LaviChess

The Immortal Zugzwang Game

Aron Nimzowitsch sacrifices a knight, puts a rook on White's second rank and then plays a quiet pawn move. Friedrich Sämisch still has moves, but none that help, and he resigns.

  • WhiteFriedrich Sämisch
  • BlackAron Nimzowitsch
  • WhereCopenhagen
  • WhenMarch 1923
  • EventCopenhagen 1923
  • Result0–1, Black won
  • OpeningQueen's Indian Defense (E18)
  • Length25 moves

In March 1923, an international tournament was held in Copenhagen. Aron Nimzowitsch, who had moved to the city the year before, won it. Friedrich Sämisch and Savielly Tartakower shared second place.

Nimzowitsch was the foremost of the so-called hypermoderns. He questioned the old rule that the center must be occupied by pawns and wanted to control it with pieces instead, preferably with fianchettoed bishops. His recipe was first to restrain the opponent, then to blockade, and finally to strike. Raymond Keene, who has written a book about Nimzowitsch, sees the final position of this game as an example of the total paralysis of an opponent.

The players

Friedrich Sämisch (1896–1975) from Germany was a bookbinder before he took up chess full time. He was known for often getting into time trouble, but also for his fast play in blitz. Several opening lines bear his name, among them the Sämisch Variation of the King's Indian Defense (5.f3) and of the Nimzo-Indian Defense (4.a3). In 1950 he was among the first to receive the grandmaster title.

Aron Nimzowitsch (1886–1935) was born in Riga. In 1922 he moved to Copenhagen, where he lived for the rest of his life, and he became a Danish citizen. He won the Nordic Championship in 1924 and 1934 and was one of the best players in the world in the late 1920s. His book My System (1925) is counted among the most influential chess books ever written, and the Nimzo-Indian Defense is named after him.

The game move by move

Step through with the arrows or tap a move. Moves with a dot have a comment.

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Friedrich Sämisch has the white pieces, Aron Nimzowitsch the black.

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Open on the analysis board

Watch the game on the living board

Play like Nimzowitsch

Guess the moves Nimzowitsch played, one at a time. The move from the game earns two points, and a move Lavi thinks is about as good earns one. The other side's moves and the game's notes come as you go.

Play like NimzowitschPlay like Sämisch

The moments that decided it

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After 20…fxe4: Nimzowitsch lets the knight on h5 go for two pawns and an attack along the f-file.
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After 21…Rxf2: the rook is on White's second rank and attacks both bishops.
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After 24…Bd3: the bishop attacks the knight on b1. One move later Sämisch resigns.

The end

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The final position after 25…h6. White resigned after 25…h6.

Why the game is famous

Nimzowitsch called the final position zugzwang: in his view White has no move left, because whatever White does loses material. Others have objected that White can give back material and fight on for a while, and that Black also threatens …R5f3, trapping the queen. True or not, the final position has become one of the best-known pictures of an opponent who can't move.

At first almost nobody noticed the game. According to the chess historian Edward Winter, it was missing from nearly all the major chess magazines of 1923. Two years later Nimzowitsch annotated the game himself in the Wiener Schachzeitung and said that the Danish amateur master and writer Hemmer Hansen had compared it with Anderssen's Immortal Game. That, he wrote, was why Danish chess circles called it the Immortal Zugzwang Game.

The whole game with notes, as text

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 The Queen's Indian Defense. The bishop is going to b7, where it controls d5 and e4. 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6. Nc3 O-O 7. O-O d5 8. Ne5 c6 9. cxd5 cxd5 10. Bf4 a6 Black prepares …b5 to take control of c4. 11. Rc1 b5 12. Qb3 Nc6 The knight is heading for c4. 13. Nxc6 Sämisch trades off the knight before it gets there. It costs time: the knight on e5 had made two moves, Black's knight only one. 13… Bxc6 14. h3 Qd7 15. Kh2 Nh5 Nimzowitsch turns to the kingside. 16. Bd2 f5 The pawn takes control of e4. 17. Qd1 b4 The pawn drives the knight away from c3. On b1 it will have a hard time getting back into play. 18. Nb1 Bb5 19. Rg1 Bd6 20. e4 A mistake. Sämisch wants to break open the position, but now comes a piece sacrifice. 20… fxe4 Nimzowitsch lets the knight on h5 go. For it he gets two pawns and a rook on White's second rank. 21. Qxh5 Rxf2 The rook breaks in on the second rank and attacks both white bishops, on d2 and g2. 22. Qg5 Another mistake. After this move White's position is lost. 22… Raf8 23. Kh1 R8f5 The rook attacks the queen, which has to retreat. 24. Qe3 Bd3 The bishop settles on d3, protected by the pawn on e4, and attacks the knight on b1. 25. Rce1 h6 A quiet pawn move, and Sämisch resigned. White still has moves, but none of them saves the position.

PGN – the game as text for other chess programs
[Event "Copenhagen 1923"]
[Site "Copenhagen"]
[Date "1923.03.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Friedrich Sämisch"]
[Black "Aron Nimzowitsch"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E18"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6. Nc3 O-O 7. O-O d5 8. Ne5 c6 9. cxd5 cxd5 10. Bf4 a6 11. Rc1 b5 12. Qb3 Nc6 13. Nxc6 Bxc6 14. h3 Qd7 15. Kh2 Nh5 16. Bd2 f5 17. Qd1 b4 18. Nb1 Bb5 19. Rg1 Bd6 20. e4 fxe4 21. Qxh5 Rxf2 22. Qg5 Raf8 23. Kh1 R8f5 24. Qe3 Bd3 25. Rce1 h6 0-1

Download .pgn

Sources

  • Chessgames.com, Sämisch–Nimzowitsch 1923
  • PGN Mentor, Nimzowitsch.pgn
  • Wikipedia: Immortal Zugzwang Game
  • Edward Winter: Zugzwang

The moves compared in four sources (Chessgames, PGN Mentor, Wikipedia, Edward Winter): identical, 50 half-moves. Sämisch resigned after 25…h6. The month (March 1923) from Wikipedia and Winter; Chessgames gives March 10 and round 7. Every move has also been replayed by computer and checked against the rules of chess.

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Updated November 6, 2026