Lasker the Lesser - Edward Lasker

Edward (Eduard) Lasker was born in Kempen, Poland (near Breslau and part of the German Empire at the time) Germany on December 3, 1885.  He learned chess at the age of 6 from his father.  He earned degrees at the University of Berlin in mechanical and electrical engineering.  In 1905, he discovered Go as a rival to chess and took up Go.  His first job was an engineer for the German General Electric Company. In 1912, he won the championship of Paris.  He moved to England in September, 1912 to work as a German engineer.  In 1913, the German Chess Federation gave him the title of International master.  He won the London championship in May, 1914.  He then moved to the United States in late 1914. His mother was born in the United States.  He won the New York City championship in 1915. In 1915, he founded the American Go Association.  In 1916, he won the Chicago championship.  He moved to Chicago and became a safety engineer for Sears Roebuck. In 1927, he invented and patented the breast pump, which saved many premature infant’s lives.  He won the U.S. Open in 1916, 1917, 1919, 1920, and 1921.  In 1923, he played Frank Marshall in a match for the U.S. Championship, but lost 8.5-9.5.  During the match, one of the spectators watching the game had a heart attack and died.  One source says thtat Edward Lasker once visited Albert Einstein at Princeton and gave him an autographed copy of his book Go and Go Moku, written in 1934.  Einstein, in return, gave Edward Lasker an autographed copy of one of his papers on relativity.  The book given to Einsten later showed up in a Baltimore used bookstore.  When someone told Edward Lasker about this, Lasker replied, “That’s all right.  I left his relativity paper on the subway.”  Another source says that Ed Lasker never met Einstein, so the previous source may be have made up the story of Einstein and Ed Lasker meeting each other.  In the 1940s, he founded and became president of the Association of American Chess Masters (AACM).  During World War II, his brother and mother died in Nazi Germany.  He was awarded the International Master title by FIDE in 1963 at the age of 77.  On September 11, 1976, at the age of 90, he played in a telex match between New York and London.  He died on March 25, 1981 at the age of 95.  At the time of his death, he was engaged in a correspondence game, but died before the game was finished (he made it to 21 moves).  Edward Lasker was the 7th cousin to former world chess champion Emanuel Lasker.

The following game is Edward Lasker’s most famous game.  It was his first chess game on British soil and was played at the City of London Chess Club at Grocer’s Hall Court.  The game was played at a fast rate, neither side could exceed their opponent’s time by more than five minutes.