Are the classics necessary?

by ChessBase
4/17/2024 – "I am a big fan of Aron Nimzowitsch," writes IM Zoran Petronijevic, who works as a chess trainer and lives in Nis (Serbia). "In yesterday's game Firouzja-Nepo, I found some ideas by him. We can often read that the study of the classical heritage of chess is completely unnecessary for advancing in chess, that the games of the classics are outdated, and that there is no (or almost no) benefit from them. I deeply disagree with that."
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I want to cite an example from modern practice, from the Candidate Tournament, where knowledge of the classics was almost decisive for understanding the position. It is about the game Firouzja-Nepomniachtchi, played in round 9 of the Candida.

Firouzja, Alireza2760½–½Nepomniachtchi, Ian2758
FIDE Candidates 2024
Toronto14.04.2024[Petronijevic,Zoran]
1.Nf3 d5 2.b3 Nf6 3.Bb2 Bf5 4.g3 c5 5.Bg2 Nc6 6.0-0 e6 7.d3 Be7 8.Nbd2 0-0 9.Re1 h6 10.e4 Bh7 11.Ne5 Nxe5 12.Bxe5 Nd7 13.Bb2 d4 14.a4 e5 15.f4 Qc7 16.Qf3 b6 17.Bh3 Rae8 18.Nc4 Bd6 19.Bc1 Qc6 20.Nxd6 Qxd6 21.Bxd7 Qxd7 22.f5
After his move, White is obviously preparing to launch an attack on Black's king via g4, h4, etc. Black decides to evacuate his king from the kingside 22...f6! 23.g4 Kf7 24.h4 Ke7 25.Re2 Kd6 The king on d6 is relatively safe, white has a small advantage, but it is far from anything decisive. How did black come up with this idea? How much did he think about it? For the move f6, he thought for 4.5 minutes, and for Kf7 - the beginning of the evacuation, he thought for only 51 seconds. Why he did not spent much time? The answer is simple: he knew the classics! This idea was applied relatively often by Aaron Nimzowitsch, and he explained it well in his books "My system" and "Chess praxis". There is no doubt that Black was very familiar with this idea, which means that knowledge of the classics is simply mandatory if we want to progress. He simply knew the games Van Vliet-Nimzowitsch, and Nimzowitsch-Buerger. 26.Bd2 a5 27.Rh2 Kc7 28.Rf1 Rh8 29.g5 Bg8 30.gxf6 gxf6 31.h5 Bf7 32.Rg2 Reg8
Here we see that Firouzja also knows the classics well. This sacrifice is seen very often, and we can mention two games: De Saint Amant-Staunton, 1843 (!) and Spassky-Petrosian, 1969. 33.Rg6 Bxg6 34.fxg6 Re8 35.Be1 Re6 36.Bh4 Rf8 37.Qg4 Qe7 38.Kh2 Kd6 39.Rf5 Qg7 40.Qf3 Kc7 41.Qf2 Kb7 42.Qg2 Rc6 43.Qg4 Ka6 44.Rf1 Rd6 ½–½

Some comments are in the games. I didn't analyze the games in depth, I intended to show how important classics are. Maybe you can find this material useful. If not, nothing, in any case, I will use it for my students.

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1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 c5 3.e3 e6 4.b3 Nf6 5.Bd3 Nc6 6.a3 6.0-0 6...Bd6 7.Bb2 0-0 8.0-0 b6 9.Ne5 Bb7 10.Nd2 a6 10...Rc8 11.f4 b5 12.dxc5! Bxc5 13.Qf3 13.Qe2!? 13...Nd7? 13...Rc8 is Nimzowitsch's suggestion 14.Qg3 14.b4 14...Nxe5 15.Bxe5 Bd6 16.Bd4 Qe7 17.b4 g6 Better was 13...Nxe5 14.Bxe5 Ne4= 14.Nxc6 14.Qg3± 14...Bxc6 15.Qg3 Nf6 15...f6 16.Qh3 f5 17.b4 Be7 18.Nb3 Bf6 19.Nd4 Nimzowitsch 16.Rad1 16.b4! was better 16...a5 17.Qh3 17.Nf3! Bxe3+ 18.Kh1 Nimzowitsch 17...h6 17...d4 18.e4 e5 19.fxe5 Bd7 Nimzowitsch 20.Rf5! 18.g4 18.Rf3 18...d4 19.e4 Qd7 19...e5 20.Rde1 20.g5 e5 20.e5 Nd5 21.Ne4 20...e5 21.f5 Nh7 21...Qe7 22.Nf3 Nd7 23.Nh4 Nimzowitsch 22.Nf3 Qe7 23.Qg3 Rfe8 24.h4
24...f6 24...Bxa3!? 25.Bxa3 Qxa3 26.g5∞ 25.Ra1 Qb7 26.Rfe1 Kf7! A nice idea. Black is escaping with his king on safer place. 27.Re2 Rh8! 28.Kg2 28.g5 hxg5 29.hxg5 Nf8 28...Nf8 29.g5 29.c3!? 29...hxg5 30.hxg5 Nd7 31.gxf6 31.Rg1 Ke7 Nimzowitsch 31.c3∞ 31...gxf6 32.Nh4 Rag8 33.Ng6 Rh5 33...Ke8 34.Kf2? 34.Qf3 34...Nf8 34...Rg7 35.Rg1 Rg5 35...Nxg6 36.fxg6+ Kg7 Nimzowitsch 36.Qh4 36.Qh2 Nimzowitsch Rxg1 37.Kxg1 Nxg6 38.Qh5 Kf8 39.fxg6 Qg7 40.Rg2 Rh8 36...Rxg1 36...Nxg6 Nimzowitsch 37.Kxg1 Nxg6 38.Qh5 Kf8 39.fxg6 Qg7 40.Rg2 Rh8 41.Qe2 41.Qf5 Bd7 42.Qf2 Rh6 41...Rh4?! 41...Rh6! 42.Qg4 Bd7 Nimzowitsch 42.Bc1 Rxe4 43.Qd2? 43.Qxe4 Bxe4 44.Bxe4 d3+ 45.Kf1 dxc2 Nimzowitsch 43.Qf2! Re3 43...Ke8 44.Qf5 Re1+ 45.Kf2 Bd7 46.Bxb5 44.Qh4 Bxg2 45.Kxg2 Qb7+ 46.Kh2= 43...Rh4-+ 44.Qxa5 Qd7 45.g7+ Kg8 46.Bc4+ bxc4 47.Qxc5 Rh1+! 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Van Vliet,L-Nimzowitsch,A-0–11907D05Ostend-B3
Nimzowitsch,A-Buerger,V-1–01927A03London Chess imperial club
De Saint Amant,P-Staunton,H-0–11843E14Match Staunton-Saint Amant +11-6=421
Spassky,B-Petrosian,T-0–11969E12World-ch26 Spassky-Petrosian +6-4=1311

Sagar Shah shows you on this DVD how you can use typical patterns used by the Master of the past in your own games. From opening play to middlegame themes.

As the author explains in the introductory video, knowing the classic games from the past enriches your chess understanding in general, and helps to improve the level of your own games.

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