★★★ INTRO ★★★

The 1910 World Chess Championship was between 42 year old Emanuel Lasker of Germany who was the defending champion and 36 year old Carl Schlechter of Austria who was the challenger.

★★★ CONDITIONS ★★★

The match was a best of 10 games, meaning the first player to 5 1/2 points would win. If the match ended in a 5-5 tie, Lasker, the defending champion, wins. The games were played in Vienna and Berlin. It was the first world chess championship for 1910 (see: Game Collection: 1910 World Chess Championship (second one) for th 2nd one). Game 1 began on January 7th, 1910.

★★★ NOTABLE GAMES ★★★

Game 1: Schlechter vs Lasker, 1910

1. e4 e5 2. ♘f3 ♘c6 3. ♗b5 ♘f6 4. O-O d6 5. d4 ♗d7 6. ♖e1 exd4 7. ♘xd4 ♗e7 8. ♘c3 O-O 9. ♗xc6 bxc6 10. ♗g5 ♖e8 11. ♕f3 h6 12. ♗h4 ♘h7 13. ♗xe7 ♕xe7 14. ♖ad1 ♘f8 15. h3 ♘g6 16. ♕g3 ♕g5 17. ♕xg5 hxg5 18. f3 f6 19. ♔f2 ♔f7 20. ♘de2 a5 21. b3 ♖eb8 22. ♘c1 ♗e6 23. ♘d3 c5 24. ♘b2 ♘e5 25. ♘d5 ♖b7 26. ♖e3 ♘c6 27. ♖c3 g6 28. a4 f5 29. ♘e3 ♖e8 30. ♘ec4 ♖a7 31. ♖e1 ♗xc4 32. ♘xc4 ♔f6 33. ♘e3 ♘e5 34. exf5 gxf5 35. g3 ♖h8 36. f4 gxf4 37. ♘d5+ ♔f7 38. ♘xf4 ♖b7 39. ♔g2 c4 40. bxc4 ♖b4 41. c5 ♖xa4 42. cxd6 cxd6 43. ♖c7+ ♔f6 44. ♘d5+ ♔g5 45. h4+ ♔h6 46. ♘e7 ♖f8 47. ♖d1 ♖f7 48. ♖xd6+ ♔h7 49. ♖e6 ♘g6 50. ♖xg6 ♖xe7 51. ♖gc6 ♖xc7 52. ♖xc7+ ♔g6 53. ♖c6+ ♔f7 54. ♔f3 ♖e4

After 54...♖e4

click for larger view

In this endgame, Lasker is down a pawn, but decides to sacrifice another one to draw this game.

55. ♖c5 ♔f6 56. ♖xa5 ♖c4 57. ♖a6+ ♔e5 58. ♖a5+ ♔f6 59. ♖a6+ ♔e5 60. ♖a5+ ♔f6 61. ♖a2 ♔e5 62. ♖b2 ♖c3+ 63. ♔g2 ♔f6 64. ♔h3 ♖c6 65. ♖b8 ♖xc2 66. ♖b6+ ♔g7 67. h5 ♖c4 68. h6+ ♔h7 69. ♖f6 ♖a4 1/2-1/2

Game 5: Schlechter vs Lasker, 1910

Game 7: Schlechter vs Lasker, 1910

★★★ FINAL ★★★

Game 10: Lasker vs Schlechter, 1910

The final game was played on February 10th, 1910. Going into the final game, Schlechter was leading by one point, and just needed a draw to win Lasker's title. Schlechter had a winning position, but ended up losing the game (see Lasker vs Schlechter, 1910) and allowed the match to be drawn (by a score of 5-5), and allowing Lasker retain his title.

★★★ MINI TABLE ★★★

Lasker 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 0 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1 (1 win, 1 loss, 8 draws) <50% score>

Schlechter 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 0 (1 win, 1 loss, 8 draws) <50% score>

★★★ OTHER LINKS ★★★

See also: Lasker - Schlechter World Championship Match (1910)

Head to Head Record Prior to the match: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... (3 wins, 1 loss and 3 draws in favour of Lasker)

Previous World Championship: Game Collection: 1908 World Chess Championship

Next World Championship: Game Collection: 1910 World Chess Championship (second one)