When, a century ago, the main gurus of the then so-called hypermodern school – such as Nimzovich and Reti, to name the two most famous – set out their principles and put them into practice, many thought they were misguided eccentrics. The centre is not occupied with pawns in the opening, but is pressed by pieces, inviting the opponent to occupy it with his own pieces, in order to undermine them later. One of its basic rules is that every advancing pawn weakens squares on its sides.
The history of a hundred years has shown that these principles are as valid as the classical ones, and that both coexist in harmony in the 21st century; the preference for one or the other is rather a question of style, psychology or opportunity. The game in this video is a great example because Grandmaster Alexandr Fier (Brazil, 1988), winner of several tournaments in Spain among other successes, poses the fight with total hypermodern rigor and finishes it with a brilliance typical of the romantic style of the 19th century. In addition, his electrifying final combination is based on a very didactic pattern in certain types of structures, which every fan should know.
