Emanuel Lasker vs Siegbert Tarrasch (1914)

Emanuel Lasker vs Siegbert Tarrasch
St Petersburg (1914) · Queen's Gambit Declined: Tarrasch Defense. Pseudo-Tarrasch (D30) · 1-0

[Event "St Petersburg"]
[Site "St Petersburg  RUS"]
[Date "1914.05.14"]
[EventDate "1914.04.21"]
[Round "4"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "Emanuel Lasker"]
[Black "Siegbert Tarrasch"]
[ECO "D30"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "92"]

1. d4 {Notes by Dr. Tarrasch} d5 2. Nf3 c5 3. c4 e6 4. cxd5
exd5 5. g3 Nc6 6. Bg2 Nf6 7. O-O Be7 8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. Nbd2 d4
{Usually in this variation, what with the White Kt on c3, this
move wins a tempo which makes all the difference and gives
Black the superior position. Here, however, the move loses an
important tempo which should have better been used for
development.} 10. Nb3 Bb6 11. Qd3 {! Lasker now refutes the
ill- considered pawn-push very shrewdly. Since his pawn would
get lost by Rd1, Black must go in for an unfavourable
exchange.} Be6 12. Rd1 Bxb3 13. Qxb3 {Here, as will soon be
evident, the White Queen is excellently placed.} Qe7 {So as to
dodge the attack of the e-pawn. Black's position now looks
reasonably good, but he is a tempo behind in develop men and
that makes all the difference.} 14. Bd2 O-O 15. a4 {A very
subtle move, the force of which Black fails to recognise. The
pawn is to push on to a6 so as to loosen the position of the
Black pieces, particularly the Queen Knight. Naturally Black
must not take the e-pawn since 16 Re1 Qa6 17 Bf1 would cost
him the Queen.} Ne4 {It would have been best to stop the
further advance of the pawn by either ...Bc5 or a6 but White
would have had the better game in any case; Black's position,
though, may still have been tenable, whereas now it breaks
down very quickly.} 16. Be1 Rad8 {? Rac8!} 17. a5 Bc5 18. a6
bxa6 {After ...b6 White would still maintain his advantage by
19 Qa4 followed by 20 b4.} 19. Rac1 Rc8 20. Nh4 {Forcing
material gain, since White threatens to win the Knight or the
Bishop.} Bb6 21. Nf5 Qe5 22. Bxe4 Qxe4 23. Nd6 Qxe2 24. Nxc8
Rxc8 {For the loss of the exchange Black, at any rate, has a
strong passed pawn which might enable him to save the game so
long as he can avoid the exchange of rooks.} 25. Qd5 Qe6
26. Qf3 {At this juncture the exchange of queens would not be
quite favourable enough for White.} h6 27. Bd2 Ne5 28. Rxc8+
Qxc8 29. Qe4 Nd7 30. Rc1 Qf8 31. Bxh6 {!} Nc5 {If ...gxh6
White would regain the piece by 32 Qg4+.} 32. Qg4 f5 33. Qg6
Qf7 34. Qxf7+ Kxf7 35. Bg5 Nd3 36. Rb1 {Not, of course, Rc2
since Black would win a piece by ...Ne1 followed by ...Nf3+.}
Ke6 37. b3 Kd5 38. f3 a5 39. h4 Nc5 40. h5 d3 {Black is
hopelessly lost since there is no way to stop White from
getting a passed Pawn on the King's-wing.} 41. Kf1 a4 42. bxa4
Nxa4 43. Bf6 {!} Ke6 44. Bxg7 Kf7 45. Be5 Nc5 46. Rd1
{Obviously the d-pawn will get lost. A beautifully played
game, but then almost all of Lasker's games in this Tournament
are worthy of a World Champion.} 1-0

To move:

Last move:

Given 9 times; par: 78 [what's this?]

Annotations by Siegbert Tarrasch. [16 more games annotated by Tarrasch]

explore this opening	find similar games	29 more Tarrasch/Lasker games
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Mar-23-04		Benjamin Lau: 9...d4?! is ironic in a weird way since Lasker's 9. Nbd2 had been deliberately chosen to place strong pressure on the d4 square after an Nb3. Tarrasch eventually cedes the bishop pair in an open position to keep the pawn but Lasker drags him down with tactics.

Mar-23-04		drukenknight: 35...Ne4 w/ idea of advancing d3 looks better.

Jan-25-05		e4Newman: Although he goes on to lose the game, Tarrasch is quoted as saying (of 3...e6), "This I hold to be the best, although I must add that I am almost completely alone in holding that opinion. It is based upon the undeniably correct idea that in the Queen's Gambit ...P-QB4 is the freeing move for Black..." While I agree about the merit of that move, there are ways to add to that and create even greater complications for white. Perhaps Magnus Carlsen lives by Tarrasch's motto "He who fears an isolated Queen's pawn should quit chess."

Nov-15-05		keypusher: "A beautifully played game, but then almost all of Lasker's games in this Tournament are worthy of a World Champion." A generous (though accurate!) tribute from Tarrasch.

Nov-15-05		Calli: 41...Ne6 would keep Black in the game a while longer. Some good moves on both sides and the usual excellent notes by Tarrasch.

Nov-15-05		ughaibu: The note to move 15 is odd, wouldn't a6 lose the bishop?

Nov-16-05		Calli: Bad translation, I think - probably Bc5 AND a6 to stop the pawn.

Nov-16-05		iron maiden: The typo (if it is one, otherwise this is one of the greatest annotation errors of all time) exists in the original notes from the tournament book as well.

Nov-16-05		sneaky pete: Not in the "original" (that is German) <original notes from the tournament book>. "... also hier oder wenigstens im n�chsten Zuge Lc5 und a7-a6 zu spielen." <und> (and) has been translated as <or> and the <either> bit has been added by the translator.

Nov-16-05		Calli: <sneaky pete> Thanks for looking it up and confirming my suspicions. CG is great for stuff like this. And what kind of translator gets "oder" and "und" mixed up in that sentence. Sehr schlecht!

Nov-21-05		Petrocephalon: <Keypusher> Being a fan of Tarrasch, I was gratified and relieved to read him being as generous to another as he sometimes was to himself!

Nov-22-05		Petrocephalon: Replete with petit combinaisons, in addition to the grand combination.

Feb-23-07		tpstar: 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 c5 3. c4 e6 <The Tarrasch Defense to the Queen's Gambit, where Black accepts an IQP [D02]> 4. cxd5 exd5 5. g3 <White plans to fianchetto the KB> Nc6 6. Bg2 Nf6 7. 0-0 Be7 8. dxc5 <White makes Black waste a move> Bxc5 9. Nbd2 d4 10. Nb3 <Attacking the Bc5 and the Pd4, also freeing the diagonal for White's QB> Bb6 11. Qd3 <Develops the Queen while blockading the IQP> Be6 12. Rd1 <White pressures the Pd4> Bxb3 13. Qxb3 Qe7 14. Bd2 0-0 <14 ... Qxe2?? 15. Re1> 15. a4 Ne4 <15 ... Qxe2 16. a5 (not 16. Re1 Qa6) Bc5 17. Qxb7 and White is more active> 16. Be1 Rad8 <[last book move]<>> 17. a5 Bc5 18. a6 bxa6 19. Rac1 <Interesting that White plays 17. a5 & 18. a6 to disrupt Black's Queenside, but then avoids 19. Rxa6 in favor of 19. Rac1 pressuring the minor pieces on the c file> Rc8 20. Nh4 <White sets a trap based on an extended Knight fork> Bb6? <[20 ... Ng5 ]<>> 21. Nf5 Qe5 22. Bxe4 <[22. Qf3!? Nf6 23. Qf4 Qxf4 24. gxf4 ]<>> Qxe4 23. Nd6 <White wins the exchange, so Black grabs a Pawn> Qxe2 24. Nxc8 Rxc8 25. Qd5 Qe6 26. Qf3 <White declines to trade Queens> <[26. Qxe6 fxe6 27. f4 ]<>> h6 27. Bd2 Ne5 28. Rxc8+ Qxc8 29. Qe4 Nd7 <[29 ... f6!? =]<>> 30. Rc1 Qf8 31. Bxh6! Nc5 <31 ... gxh6 32. Qg4+ & 33. Qxd7> 32. Qg4 f5 33. Qg6 Qf7 34. Qxf7+ Kxf7 35. Bg5 Nd3 <[35 ... Ne4 36. f4 =]<>> 36. Rb1 <White protects the important Pb2> Ke6 37. b3 Kd5 <Black centralizes the King for the endgame, yet there's an upcoming tactic involving the undefended Kingside Pawns. So Black should aim to trade off all the Pawns and draw, but leave the King on e6 for now.> 38. f3 a5 39. h4 Nc5 40. h5 d3 <[40 ... a4 41. bxa4 Nxa4 42. Kf1 ]<>> 41. Kf1 <White's King needs to blockade the passed d Pawn - 41. Kf2? Ne4+ & 42 ... Nxg5> a4 <[41 ... Ne6 42. h6 gxh6 43. Bxh6 ]<>> 42. bxa4 Nxa4?! <[42 ... Kc4 43. Rc1+ Kd5 ]<>> 43. Bf6! Ke6 <43 ... gxf6 44. h6 and the Pawn Queens> 44. Bxg7 Kf7 45. Be5 <White centralizes the Bishop over 45. h6 Kg6 and the Bg7 must protect the Ph6> Nc5 46. Rd1 1-0. <[Fritz 7]<>>

Mar-29-09		notyetagm: Lasker vs Tarrasch, 1914 43 ? click for larger view 43 g5-f6! click for larger view

Sep-05-09		WhiteRook48: under grounds of 43...gxf6 44 h6

Oct-08-09		Ulhumbrus: An alternative to 27...Ne5 is 27...Ne7 so that in the event of Qe4, the N does not have to go to d7 allowing the potential fork Qg4+ after Bxh6. On 27..Ne7 28 Rxc8 Qxc8 29 Qe4 Qd7 White does not have the fork 30 Bxh6 gxh6 31 Qg4+, as he does with the N on d7

Sep-05-10		notyetagm: Lasker vs Tarrasch, 1914 31 ? click for larger view 31 d2xh6! click for larger view Game Collection: Enemy king makes great target for double attack Lasker vs Tarrasch, 1914 31 Bd2xh6! seeks to target Black g8-king in addition d7-knight

Jun-12-11		AnnKittenplan: Playing through Chernev's Instructive Games. This game, #18, is characterised as exploitation of a weakened IP, but it seems to hinge on two tactics: firstly the oversight leading to 31. Bxh6 and secondly, maybe to a lesser extent, 43. Bf6. Was Black already lost as Tarrasch claims in his annotations. Of course this could have been cracking under relentless positional pressure but playing through the game Black has chances throughout based on his passer, he just seems to misstep at a couple of crucial points. Looking back, the first comment about big tactics and little tactics sums it up nicely.

Jan-03-12		notyetagm: Game Collection: JOSEKI: ENEMY KING MAKES A GREAT SECOND TARGET

Jan-03-12		notyetagm: Game Collection: JOSEKI: ENEMY KING MAKES A GREAT SECOND TARGET click for larger view

May-26-12		bystander: 24 c8x? Why not 24 d2 first? After a black queen move, white can double the rooks on the c-file, putting a lot of pressure on c6. E.g. 24 d2 e7 25 c8x c8x 26 dc2.

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