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Emanuel Lasker vs Jose Raul Capablanca
Lasker - Capablanca World Championship Match (1921), Havana CUB, rd 12, Apr-16
Spanish Game: Berlin Defense. Hedgehog Variation (C66)  ·  1/2-1/2

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

Annotations by Jose Raul Capablanca.      [26 more games annotated by Capablanca]

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Kibitzer's Corner
Jul-01-02  LA CONSENTIDA: Lasker would have easily beaten capablanca here by 32... Bb6+ 37. kf7 Nc6 38. g4 and the pawns would be a huge threat to capablanca's exposed king.
Jul-01-02
Premium Chessgames Member
  Sneaky: I think you mean to say 31. ...Bb6+ 32. Kf1 Nc6 33. g4

I'm not sure how much danger Black is really in. After all, he has two pieces for a rook. For example, after your 33. g4 the move ... Nf2 apparently wins the g4 pawn outright. And at the very least, ...Nf6 forces the doubling of the h-pawns thereby removing the threat of creating a powerful outside passed pawn.

Jul-01-02  Da Playa: I dont understand why capablanca allows his rooks 2b stolen, then doesn't capatalize on the seemingly gift offering of the bishop!?!?!?
Jul-01-02  bishop: Da Playa,I think Capablanca was satisfied in getting 3 minor pieces for the two rooks judging the resulting position ok. If black had captured white's bishop on his 28th move,White would then have captured black's knight. In the final position if you use the values pawn=1 knight=3 bishop=3 rook=5, then White is ahead materially 17 to 15. Everything else being equal Lasker perhaps could have continued. But against the superstrong Capablanca it would to the logical Lasker mind not have been worth the effort.
Jul-02-02  mprchess: im surprised capablanca still had his minor pieces. whites bishop probably shold have traded for the knight it is dangerous to the development of the rooks.
Aug-30-03  tud: After 31...Bb6+ 32Kf1 Bc7 white has to go back with the king and defend the h pawn. It can be a forced repetition here.
Aug-31-03  tud: Or 33Bf3 f5 and black has nothing to fear.
Aug-31-03  Calli: Here are a few of Capablanca's comments:

14.Nb5 [The combinations beginning with this move are all wrong. After the text move, Black should get the better game. White's proper move was simply to hold the position by playing 14.c3 ]

15.Ndxc7 [If 15.Bf2 Nxd5 would give Black the better game. The combination indulged in by White is good only in appearance.]

20... Bxa2 [A mistake. The question of time at this point was not properly appreciated by Black, who went in to recover a pawn, which was of no importance whatever. Worse yet, the capture of the pawn only helped White. Black had here a won game by playing 20...Be5 ]

22...a6 [22...h3 was better. After the text move Black has an extremely difficult game to play.]

23... h5 [23...Qg5 would have given Black better chances to win. After the text move there is nothing better than a draw.]

31.Rad1 [Having had twenty-four hours to consider the position, we both came to the conclusion that there was nothing in it but a draw. 2hr. 05 - 1hr. 54] ½-½

JR Capablanca in the book of match.

Jan-16-05  ArturoRivera: why is Bf1 necesary in the nine move?
Feb-26-05  Billage: <LA CONSENTIDA> Don't you think Lasker would've seen that?
Jun-14-05  pokobondo: that game took place a long time ago. so, why bother?
Jun-14-05  PARACONT1: <pokobondo> You're saying we shouldn't bother abt any games that took place long ago? Gee that's a novel idea, I wonder why so many kibitzers still go through games from Staunton to Capablanca? To know the future, to understand the present - one must study the past. <Billage> Yes, I should imagine a world champ would've seen that LOL.
Sep-22-05  ConfusedPatzer: He played Bf1 because he didn't want to exchange bishops after black moved the knight.
Sep-22-05  euripides: In Capablanca vs Alekhine, 1936, Capablanca tempts Alekhine into a combination that nets two rooks for three minor pieces, but the worse position. Lasker apparently said to Capblanca after the 1936 game 'you must have been glad when your opponent took the bait'. I'd never realised that Capablanca had done the same thing to Lasker fifteen years earlier.
Oct-26-05  Fischer61: J.R.C. was a big player that whom ý want to play:) bu t ý can not reach him.And of course Lasker!Hi is my idol and my favourite Chess player and chess cahampion in the world after R. James Fischer. Sinserely M.Y.
Mar-02-08  Knight13: 20...Bxa2?? should be a blunder. I don't know what Capablanca was thinking; when someone just give you a pawn, especially someone as good as Lasker, THINK! Rooks need open files, and White, seeing that he has the rooks, ignored the a2 pawn in hope that Black would take it so he would get some play. Black has minor pieces so he should've played them actively, as Capablanca have stated, with ...Be5 which is very good.
Apr-10-08  Petrosianic: <Sneaky>: <I think you mean to say 31. ...Bb6+ 32. Kf1 Nc6 33. g4 I'm not sure how much danger Black is really in. >

None at all. If two world champions analyzed the position overnight and concluded that it was a draw, then i trust their judgement more than one anonymous guy on the internet (i.e. the esteemed Mr. Consentida) who gets his move numbers and notation wrong.

Capa's notes are frustratingly vague, as usual. He claims a win with Be5, but gives no variations.

<Knight13>: <20...Bxa2?? should be a blunder. I don't know what Capablanca was thinking; when someone just give you a pawn, especially someone as good as Lasker, THINK! Rooks need open files, and White, seeing that he has the rooks, ignored the a2 pawn in hope that Black would take it so he would get some play.>

Before you accuse a world champion of not thinking, make sure you've got the right idea. Bxa2 is a bad move, but not because the Rook ends up getting any great play on the QR file. The real problem with the move is the lost tempo that gives White time to get things moving on the Kingside.

Dec-14-13  YvccChamp: In claiming a win with ...Be5, the World Champion is giving you a starting point to exercise your brain instead of handing you all the info on a Silver Platter. Laasker recommends this as the correct approach for students as well!

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