Emanuel Lasker - Siegbert Tarrasch
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.d4
Lasker had played 5.Nc3 in a win against Tarrasch 12 years before.
5...exd4 6.Qxd4 Qxd4 7.Nxd4 c5!?
Fred Reinfeld & Reuben Fine condemned this in a 1935 book, reprinted by Dover in 1965 as Lasker's Greatest Chess Games 1889-1914, for weakening Black's queenside, but it has been the choice of many strong players.
8.Ne2 Bd7 9.b3!?
Reinfeld & Fine criticise this rare move as "an indifferent idea," preferring 9.Bf4 followed by Nd2 "with pressure on Black's queenside pawns."
Andrew Soltis in Why Lasker Matters (Batsford, 2005) says "the natural response to ...c5" is Nbc3, intending Nd5.
9...Bc6
Reinfeld & Fine recommend castling, with ...f6 to follow to blunt White's bishop.
Soltis says Alekhine was impressed by Schlechter's recommendation of 9...c4. The future world champion used it in a 1909 game, meeting 10.bxc4 with 10...Ba4?!, when 11.c3 0-0-0 was unpleasant for White. But Stockfish10 and Komodo10 come up with a major improvement, 11.Nbc3, the point being that Black's light-square bishop is trapped after 11...Bxc2?? 12.Kd2, so instead has to retreat with loss of tempo.
10.f3 Be7 11.Bb2 Bf6?!
Reinfeld & Fine are surely right in calling this "illogical, since Black's only compensation for his weakened queenside is his two bishops." Soltis calls it "a curious decision."
12.Bxf6 Nxf6 13.Nd2 0-0-0 14.0-0-0 Rd7 15.Nf4 Re8
As Soltis points out, 15...Rhd8? loses a pawn to 16.Nd3 as 16...b6?? allows 17.Ne5.
16.Nc4 b6 17.a4
Soltis gives this an exclamation mark, but does not explain why.
17...a5
This is Komodo10's choice, but Reinfeld & Fine call it "purposeless," saying Black should have played ...Kb7 followed by ...b5 to create counterplay.
18.Rxd7 Nxd7 19.Rd1 Ne5 20.Nxe5 Rxe5
Reinfeld & Fine say the ending favours White "because of the relative immobility of Black's bishop."
21.c4
This gets an exclamation mark in both books, but the move is almost compulsory as otherwise Black undoubles his pawns with ...c4.
21...Re8 22.Nh5 Rg8?!
A horrible-looking move. The engines point out the better 22...Re6, which effectively prevents 23.Nxg7 as White does not want to allow 23...Rg6 followed by ...Rxg2.
23.Rd3 f6 24.Kd2 Be8 25.Ng3 Bd7
Soltis: "In principle, Black should be reluctant to trade rooks (...Bg6 and ...Rd8) because there is a danger that White will simply create a passed kingside pawn. Here ...c6 followed by ...Kc7 and ...b5 looks right."
26.Ke3 Re8 27.Nh5 Re7 28.g4
Another move that Soltis rewards with an exclamation mark, but does not explain what is so good about it. However, note that 28.f4? loses the e pawn, eg 28...Bc6 29.Ng3 h5 30.h4 Bxe4 31.Nxe4 f5 etc.
28...c6
Soltis praises this move, saying it is necessary to keep the knight out of d5.
29.h4 Kc7
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| How should White proceed? |
*****
*****
*****
*****
30.g5?!
This move passes without comment in both books, but it seems to be an example of how Lasker occasionally became impatient to finish a game.
The engines suggest 30.Rd1, but do not really come up with a plan for further activating White's kingside.
Perhaps 30.Kf4!? was best. The idea is to be able to play g5 without allowing the reply ...f5.
30...f5 31.Ng3 fxe4 32.Nxe4
Soltis says "the thematic" 32.fxe4 is better, but that Black is fine with ...b5. The engines reckon ...Rf7 is also satisfactory.
32...Bf5 33.h5 Rd7! 34.Rc3!?
The players have seen, and the commentators agree, that White cannot make progress after 34.Rxd7+ Kxd7 35.Kf4 Ke6. The text, hardly surprisingly, does not improve White's position, but avoids simplification - a sign, surely, that Lasker regarded himself as the superior player.
34...Rd1 35.Kf4 Bd7?
Tarrasch goes wrong almost immediately. He had a simple draw with 35...Bxe4 36.Kxe4 Rh1, which wins the h5 pawn, although White is in no trouble either as Black cannot create a passer on the queenside.
36.Re3 Rh1 37.Ng3 Rh4+ 38.Ke5 Rh3 39.f4 Kd8 40.f5 Rh4 41.f6 gxf6+ 42.Kxf6 Be8 43.Nf5!
Not the only way to win but, as Reinfeld & Fine say, "pretty and decisive."
43...Rf4
Or 43...Rxh5? 44.Rxe8+ Kxe8 45.Ng7+.
44.g6 hxg6 45.hxg6 Rg4 46.Rxe8+!? Kxe8 47.g7 Kd7 48.Nh4 Rxg7!?
A desperate last try, but White has it all covered.
49.Kxg7 Ke6 50.Nf3 Kf5 51.Kf7 Ke4 52.Ke6 Kd3 53.Kd6 kc3 54.Kxc6 Kb3 55.Kb5 1-0
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