NIMZOWITSCH, ARON

born Nov. 7, 1886, Riga Latvia, Russian Empire died March 16, 1935, Denmark Latvian-born chess master and theoretician, renowned for his book My System (1925) but who failed to win a world championship, despite many attempts. Nimzowitsch learned to play chess from his father, a wholesale merchant, when he was eight years old, but only after he entered the University of Berlin in 1904 did he concentrate on the game. My System, which advocates what came to be called the hypermodern school of chess, remains a classic. Nimzowitsch is best-remembered for having created a new vocabulary for chess that made the strategy of the masters more intelligible. He also developed several theories of play, including the Nimzowitsch-Indian defense.