MARK RUBERY CHESS
The following is taken from Edward Winter’s excellent website ‘Chessnotes’ perhaps best described as ‘A forum for aficionados to discuss all matters relating to the Royal Pastime’.
Whilst in Buenos Aires in 1939, Capablanca gave an interview in which he largely praised the skills of the man he had won the world title from-Emanual Lasker.
‘This knowledge of what has to be done, this “professional skill”, is what, with the exception of Botvinnik and, at a lower level, Keres, I fail to observe in the other young players, even though many of them shine on account of their memory, fantasy, will to win and other equally estimable abilities. When, for instance, I compare their games – some of which are very attractive – with those of old Lasker, the difference is immediately obvious. Lasker, apart from having a profound knowledge of chess, was a fighter. His first chess work was entitled Kampf (“Fight”). He is a man of a thousand resources at the chessboard. I still have clearly in mind the impression made upon me by one of his games against his constantly outshone rival, Dr Tarrasch. Lasker never paid excessive attention to the theoretical studies of his compatriot Dr Tarrasch, firstly because he was a basically practical player and secondly because Lasker did not attribute to these studies more importance than they deserved. Nevertheless, on a particular occasion he slipped into an inferior position to which Tarrasch induced him and suddenly found himself at his rival’s mercy. It was then that Lasker showed his fighting spirit. Instead of making the ordinary move which would have occurred to any other master, whereby he would sooner or later have lost or, with difficulty, drawn, Lasker sacrificed a pawn. But what a sacrifice! I have seen no such sacrifice in any modern games! It was impossible to know whether it should be accepted or refused. As the saying goes, “it shook the board”. Here was the “eccentricity” of the old teacher of philosophy and mathematics of the University of Breslau who took his opponents by surprise. The result was that after a few moves it was Lasker, not Tarrasch, who had the better game. This game shows any chessplayer the extraordinary quality of play, which he possesses even today as a glorious septuagenarian, of Dr Emanuel Lasker, world champion for 27 years.’
Lasker,Emanuel - Tarrasch,Siegbert [B03] Maehrisch Ostrau (2), 1923 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.c4 Nb6 4.d4 d6 5.f4 dxe5 6.fxe5 Nc6 7.Be3 Bf5 8.Nc3 e6 9.Nf3 Bb4 10.Bd3 Bg4 11.Be2 Bxf3 12.gxf3 Qh4+ 13.Bf2 Qf4 14.Rg1? (14 Qc1 is actually fine for White)… 0–0–0 15.Rg4! (First Lasker managed to halt the momentum of moves 10-14. That improved his situation from “about-to-lose” to “not-losing-now.” It took several more moves to arrive at the next level, “not-losing-at-all” and still more to reach the status of “might-win.”-GM Soltis)…Qxh2 16.Rh4 Qg2 17.Bf1 Qg5 18.Qc2 h5 19.Rd1 Qh6 20.a3 Be7 21.Rh3 Bg5 22.Qe4 f6 23.exf6 Qxf6 24.Be2 Qf5?! (The exchange of queens eases White’s position) 25.Qxf5 exf5 26.Bd3 g6 27.Ne2 h4 28.f4 Bf6 29.b4 Kb8 30.d5 Ne7 31.Kf1 Nbc8 32.b5 c6? (Unnecessarily weakening. Now the pendulum swings the other way…) 33.bxc6 bxc6 34.Rb1+ Ka8 35.Nd4 Bxd4 36.Bxd4 Rh7 37.Be5 Nd6 38.c5 Nb7 39.d6 Nd5 40.Rc1 Rf8 41.Ba6 Nf6 42.Bxf6 Rxf6 43.Re3 Rf8 44.Rce1 Rhh8 45.d7 Kb8 46.Re8+ Kc7 47.Bxb7 1–0 World Champion, Emanual Lasker, once made an unsuccessful bid at poultry farming which he abandoned after realising several weeks later that he had only procured birds of one sex…