Emanuel Lasker vs Wilhelm Steinitz (1895)

Emanuel Lasker vs Wilhelm Steinitz
Hastings (1895) · Spanish Game: Morphy Defense. Modern Steinitz Defense (C72) · 1-0

[Event "Hastings"]
[Site "Hastings, England"]
[Date "1895.08.16"]
[EventDate "1895.08.05"]
[Round "9"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "Emanuel Lasker"]
[Black "Wilhelm Steinitz"]
[ECO "C72"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "80"]

1. e4 {Notes by L. Gunsberg} e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 {If a
census were taken of the games played with the d6 defence as
against any other defence to the Ruy Lopez, it would be found
that this move has up to the present produced the worst
proportionate results.} 4. Ba4 d6 5. O-O Ne7 6. c3 Bd7 7. d4
Ng6 8. Re1 Be7 9. Nbd2 O-O 10. Nf1 Qe8 {Somehow or other we do
not believe in the manouvre of bringing the White Queen’s
Knight over on to the King’s side; we think too much time is
lost thereby, and it is advisable for Black to adopt an
aggressive policy before White has time to fully develop his
Pieces. Suppose Black played exd4 instead of Qe8, and if 11
cxd4 , then b5 12 Bc2 Nb4 13 Bb3 c5 14 d5 c4 15 Bc2 Nxc2 16
Qxc2 f5. The point is to do something while the Knight is on
f1, and before it can get g3.} 11. Bc2 Kh8 12. Ng3 Bg4 {We do
not see what good can come from this move; anyway it would
have been stronger if exd4 had preceded it.} 13. d5 Nb8 14. h3
Bc8 {The fact that the Bishop ought not to have gone to g4 at
all must now be clear.Bxf3 would not have been an improvement,
as that would bring White’s Queen into play.} 15. Nf5 Bd8
16. g4 Ne7 17. Ng3 Ng8 {Black has now completed his strategic
movement towards the rear. If this is good strategy, then the
modern theory of development must be all wrong. One fact,
however, must be borne in mind. Black, having all his Pieces
concentrated on his base, is certainly less assailable, and
should White rashly advance against that formation, Black
might probably be able to break up the White line with
advantage to himself.} 18. Kg2 {Considering that Black’s only
hope lies in an advance of the King’s Bishop’s Pawn, we should
have preferred to play Kh2, so as to be able to occupy the
King’s Knight’s file with the Rook, which would effectually
prevent f5 at any future time. And, after developing his
Rooks, White could take his own time about cautiously turning
on the pressure.} Nd7 19. Be3 Nb6 20. b3 Bd7 21. c4 Nc8 {There
seems little prospect of Black being able to harass White by a
flank attack on the Queen’s side. Yet it is the only way at
present that promises some relief.} 22. Qd2 Nce7 23. c5 g6
24. Qc3 f5 {It was pointed out by Mr. Steinitz that he would
have done much better if he had played h6 first. In this we
perfectly agree with him, as it would have given the King some
elbow room, and would, therefore, have made the impending
sacrifice less profitable, which by-theby must have stared
Black in the face in rather an obvious manner.} 25. Nxe5 dxe5
26. Qxe5+ Nf6 27. Bd4 {White’s play is extremely
interesting. If he had simply contented himself with 27 g5,
Black might have replied in several ways: i.e. Nxd5 28 Bd4 Nb4
29 Bb1 Kg8 30 gxf6 Bxf6 31 Qxd8 Raxd8, etc. Though these moves
may be varied, we still think this line would have been
profitable for Black.} fxg4 {Kg8 would not have released the
Knight, as White would, nevertheless, have played g5, and the
Knight could not move. f4 also looks an enticing move, but
then White would have replied with 28. g5, and Black could not
take the Knight.} 28. hxg4 Bxg4 { This was a deceptive
move. It seemed no doubt advantageous to get rid of this
Knight’s Pawn, but it did not result favourably.} 29. Qg5 Qd7
30. Bxf6+ Kg8 31. Bd1 Bh3+ 32. Kg1 Nxd5 {Black played the
following moves with desperate ingenuity. The move of Rxf6
does not promise much, nor is h6 any better, except that it
would allow Black to play Kh7 on the following move, which
would give him more liberty of action.} 33. Bxd8 Nf4 34. Bf6
Qd2 35. Re2 {Though this is the only move on the board, yet it
answers all practical purposes of defence.} Nxe2+ 36. Bxe2 Qd7
37. Rd1 Qf7 {Black having failed in his counter-attack, there
is Iitth left for him to do. If he had played Qe8 or Qc6 it
would not have made much difference in the position.} 38. Bc4
Be6 39. e5 Bxc4 40. Nf5 {A neat finish to a brilliantly played
game.} 1-0

To move:

Last move:

Annotations by Isidor Gunsberg. [6 more games annotated by Gunsberg]

explore this opening	find similar games	45 more Steinitz/Lasker games
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Nov-15-03		fukui: In Ideas Behind the Chess Openings (3rd edition), Fine gives the move order as 5. c3 Bd7 6. 0-0 Nge7. Of course the third edition has numerous typos including two in this same game (12 ... Bs4 13. f5)!

Dec-18-03		bumpmobile: By move 17 Black looks almost completely undeveloped. Then moves his knight four moves out of the next five. Far be it from me to critisize the man who lends his name to the opening used in this very game but is there any good reason for this?

Dec-18-03		Chessical: Steinitz is championing prophylaxis with a strong-point defence around e5. "...in this game "Steinitz has appeared more to be defending a philosophy rather than a chess position" (Crouch). Steinitz led the way to Nimzowitsch and Petrosian, but sadly he was not always to be rewarded with victories for his innovations.

Apr-22-05		tamar: Gunsberg sounds bewildered but fair in the tournament book discussing the situation where Steinitz repositioned all his pieces back to the 8th rank. After 17...Ng8: "Black has now completed his strategic movement toward the rear. If this is good strategy, then the modern theory of development must be all wrong. One fact , however must be borne in mind. Black has all his pieces concentrated on his base, and is certainly less assailable. If White rashly advances against this formation, Black could probably break up the White line with advantage to himself."

Apr-22-05		Calli: fascinating game. Is 25.Nxe5 good? Instead of 28...Bxg4, black has 28...Kg8 29.g5 Nexd5! 30.exd5 Qxe5 31.Rxe5 Ng4 32.Re4 Bxg5 33.Rh1 Bf6 34.Bxf6 Nxf6=

Apr-23-05		tamar: <Is 25.Nxe5 good?> Probably, although I suspect the follow-up 26 Qxe5 is too straightforward, allowing the counter-sacrifice and equality as the analysis by <calli> showed. Giving the move to Black seems better as his main problem is making escape squares for his King. White can use his move to get in g5 before the complications. I tested it with Shredder 9 26 g5 Nxd5 27 exd5 f4 28 Bxf4 Rxf4 29 Rxe5 Bf6 30 gxf6 Qf7 31 Ne4 Bf5 (31...Nxf6 32 c6) 32 Re1 Bxe4 33 Rxe4 Rxf6 34 Re6 Rf8 35 Qe5 and White still has the pin and an extra pawn. 2.22

Apr-23-05		Calli: <Tamar> Good point. Some defense may be possible with 26.g5 Nc8 27.exf5 gxf5 although white has the advantage. Perhaps we can play your move even earlier 25.g5 Nc8 26.exf5 gxf5 27.Bd2 and e5 looks hard to defend.

Apr-23-05		tamar: Steinitz thought 24...h6 would improve over the game to give his King some air and also to stop g5 I suppose. "It was pointed out by Mr Steinitz that he would have done better with 24...h6 first." Gunsberg In that case though, Lasker could have played 25 Qb4 with a double attack on d6 and b7. He also could have played 24 Qb4 instead of 24 Qc3, but was no doubt focussed on a direct attack against the King.

Apr-24-05		An Englishman: Good Evening: For an even stranger redeployment, see the game in Samuel Beckett's novel Murphy. As for this game, Gunsberg's annotation is quite perceptive; it shows that the greatest players of the 19th Century could understand modern concepts if you put them in a time machine and bring them to the present. Also, note how Lasker wasn't flustered; Gunsberg and Lasker both perceived the dangers of proceeding too rashly, and Lasker does conduct the attack in a sound fashion, staying with his Queen side strength and attacking the base of Black's pawn chain in accordance with hypermodern theory. The surprise is that Steinitz tried the standard ...f5 advance so soon. This is out of character for him. He usually played more patiently than this. Would 24...Nc8 have been a better move?

Apr-24-05		tamar: Steinitz may have seen the danger of getting no play at all if he waited too long for ...f5 24...Nc8 may last a bit longer, but it pushes back preparations for ...f5 and further isolates the rook on a8. The simple 25 Qb4 would present serious problems of defense. 25...b6 or 25...Rb8 both fail to 26 c6 trapping the bishop 25... dxc5 26 Bxc5 Be7 27 Nxe5 loses the e pawn a different way.

May-06-05		aw1988: <12 ... Bs4 13. f5> Ugh. Yes, I went here just to get the proper moves.

Apr-09-06		who: In the notes to 10th move I would play 13.Bb1

Oct-22-06		MrMelad: haha, move 17..Ng6 looks like Fisherandom...

Apr-23-08		Pawn and Two: <Calli & tamar> After 28...Kg8 29.g5 Nexd5 30.exd5 Qxe5 31.Rxe5 Ng4 32.Re4 Bxg5 33.Rh1? Bf6 34.Bxf6 Nxf6, Fritz confirms the final position is equal. However, White is better in this line with, 33.f3! Nh6 34.Bd3 Nf5 35.Nxf5 Bxf5 36.Bc4 Bxe4 37.d6+ Rf7 38.fxe4 cxd6 39.Rf1 d5 40.Bxd5 Raf8. Fritz shows White now has good winning chances by advancing his Queen side Pawns beginning with 41.b4. Black could also improve by playing Kg8 one move earlier. After (.22) (24 ply) 27...Kg8! 28.Bd3 h6 29.Bc4 Kh7 30.gxf5 gxf5 31.exf5, Fritz rates the final position as equal (20 ply). After 31.exf5, a possible continuation would be: 31...Nexd5 32.Qxd5 Nxd5 33.Rxe8 Nf4+ 34.Kf3 Bxe8 35.Kxf4 Bg5+ 36.Kg4 Rd8, with an equal position. White's 25.Nxe5 was very strong and winning. However, after 25.Nxe5 dxe5, he should have continued, 26.g5!, and if 26..fxe4 27.Qxe5+ Nf6 28.gxf6, or 26...Nf6 27.gxf6 Ng8 28.exf5 Bxf6 29.fxg6, or 26...Nc6 27.exf5 Nge7 28.dxc6 Bxc6+ 29.f3. Soltis indicated that Black is ok after 26.g5 Nc8 27.Bf4 Bxg5. However, after 26.g5 Nc8, White can play 27.exf5! gxf5 28.Bf4 Nge7 29.Nxf5 Nxf5 30.Rxe5 with a winning position. Lasker's slip, 26.Qxe5?, gave Steinitz a chance to equalize with 27...Kg8!.

Apr-24-08		tamar: <Pawn and Two> Thank you for bringing back attention to this game. Although the game continuation looks messy, the overall conception is brilliant. Shredder 8 confirms your analysis that 33 f3 in your first line is winning. The quiet repositioning of the bishop to d3 with the threat of Bc4 is instructive as a way to play against backrank strategy. As Gunsberg notes Black is dangerous against a straightforward assault because his pieces are lying in wait, but against the two bishops in the center, it positively creaks.

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