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Harry Nelson Pillsbury vs Emanuel Lasker
"Pillsbury d'oh!" (game of the day Aug-01-05)
10, St Petersburg 1895  ·  Queen's Gambit Declined: Pseudo-Tarrasch. Primitive Pillsbury Variation (D50)  ·  0-1


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sac: 18...Ra3 PGN: download | view Help: general | java-troubleshooting

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Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 4 OF 4 ·  Later Kibitzing >
Aug-01-05   RookFile: They had a term for Emanuel Lasker,
I forget exactly what it is right now.
It was something like "fantastic energy", and conveyed the notion of a genius, supremely motivated, giving the game everything he had. That was what a formidable opponent he was in his best years.
Aug-01-05   offramp: I believe his close friends used to call him "Die Unwahrscheinlichspannkraftmeister".
Aug-01-05   sneaky pete: <offramp> "Der" please, unless his name was Emanuela.
Aug-01-05   offramp: I was taking the noun as being Spannkraft.
Aug-01-05   molle2006: The gender of a german noun is always taken from the last part of the word. This just by the way...

This game is really impressive, because (with Kasparov's notes in the Fritz Database) it is really a game between two human beings and not just a sequence of moves. Both of them get nervous, make mistakes and so on, and you can really imagine these two brilliant men sitting at the chess board and trying to beat each other with the power of their minds.

Aug-01-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  chancho: This is the game where Pillsbury noted that 7 Bxf6 was a better move. He waited eight years to spring that novelty on Lasker.
Aug-01-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  kevin86: Lasker takes Pillsbury to the woodshed;mate will follow in two after Bd8+
Aug-01-05   britny rules: this is one of the best games i have ever seen!!!
Aug-01-05   Hincho: 27...Q - f5+ 28.K-h8 is there a defence? Gentlemen start your computers.
Aug-07-05   dac1990: <Hincho> No, there is not.
Aug-20-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  patzer2: The most amazing thing about this game is the analysis done by Kasparov and friends for his forthcoming book.

Initially, it appeared 28. Qf5! Kg8 29. Kb1 equalized and gave White a forced draw.

However, at the Chessbase.com site provided above by <Sergey Sorokhtin>, Kasparov's subsequent analysis demonstrated a win for Black after 28. Qf5+! Kg8 29. Kb1 (29. Qe6+ Kh8 30. Kb1 Bxd4 ) 29... Bxd4! 30. Re1 Qb4+ 31. Kc1 Qc3+ 32. Qc2 Qa1+ 33. Qb1 Rc3+ 34. Rc2 Be3+ 35. Rxe3 Qxb1+ 36. Kxb1 Rxe3 (Sorokhtin).

<Sergey Sorokhtin> am I correct in assuming you found the win for Black after 28. Qf5+ and provided the correction to Kasparov?

Aug-20-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  Calli: Yeah its amazing how many times Kasparov can get it wrong and then be corrected by an amateur with a computer.
Feb-12-06   MorphyMatt: The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games says that Pillsbury resigned after 28... Qc3+
Jun-17-06   GeauxCool: Lasker's superior development begins creating threats by move 17...Rxc3!! -Fine
Jun-17-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  TheBB: This game is analyzed at the bottom of this Chessbase article:

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail...

Jun-18-07   docofthree: pillsbury had win with 28 Qf5+ i have tremendous respect for lasker but i believe pillsbury was a better player and could have won the title in1895 or 1896 before his illness progressed
Jun-18-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  SwitchingQuylthulg: <docofthree: pillsbury had win with 28 Qf5+> Is this some sort of joke? If so, you have a weird sense of humour.
Jun-18-07   docofthree: no joke,you can win without a queen i believe queen sac gets at least a draw after 29 Qc3
Jun-18-07   docofthree: i meant 29 Qd3
Jun-18-07   ounos: <docofthree>, 29. Qd3 Rxd3. Maybe you played two moves for White by mistake.
Jun-26-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  notyetagm: 18 ... Rc3-a3!! followed eight moves later by 26 ... Rc3xa3!!, offering to sacrifice the second rook on the exact same square on which the first rook was sacrificed, is brilliant beyond words.

Position after 18 ... Rc3-a3!!


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Position after 26 ... Rc3xa3!!


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Aug-23-08   Knight to f6: Despite the large number of errors by both sides, this game continues to inspire admiration within me every time I have seen it for the last three years. This was Lasker's finishing blow in his brief rivalry with Pillsbury, from which there really was no return (although Pillsbury did defeat Lasker several times between then and his death. Such moves as Rxc3!, Ra3!!, and 8 moves later Rxa3!!! (again!!) are unforgettable.
Feb-06-09   Blink182: Wonderful Game!
Feb-07-09   WhiteRook48: uh-oh for Pillsbury
Sep-22-09   TheFocus: It is a commonly accepted myth that Pillsbury discovered Bxf6 and waited eight years to spring it on Lasker. The truth is that Pollock discovered the move and printed it in British Chess Magazine in 1896. His and Mason's notes later made up the book St. Petersburg 1895-96, printed in 1896. This is another one of those "chess myths" that seems to never die.
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