"Blocading" is another famous term in Nimzowitsch's system, introduced in his book Die Blockade (Berlin 1925).
The term refers to play against an
isolated (and/or passed) pawn and it literally means that the pawn in question
shall be stopped by placing a piece immediately in front of it. So it is not sufficient to try to
hamper the pawn from a
distance with for example a Bishop (Nimzowitsch calls such pieces "police
officers"), because the
passed pawn has an irresistible lust to push forwards, so he has to be "put
behind bars".
A good blockader must meet the
following requirements (page 110):
a) blockade the pawn;
b) threaten the "enemy"
c) be elastic (morning exercise is recommended!)
From a friendly game
Nimzowitsch-Behting, Riga 1919. (Behting was a well-known composer of studies)
The opening was "Latvian Gambit", which according to the opinion of C.
Behting as well as Nimzowitsch,
is "entirely playable" (despite the result of the present game, page
110)
The above position came up after White's move 11. 0-0. The interesting
feature of it is the Knight at e3,
which is "an ideal blockader, protects g4, threatens from his place (not
"its place", because the Knight is a living
creature), and is elastic throughout."
However, as is so often the case with Nimzowitsch, there is
also an expanded meaning of the term being discussed,
referring to the control
of a complex of squares, which is called "Opfer
auf Blockade".
2011-11-22