It is the sixth game of the Lasker-Steinitz rematch held in Moscow from November 1896-January 1897, and was one of only two Steinitz wins (the match finished in Lasker's favour +10=5-2).
I guess I must have seen the game before, but I could not remember it when going over the moves. Tartakower's notes are in italics.
Lasker (2855) - Steinitz (2794)*
Ruy Lopez, Deferred Steinitz
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6
The 'Steinitz Defence Deferred' is sound and lasting.
5.d4
This straightforward move is the strongest against the Steinitz Defence proper (3...d6 4.d4). Here, curiously enough, it proves to be the least energetic.
My main analysis engines Stockfish10 and Komodo9 reckon the text dissipates White's advantage. Nevertheless, 5.d4 has been played by Shirov and other strong players.
5...Bd7
A rather anxious reply.
Tartakower gives a lot of analysis to support his claim that Black should have "boldly" played 5...b5 6.Bb3 Nxd4 7.Nxd4 exd4, giving the game "an incisive character." That is indeed the main line in this variation today.
6.Bb3!?
Releasing his hold without necessity. He could have kept up the tension by 6.c3, after which Black could have continued straightforwardly by 6...Nf6, or more insidiously by 6...Nge7, followed by ...Ng6, …Be7 etc, or finally by 6...g6, followed by 7....Bg7 etc, with a playable game.
Lasker had used 6.c3 to beat Steinitz at St Petersburg the previous year and Blackburne earlier in 1896 at Nuremberg. The subtle idea behind 6.Bb3!? will become clear later.
6...Be7
Of course not 6...Nf6 7.Bg5 etc (this must be misprint for 7.Ng5, although Black is still alive after 7...d5! eg 8.exd5 Nd4).
7.dxe5 dxe5 8.Qd5 Be6 9.Qxd8+ Rxd8 10.Bxe6 fxe6 11.c3
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| Who stands better, and why? |
*****
*****
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White's plan, initiated by his sixth move, is now clear: elimination of the queens and creation of a doubled pawn in the hostile camp. But, for once, Dr Lasker, the great endgame player, is at fault; he overlooks that a genuine endgame is still very far off. Black already commands the open d file, and will soon operate on the f file as well.
Note that Black has a sizeable lead in development. White has a knight in play, while Black has developed a knight, bishop and rook, and it is Black to move. Nevertheless, pawn-structure cannot be ignored - the engines reckon White is a tiny bit better (a fifth of a pawn, according to Stockfish10; a tenth of a pawn, according to Komodo9). The game becomes one of positional manoeuvre.
11...Nf6 12.Nbd2 Bc5
And here is, in addition, a diagonal which will be under Black's management.
13.b4 Ba7 14.a4 b5
Cutting short White's designs on the extreme queen's wing.
15.Ke2
Useless would be 15.axb5 axb5 16.Ra6 Bb6 (or 16.Nxe5 Bxf2+).
15...Bb6
Evading the threat 16.axb5 axb5 17.Nxe5.
16.axb5 axb5 17.Ne1 Rf8 18.f3 Rf7 19.Nb3?
A very natural desire to let the inactive bishop into the open. Yet it is a tactical inadvertence by which Black will be enable dto turn his positional advantage into one of material. 19.Rf1 is necessary as a preliminary measure.
Or, as an anonymous analyst in ChessBase's 2019 Mega database puts it: "A gross mistake that is seldom found in Lasker's games."
19...Nxe4!
Gain of a pawn of which the protection is illusory (20.fxe4 Rf2#). The rest is a question of technique.
20.Bb2 Nd6
Threatens not only 21...Nc4, but also the breakthrough (even against 21.Nd2) by 21...e4 etc.
21.Rf1 Nc4 22.Bc1 Ne7 23.Bg5 Nd5!
Well calculated. This sacrifice of the exchange enables Black to take the hostile king under the concentrated fire of four batteries.
24.Bxd8
There is nothing better.
24...Nf4+ 25.Kd1 Rd7+ 26.Kc2
Or 26.Kc1 Ne2+ etc.
26...Ne3+ 27.Kb2 Nxf1 28.Bg5 Ne3 29.Bxf4 exf4
After a few exchanges, Black remains with only an extra pawn, but with the same overwhelming positional advantage.
30.Rc1 e5 0-1
Practically a 'zugzwang' position for White, while Black can further intensify the pressure by 31...Rd6 and …Rg6 or …Rh6.
*The ratings are historical retro analysis from chessmetrics.com and should not be taken too seriously.
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