| Aug-30-03 |
| sleepkid: Capablanca could have called a draw by repetition here. Is the score of this game correct? I'm not really sure what progress White has made in the final position. Why black resigned is a bit of a mystery to me. "your flag is down!" lol. |
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Sep-01-03
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| Calli: Score is correct. The old rule stated that a sequence of moves had to be repeated. This is not the same as a position that is repeated. In this game the same position is reach, but by a varying sequence of moves. I don't know what the rule was at the time or specifically for this tournament. |
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| Apr-05-04 |
| Benjamin Lau: Annotations by Soltis on this famous game:
7...Nbd7?
"Black can liberate himself with 7...Nc6! (e.g. 8 Bd3 Nxe4 9 Nxe4 e5 dxe5 Qxd1+ with equality or 10 d5 Nd4! 11 Bxd4 Qxd5 with advantage). 8. Bf4!
"With White's eight move he made e5 difficult to enforce. but now Black threatens 13...c5 as well as 13...Qxg2." 13 Qe2!
"On 13...c5, White wins a clean pawn with 14 Be4! (e.g., 14...Qb3 15 Bd6). [...] Black can play 13...Qxg2, but White then retains a strong initiative after 14 Be4 Qh3 whether he plays a gambit (15 o-o-o) or regains his material 15 Bxc7). In either case Black's pawns in the center are inferior to White's and his pieces should therefore also be inferior. With ...c5 and ...e5 prevented, White's powerful centralization give shim a free hand in the middlegame." 16. Rfe1
"16 Be5! is better. [...] Note that 16 Be5 Bxe5 loses a pawn to 17 Bxh7+ Kxh7 18 dxe5 Rxd7." 18 Qe2!
"(followed by 19 Qe4)"
19 h4!
24 Qc1!
26 Rh3
"He threatens 27 hxg6 and 28 Qh6+" Neither 26...Kh8 27 Qh6 Rg7 28 hxg6 fxg6 29 Bxg6! nor 26...f6 27 hxg6 hxg6 28 Qh6+ Kf7 29 Rg3! (29...fxe5? 30 Bxg6+ Rxg6 31 Qxg6+ mates) is a defense." 29. Bxg6!
"Since he could not capture the bishop because of 30 Qh8+ and 31 Rf3+, Black had to surrender his queen after 29...Qf6 30 Rg5! Ke7 31 Rf3! White won easily." |
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| Nov-26-04 |
| kostich in time: Black seems to have resigned because none of his pieces have decent moves left. He was just sick of passive defense. |
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| Apr-14-05 |
| RookFile: Well, white must have a win....
wonder what it is. Let's say, put the
queen on e4, play c5, and advance the
king up to b6 perhaps? |
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| Aug-15-05 |
| ChiefNX: Black can't make an offensive move without messing things up whilst white's queen dominates the board on g6. Eventually white's pawns would have won the game. |
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| Oct-30-05 |
| beatgiant: I agree with <ChiefNX>: White plays for a pawn breakthrough to construct a passed f-pawn or d-pawn. Here's a typical example: 64...Kc7 65. b4 Kc8 66. a4 Kc7 67. a5 Kc8 68. b5 axb5 69. d5! so now if 69...exd5 70. cxb5 White's f-pawns are passed; similarly 69...cxd5 70. cxb5 Bxb5 71. Qxe6+ Bd7 72. Qd6. After White gets a passed pawn, I don't think Black can indefinitely blockade it while also covering other weak points. For example, following the first line above, 69...exd5 70. cxb5 cxb5 71. Qd6 Rh5 72. Kd4 Rh1 73. Qc5+ Kd8 74. Qb6+ Kc8 75. f5! Bxf5 76. a6 bxa6 77. Qc5+, White will soon pick up the bishop with a fork. I don't claim best play here; it's just an example to show White's power. |
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| Mar-25-07 |
| Helios727: Chessmaster 8000 gives the finish up as: 64. -, Kc7 65. c5 b5 66. Ke4 Kc8 67. Qg8+ Kc7 68. b4 Rh5 69. Qg3+ Kc8 70. Qg2 Kd8 71. Ke3 Rf5 72. Qg3 Kc8 73. Qh4 Kc7 74. f4 Rf7 75. Kd3 Rf8 76. f3 Kc8 77. Ke4 Rg8 78. Qf6 Re8 79. Kd3 Rg8 80. f5 Re8 81. Qg6 exf5 82. d5 Rd8 83. Ke3 Be8 84. Qxf5+ Bd7 85. Qf6 Re8+ 86. Kf2 Kc7 87. Qd6+ Kc8 88. f4 cxd5 89. Qxa6+ Kd8 90. Qb6+ Ke7 91. Qd6+ Kd8 92. c6 Re7 93. Qxd5 Kc8 94. Qg5 Re6 95. cxd7+ Kxd7 96. f5 Re5 97. Qg7+ Kd6 98. f6 Ke6 99. Qg6 Rf5+ 100. Qxf5+ Kxf5 101. f7 Ke4 102. f8=Q 1-0 |
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| Mar-25-07 |
| beatgiant: <Helios727>
Thanks. But I really doubt Capa would have played 65...b5? weakening his a6 pawn. And without that, I don't really understand the point of 65. c5 freezing his own pawn mass. Other than that, the main point seems same as above - White plays to create a passed pawn. |
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| Mar-25-07 |
| Bingat29: I think what Capa saw was Ke4, threatening to move d5 and then exchanging the Q to the R and B and winning with the two extra pawns. Hence, resignation is the best option. No use prolonging the game. |
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| Mar-26-07 |
| beatgiant: <Bingat29: I think what Capa saw was Ke4, threatening to move d5 and then exchanging the Q to the R and B and winning with the two extra pawns.> I agree White should be playing for a pawn breakthrough with d5 (see line I posted above), but I don't understand how White can quickly force the exchange of Q for R and B here. Do you have a specific line in mind, say 64...Kc7 65. Ke4 Kc8 and now what? The d5 break looks premature still on 66. d5 cxd5 67. cxd5 Rxd5. |
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| Mar-26-07 |
| beatgiant: I also agree with <RookFile>'s idea <advance the king up to b6> as maybe an even simpler win. So, resignation in the final position looks reasonable for players on this level. |
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| May-29-07 |
| paladin at large: There cannot be any doubt that Capablanca saw Lasker had the win. If there had been a drawing method, Capa would have found it, especially considering how extended the last phase was. This was what Capa reported in the New York press in early 1936: "He beat me in our game in the Moscow tournament last year, and he did it fairly and squarely, with no excuses. He still is the most formidable player I know in a single game or a short match....." (Source - Winter) |
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May-12-09
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| ToTheDeath: Capablanca's dislike of complications and preference for solid positions played into Lasker's hand here as he became more and more passive. The Alekhine gambit against the Winawer was an excellent psychological choice. Instead of the dubious <12...Qd5?!> 12...Bd7! followed by Bc6 solves the problem piece and is only slightly worse for Black. After this it is hard to give good advice, as White's buildup is very natural and hard to meet. |
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May-28-09
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| technical draw: I just replayed this game last night and I thought there had to be a score mistake. So many repetition of moves and repetition of positions something had to be wrong. Guess not. Thanks for the info all. |
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May-28-09
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| Marmot PFL: Capablanca never lost a Caro-Kann or Sicilian, and very seldom with 1...e5, yet in 12 main line French defenses loses 5. Maybe he kept playing it just to prove he could. |
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May-28-09
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| technical draw: Thanks for that info <Marmot PFL> now I can say I play the French like Capablanca! |
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May-28-09
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| keypusher: According to Soltis, the game was adjourned for an hour and a half after 41.  xf6 (sealed). <In the Pushkin Museum of Art where the games were played, a special room was set aside for Lasker to relax. But the break wasn't long enough for him to find the win and he made no effort before adjourning again>. After the second adjournment, <Capablanca resigned after satisfying himself that White can win with  e2-d3-c3-b4-a5 followed, after a check on the h2-b8 diagonal, by b6.> Not sure if this has already been posted, but Soltis also wrote that Lasker could have won much more quickly with 35. f4 and c7+. |
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May-29-09
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| chancho: In Hannak's book about Lasker it says after the 41st move: <So far it is a brilliantly played game, particularly on Lasker's part, but from now on, for well over 20 moves, he does nothing to materialize his advantage; however there is a very good reason for this. Since it was particularly important for Lasker to win this game he wished to avoid the slightest risk of a slip due to fatigue; hence he very shrewdly 'plays out time' waiting for the adjourment.> |
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| Jun-03-09 |
| WhiteRook48: why did black give his queen up for that rook on f3? |
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| Jun-03-09 |
| AnalyzeThis: <chancho: In Hannak's book about Lasker it says after the 41st move:
<So far it is a brilliantly played game, particularly on Lasker's part, but from now on, for well over 20 moves, he does nothing to materialize his advantage; however there is a very good reason for this. Since it was particularly important for Lasker to win this game he wished to avoid the slightest risk of a slip due to fatigue; hence he very shrewdly 'plays out time' waiting for the adjourment.> Nothing wrong with this. Botvinnik swore by this method. |
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| Jun-03-09 |
| Brown: <Nothing wrong with this. Botvinnik swore by this method.> Because Botvinnik did it doesn't make it above criticism. Many did it, not just Botvinnik, before the more recent time controls (and the rise of accurate software) ... and I for one am happy to see it is not done anymore. |
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Sep-10-09
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| Ulhumbrus: 11 Nxf6+ moves the N a third time to exchange itself for a Black N moves once. One question is what Lasker considers that he gets in return for this concession. Perhaps Lasker thinks that he does not get enough winning chances after 11 0-0 Nxe4 12 Nxe4 c5 13 dxc5 Bxc5 14 Qh5 g6 15 Qf3 Qe7. An alternative to 12...Qd5 is 12..Qe7 supporting the advance ...c5 as well as the advance ...e5. |
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| Sep-10-09 |
| WhiteRook48: this should be in the game collection of people not wanting to resign |
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