactics explained” ↗…being a pretty bad player still. Steinitz did little more than provide me with a way of understanding where I went wrong when I make my inevitable mistakes. I understand that Nimzowitsch's two books, My System & Chess Praxis, might satisfy a desire for fundamental principles. I haven't read them though.
on “Ask HN: What are some things you learnt from a game that changed your life?” ↗