Seirawan on Nimzowitsch

Hi all,

In a recent streaming commentary the American GM Yasser Seirawan said something in the line of:

"Nimzowitsch was an egomaniac, and his ideas were rubbish"

What is your take about it? I tend to agree with the first part, but even if I find many of My System and Praxis ideas sort of suspect, I am certainly far from qualified to assess them.

One can get some idea of the lasting scope of the respect for My System by looking at:
https://www.chess.com/article/view/the-best-chess-books-ever
Still, it might be noted that My System apparently did not occur to GM Yasser Seirawan as something to include in his list of personal favorites, and Aaron Nimzowitsch was not identified by the GM as a very worthy author.
Also, My System has accumulated some direct negative commentary over the years.
"... I found [the books of Aaron Nimzowitsch to be] very difficult to read or understand. ... [Nimzowitsch: A Reappraisal by Raymond Keene explains his] thinking and influence on the modern game in a far more lucid and accessible way. ... The books that are most highly thought of are not necessarily the most useful. Go with those that you find to be readable; ..." - GM Nigel Davies (2010)
In 2016, IM pfren wrote:
"My System is an iconoclastic book. A lot of things in there is sheer provocation, and it does need an expereienced player to know what exactly must be taken at its face value.
I love 'My System', and I have read it cover to cover one dozen times, but suggesting it to a class player is an entirely different matter."
"[Some things] ARE wrong, and it's not easy for a non-advanced player to discover those wrong claims.
Nigel Short has claimed that 'My System' should be banned. Stratos Grivas says that the book is very bad. I don't share their opinion, but I am pretty sure that there are more useful reads for class players out there."
Although he is a fan of My System, IM John Watson similarly acknowledged (2013) that:
"... Not everything in it has stood the test of time, ..."
http://theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/john-watson-book-review-108-of-eplus-books-part-2-nimzowitsch-classics
One last point to keep in mind is that, even if My System would eventually help a player, it might not necessarily be helpful to a player now.
"... Just because a book contains lots of information that you don’t know, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be extremely helpful in making you better at this point in your chess development. ..." - Dan Heisman (2001)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140626180930/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman06.pdf
A My System sample can be seen at:

https://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/MySystem-excerpt.pdf

A Chess Praxis sample can be seen at:

https://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/ChessPraxis-excerpt.pdf

https://www.chess.com/blog/RoaringPawn/an-open-letter-to-the-four-time-us-chess-champion-gm-yasser-seirawan

https://www.chess.com/blog/GMYAZ/open-letter-response-user-radovics-letter-to-me

Thank you for your first, thoughtful post kindaspongey; I had as well come across the Seirawan-Radovic epistolar exchange, and find it utterly enlightening.

kindaspongey, could you please mentioned where you learned of that Nigel Short's opinion?

That was a posting of IM pfren. Sorry if I didn't make that clear.

Much of what Nimzowitsch wrote has become common knowledge since the 1920s. Furthermore, I believe the first English translations of My System were rather poor, because they failed to transmit much of Nimzowitsch' rather acerbic wit. Consequently some of his claims have been taken at face value, while they were in fact meant as jokes.

nimzo is flat out persecuted after his death. he has the best chess book ever written for pure instruction. Is hated and or despised by most players i have come accross on this site at least and even sites a quote from the great grand master Yassir seirwan that he thought nimzo was egotistical and wrong. i will spare him the embarrassment of posting his endorsement of my system 21st century edition to my self as i stood in Barnes and noble in 1997 deciding weather to buy. trust me it was not GM Seirwan's endorsement that sold me the book but i payed for his endorsement! if this post is not deleted i figure chess.com thinks you can make up your own mind and look for your selves. if the post disapears or i disapear so bit it.