But it was actually part of a 10-game match in Paris in 1909, following on from a four-game match between the same opponents earlier in the year that finished with two wins apiece.
Lasker won the second match by seven wins to one with two draws.
A year later they played another match, this time with Lasker's world championship title at stake. The result was even more one-sided - Lasker scored eight wins while conceding just three draws.
Emmanuel Lasker - David Janowski
Paris 1909, Match 2, Game 3
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.d4 exd4 6.Qxd4 Bg4!?
Very much second in popularity to 6...Qxd4, but Black scores 57% with it in Mega20, compared with 53% for the normal move.
7.Nc3 Qxd4
According to Andrew Soltis in Why Lasker Matters (Batsford, 2005), Black's plan in this line is to quickly exchange queens and castle long.
8.Nxd4 0-0-0
I imagine both players were pleased with the opening - Janowski revelled in having the bishop-pair; Lasker, on the other hand, could be satisfied at having got queens off against a much-feared tactician.
9.Be3 Bb4 10.Ne2 Bxe2!?
Soltis does not like this move, but it is the choice of Stockfish10 and Komodo10. Incidentally, it suggests Janowski was not such a worshipper of the bishop-pair as is sometimes thought.
11.Kxe2 Bxc3 12.bxc3
It is unusual, to say the least, for White to end up with the only bishop in the Exchange Variation of the Spanish. Stockfish10 reckons Black is better; Komodo10 rates the position as level. Soltis does not commit to an opinion, but implies victory is likely to go to the player who can create a passer, and that this is easier for White.
12...Nf6 13.f3 Nd7 14.Rad1 Ne5 15.Rd4 b6
Soltis says Black "in theory" should avoid ...b5 because White can blockade on the c5 square, but he says 15...b5 was nevertheless right as it sets up 16...Nc4. Komodo10 likes Soltis's suggestion; Stockfish10 prefers the text.
16.f4 Nd7 17.Rhd1 c5 18.R4d3 Nb8?! 19.Kf3!?
The engines prefer a mass exchange of rooks, leaving an ending of bishop versus knight with rival pawn-majorities, which nearly always favours the bishop.
19...Rde8!?
Janowski seems to have concluded his 18th move might have been a mistake.
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| Can you guess Lasker's next? |
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20.f5!?
Lasker's trademark move in the Exchange Spanish. The engines very much dislike it, but Soltis awards an exclamation mark. He explains: "A fundamental endgame rules holds that the way to create a passer is to advance the unopposed pawn first. Here that means 20.e5. However because Black retained rooks, 20...Re7 and ...Nc6 would be a solid defence."
20...f6!?
The engines like this move; Soltis gives it a question mark. He reckons it gives White an extra resource he would not have if the pawn stayed put.
21.g4 Re7
The engines at first claim 21...g5!? gives Black a substantial advantage. Given time, they very much downgrade their evaluations, while still slightly favouring Black. One line, given by Stockfish10, runs 22.h4 h6 23.Bf2 Nc6 24.Bg3 gxh4 25.Bxh4!? (25.Bf4 h5 26.gxh5 Rxh5 is a serious alternative) Ne5+ 26.Kf4 Nxd3+ 27.cxd3, when the engines agree White has almost full compensation for the exchange.
22.Bf4 Rhe8 23.Re3 Nc6 24.g5?
Soltis says - and the engines agree! - that 24.h4 is best. It certainly seems the normal way to proceed.
24...Na5?!
Soltis and the engines give 24...fxg5 25.Bxg5 Ne5+ 26.Kf4 Rf7. "Even though this grants White a passed pawn," Soltis writes, "he has trouble meeting 27...h6 28.Bh4 g5+." The engines give 27.Rd8+! Rxd8 28.Bxd8 Nxg6+ 29.Kg4 Kxd8 30.fxg6 hxg6, when White has chances to hold the pawn-down rook-and-pawn ending.
According to the engines, 24...Rf7 is also OK for Black. The text seems to be somewhat irrelevant as it neglects the kingside, where the game is likely to be decided.
25.h4 Nc4 26.Re2 Rf7 27.Rg1 Kd7?
Soltis gives best play as 27...g6! 28.h5! gxf5 29.g6! hxg6 30.exf5 Ne5+! (his punctuation throughout) 31.Bxe5 fxe5, the point being that after, say, 32.hxg6 Rxf5+ 33.Ke3 Kd7 34.g7 Rg8 35.Rg6 Ke7 36.Reg2, the position is deadlocked.
28.h5 Nd6
If 28...Ne5+, then 29.Bxe5 Rxe5, when Soltis's 30.gxf6 gxf6 31.h6 "followed by Rg8 or Rg7" is just one way to win.
29.h6 fxg5 30.Rxg5 g6
Or 30...gxh6 31.Rh5 Rf6 32.Rd2 (not 32.e5? Rxf5) Kc6 33.e5 Rcf5 34.Rxd6+ etc.
The game finished:
31.fxg6 hxg6 32.Rxg6 Ref8 33.Rg7 Rxg7 34.hxg7 Rg8 35.Rg2 Ne8 36.Be5 Ke6 37.Kf4 Kf7 38.Kf5 1-0
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