Yes, I saw the Max Lange games and assumed it was a thematic tournament. <Chancho> (or any of the other usual suspects), can you throw any light on this?

<Lasker-Tarrasch match> The pre-match correspondence is reprinted in Tarrasch's match book, unfortunately in the original German. I think most of the letters are translated in Hoffer's book, which is available at Google books.

http://books.google.com/books?id=Fi...

Very short version: In 1892, Lasker challenged Tarrasch, who blew him off; in 1903, Tarrasch challenged Lasker, but then slipped and fell on the ice (really!) and canceled the match; after crushing Marshall in 1905, Tarrasch gave a very proud speech in which he said he had as much right to the world championship title as Lasker, that he didn't even need to challenge him, and that it was up to the chess clubs of the world to make the match happen.

Lasker had a match lined up with Maroczy in 1906, which fell through, I am not sure why; then he got the challenge from Marshall, which he accepted (IMO), not in order to dodge Tarrasch, but because it was a sure payday. Lasker came to Europe in 1908 for the first time in a long time and there was a great deal of pressure on him to accept Tarrasch's challenge. He demanded a huge honorarium, a la Fischer, and got it. (I know Fischer didn't like Lasker's chess, but I suspect he was influenced by his negotiating style.)

But Lasker had accepted? Had the match actually been signed, or just agreed to in principle?

<after crushing Marshall in 1905, Tarrasch gave a very proud speech>

I doubt Tarrasch ever gave a non-proud speech, but that's another story...

<Lasker had a match lined up with Maroczy in 1906, which fell through, I am not sure why;>

Money, I think, but I'm not certain.

<then he got the challenge from Marshall, which he accepted (IMO), not in order to dodge Tarrasch, but because it was a sure payday.>

Maybe, but it was a low payday. Marshall was unable to raise the purse Lasker wanted, so he played for half price.

The location probably came into play. Lasker and Marshall were in America, Tarrasch wasn't.

<He demanded a huge honorarium, a la Fischer, and got it. (I know Fischer didn't like Lasker's chess, but I suspect he was influenced by his negotiating style.)>

Yeah, Lasker was The Fischer Before Fischer when it came to trying to make chess professional. Tarrasch was, of course, the old school gentleman, who had a very successful medical practice, played chess as a sideline, and regarded it as somewhat distasteful that Lasker was so focused on the Benjamins.

<After I've finished translating all the game notes from Tarrasch's book on the 1908 match, I'll post some sort of summary of the negotiations,>

<<in 1903, Tarrasch challenged Lasker, but then slipped and fell on the ice (really!) and canceled the match;>

But Lasker had accepted? Had the match actually been signed, or just agreed to in principle?>

Yes, they had a signed match agreement. It's reprinted in Tarrasch's book.

<<After I've finished translating all the game notes from Tarrasch's book on the 1908 match, I'll post some sort of summary of the negotiations,>

I'd LOVE to see that. Even in German. My dad speaks German fluently, and could translate it.>

Well, then, look below! But as I said, I think most of the correspondence, as well as an account of the negotiations, is in English in Hoffer's book.

Siegbert Tarrasch ice skating is an image I never before imagined in my wildest dreams.

It looks like it was a theme match, with Marshall having White in every game, and Capablanca allowing the Max Lange attack. Interesting. The games are here in the database.>

Hope it will give you a bit more insight regarding the 1910 match.

Regardless of whether these games were played under tournament conditions (it doesn't seem to be clear whether they were or not), I wouldn't count them as "real" games, any more than I'd consider that Tchigorin beat Lasker in a match. Capa never allowed the Max Lange Attack in his life. If he deliberately played what were in his mind "less than best moves" to test a position in a theme match, then that doesn't constitute Marshall really beating him in my opinion.

Keypusher also excludes training games, and I'd go along with that. In fact, I wouldn't count any games played in private (even if they were made public later) as part of a player's official record. One good example is those games from the Super Secret Soviet Super GM Training Tournament at Gagra in the early 50's. Those games are in all the databases now, but they really shouldn't count.

Here's something that I consider to be a borderline case. What about exhibition games played in public? Like this game, for example:

Petrosian vs Lilienthal, 1957

The description just says Moscow 1957, but one book on Petrosian describes it as an Exhibition game played between rounds of the Botvinnik-Smyslov match.

That's still not entirely clear, but my best guess as to what that means is that a championship game was cancelled, the crowd was already there, so somebody went to Petrosian and Lilienthal and said "You two, get out there and entertain the crowd."

If that's the case, then yes, I'd count it. If it's played in public under tournament conditions, and not from a theme position, even if the game was impromptu, I'd count it. In the older days, single public games, not part of a larger match or tournament, were fairly common. One of Capablanca's most famous games was one like that:

O Bernstein vs Capablanca, 1914

And nobody thinks this game "doesn't count".

<Petrosianic>

<In the older days, single public games, not part of a larger match or tournament, were fairly common. One of Capablanca's most famous games was one like that:

O Bernstein vs Capablanca, 1914

And nobody thinks this game "doesn't count".>

I really wish that Lasker's would-be World Championship matches with Pillsbury, Maroczy, and Rubinstein had pushed through. I believe they would have, had Lasker been actively seeking the strongest opposition to his Title (like Steinitz did before him.)

The Chess world must have looked quite unfamiliar at this time. This was near the end of what could be called as the 'German chess era'. The Chess world then was dominated by masters from the two German-speaking Empires, the German Empire and the Hapsburg Empire.

Here's a look at the Title contenders in this era:

Unofficial World Champion Anderssen (German Empire)

Unofficial World Champion Morphy (USA)

First Traditional World Champion Steinitz (Hapsburg Empire)

First Official Title Contender Zukertort (Poland - Russian Empire)

First Official Title Challenger Chigorin (Russian Empire)

Official Title Challenger Gunsberg (Hungary - Hapsburg Empire)

Second Traditional World Champion Lasker (German Empire)

Official Title Challenger Marshall (USA)

Official Title Challenger Tarrasch (German Empire)

Official Title Challenger Schlechter (Hapsburg Empire)

Official Title Challenger Janowski (Poland - Russian Empire)

Should-Have-Been Title Challenger Pillsbury (USA)

Should-Have-Been Title Challenger Maroczy (Hungary - Hapsburg Empire)

Beginning of the Russian Empire Era:

By the 1910s, the power in the Chess world had already shifted to the masters of the Russian Empire

Should-Have-Been Title Challenger Rubinstein (Poland - Russian Empire)

But, if you take a look at the FIDE-ratings for the US, you'll see that the top 10 players have all been born and raised outside the US, with the exception of Nakamura, Seirawan and Christiansen.

7-3 for 1st generation immigrants.

And, Nakamura has one Japanese parent, Seirawan has an Arab father and an English mother.

That's 9-1 for 1st and 2nd generation immigrants.

I doubt the USA has quite that high a percentage of such people. Is something not amiss here?
Does this tell nothing of the state of chess in the US? No? US gets the credit as long as they're citizens?