Lasker’s Last Event: Knotting Bogoljubow’s Springs in Nottingham

The tournament at Nottingham in 1936 included fifteen players in a round robin requiring fourteen games. The competitors represented three generations. The standings are: 1-2 Capablanca and Botvinnik 10, 3-4-5 Fine, Reshevsky, Euwe 9.5, 6 Alekhine 9, 7-8 Flohr, Lasker 8.5, 9 Vidmar Sr. 6, 10-11 Tartakower, Bogoljubow 5.5, 12 Tylor 4.5, 13 Alexander 3.5, 14 Thomas 3, 15 Winter 2.5. The great former World Champion, Emanuel Lasker, played in his last tournament. He did achieve a plus score, but most of his points, six, came from those scoring below him. All the top players scored well against those finishing below Lasker. The difference for them was how they did against each other. Capablanca lost one game while Botvinnik and Fine lost none.
In round two, Lasker met Bogoljubow. Lasker was over twenty years older than Bogoljubow, a player that twice played Alekhine in matches for the World Championship. Lasker was White and the opening was the Queen’s Gambit Declined. Bogoljubow played 6...Qa5, the Cambridge Springs Defense. This variation was named after a tournament site where it was played in 1904. It was hardly played before and became popular afterwards. Lasker had actually played the Black side in the oldest game I found from 1892. The players got into a complicated struggle, which would not have surprised those familiar with their reputations. I have tried to figure out what was going on. It seems that play went from advantageous for Bogoljubow to even to better for Lasker. Some of the lines I thought worthwhile are shown. Other games are shown for reference and entertainment. Those shown in full have some interesting points.