lichess.org
Donate

Prophylactic Thinking

tpr

Nimzovich called prophylaxis the essence of positional play.

The above example is clear and straightforward.
Here is a famous more complex Nimzovich game.
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1102400

Another form of prophylaxis are reverse openings.
As white imagine your opponent has magically played 0...d5 or 0...e5 and play one of your black defenses in reverse.

Nimzovich called prophylaxis the essence of positional play. The above example is clear and straightforward. Here is a famous more complex Nimzovich game. https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1102400 Another form of prophylaxis are reverse openings. As white imagine your opponent has magically played 0...d5 or 0...e5 and play one of your black defenses in reverse.