chess legends series : Emanuel Lasker part 1

Steinitz's successor, mathematician, philosopher a friend of Albert Einstein - all of this characterises the second official world champion, Emanuel Lasker. Born on Christmas Eve in 1868, Emanuel had a gift for a variety of things. When he was 12 his talent for mathematics convinced his parents to send him to Berlin where his older brother Berthold introduced him to chess. He soon became obsessed with chess and luckily enough his professor of mathematics was a champion of a local chess club. This way mathematics and chess got along smoothly towards the end of his studies in 1888. His first chess tournament in a café "Kaiserhof" was a flawless run from the start to finish.

Later In Wroclaw, he won a B tournament where he for the first time met his greatest opponent Siegbert Tarrasch (about whom we will talk some other time). His achievements did not remain unnoticed. Emanuel received an invitation to a tournament in Amsterdam where he played his arguably most notorious game ever against J. Bauer. This is the crucial moment of the game. White has prepared his pieces for an attack, but nobody expected what came next after a small silent move on queenside except Emanuel. 

Emanuel got more and more recognised by the chess community and after victories against Bardelaben (2 wins 1 loss 1 draw), Blackburne(6 wins 4 draws), Bird (5 wins) and two other London tournaments, Lasker aimed straight for the crown. His serious competitor with the same goal Tarrasch also did not rest and managed to win tournaments in Wroclaw, Manchester and Dresden. Emanuel challenged Siegbert for a match but Tarrasch refused because he did not consider Lasker a serious challenge since he did not win yet an international tournament and therefore he would favour him among other promising challengers which he thought was unfair. Victories followed Emanuel even to America where he managed to beat Showalter (6 wins 2 losses 2 draws) and also win flawlessly in a tournament in New York in 1893. Emanuel decided not to wait any longer, he challenged Steinitz and he without any hesitation accepted. Match took place from 15.3.-26.5.1894 in New York, Philadelphia and Montreal. The first 4 rounds resembled a match of ping-pong. Lasker won the first one, Steinitz second one, Lasker scored again, and Steinitz recovered. After this massacre, the next two games ended in a draw. The most critical moment of a match came in the 7th round. After this game, Lasker won the next 4 games in a row which was a way too overwhelming lead for Steinitz. The match ended 10:5 in favour of the newly crowned champion of the world: Emanuel Lasker. 

The chess world did not accept just yet Emanuel as the new world champion. Tarrasch blamed the decisive victory of Lasker on the weakness coming from Steinitz's way too high age for a chess professional (58 years of age). This rivalry between Lasker and Tarrasch was about to be settled on a tournament of Hastings in 1895 but the chess world has seen yet another American super talent that for a few split moments touched the heavens of chess - Harry Nelson Pillsbury ( we will talk about him in detail some other time). Pilsbury won this extremely dramatic tournament and the chess world welcomed a new brilliant challenger. Unfortunately, his poor health and disease ended his life too soon. Lasker, who placed 3rd in this tournament in front of Tarrasch and Steinitz also received a lot of credit for his achievement. Emanuel added 2 more victories in the tournament in Sankt-Petersburg (this was the first tournament where travelling costs were covered by organizers) and in Norimberg in front of Tarrasch, Steinitz, Pillsbury and a new rising star Maróczy. Emanuel finally was accepted by the chess community as a rightful world champion.

Rematch with Steinitz (Moscow 7.11.1896-14.1.1897)

Emanuel Lasker after his victory over Steinitz in their first match back in 1894 had a moral responsibility to offer the former world champion a rematch. Steinitz wanted to play much sooner ( in December of 1894) but Lasker politely refused and offered another possible date (October 1895). Lasker's responsibilities in the field of math and philosophy postponed the match one year further. Whilst the public acceptance of Lasker in 1894 still culminated, in 1896 Lasker sat down behind the chessboard as an already acclaimed favourite of the match. Steinitz who was 60 at the time the matchup was held, received a horrid defeat 10:2. His 2 victories came in the 12th and 13th rounds but the margin was too significant to cut down. 

After this decisive victory, Lasker decided to take some time off chess and focused more on his mathematical and philosophical responsibilities. In the following years, Lasker played only two major tournaments in London and Paris. Both of these tournaments won with a huge lead( 4 and a half points ahead, over 90% win rate).In 1902 he obtained a doctorate in mathematics, in 1904 his mathematical work got released and in 1907 his philosophical work "Kampf". He contributed to chess even with publishing regularly in Lasker's Chess Magazine (1904-1908).In 1904 Emanuel attended an international tournament in American Cambridge-Springs where he placed second alongside David Janowski. First place however won by a new challenger Frank Marshall(his life also deserves a closer look some other time). Lasker was pressured more and more as time passed by no other than Siegbert Tarrasch. Siegbert's victory in Norimberg in 1905 where he destroyed Frank Marshall (8 wins 1 loss 8 draws) made him a self-proclaimed world champion. The dispute between the reigning world champion and an ancient enemy was about to be settled in Dusserdolf in 1908...

Sources:Július Kozma: Boje o šachový trón, Garry Kasparov: Moji velcí předchůdci 1 (My Greatest Predecessors ),Wikipedia, Malá encyklopedie šachu