[Event "New York"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1924.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Lasker,Em"]
[Black "Alekhine,A"]
[Result "1/2"]
[Annotator "Lopez "Battle Royale""]
[ECO "A48"]
[PlyCount "60"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 { Both players have opened with good, though non-committal, moves. The Knights exert control over the center, but there's still some question as to whether the center pawns will advance. Neither player has tipped his hand. } 2. d4 { Dr. Lasker declares his intentions of occupying the center. } 2... g6 { Alekhine intends to control the center from a distance. The only reason for this pawn move is to allow the fianchetto of the Kingside Bishop. } 3. Bf4 { Lasker wants to support the d-pawn by playing e2-e3, but doesn't want to trap the Queenside Bishop behind the pawn chain. So the Bishop comes out first. } 3... c5 { Alekhine continues with the hypermodern strategy of striking at the center from the flanks. He offers to trade a flank pawn for a more valuable center pawn. } 4. c3 b6 { Alekhine's hypermodern strategy continues -- he's now planning to fianchetto both Bishops. } 5. Nbd2 cxd4 6. cxd4 Bb7 7. e3 { Lasker finally advances the e-pawn (an idea he'd planned back at his third move). } 7... Bg7 { Alekhine responds by completing his plan of fianchettoing both Bishops. The Bishops are strong, as they both sit on long diagonals. However, the b7-Bishop is the better of the two since its brother runs smack up against the d4-pawn. } 8. Bd3 O-O 9. O-O { King safety is a must. Both Kings have retreated to the flanks. } 9... Nc6 10. h3 { I'm not sure why Lasker played this, as the Black Knight wasn't really threatening to come to g4. Controlling the open c-file by Rc1 would certainly have been more productive. } 10... d6 11. Qe2 { White's Rooks are connected; his development is complete. The Queen on e2 serves some useful functions. It backs up the Bishop on the a6-f1 diagonal, plus allows Qxf3 (instead of gxf3) in case Black decides to trade his b7-Bishop for the White Knight. } 11... a6 { Alekhine suspected that White wanted to force a trade of Bishops by playing Ba6 (eliminating the very well-posted b7-Bishop). Now that move is impossible as both the a8-Rook and b7-Bishop control a6. } 12. Rfd1 { Lasker centralizes the Rook. Rfc1 would not be as good because it traps the a1-Rook behind the a- and b-pawns. } 12... Qb8 { It seems strange to place the Queen on the same diagonal as White's f4-Bishop, but the Queen isn't taking up a permanent post. It's headed for a7 where it can support Queenside operations. } 13. Bh2 Qa7 14. a3 Rac8 15. Rac1 { Both players jockey for control of the open c-file. } 15... b5 16. b4 Nd7 { Alekhine is switching his attention to the Queenside. It's not going to be easy for White to counter -- it's harder for him to switch his pieces to that side of the board. } 17. Nb3 { This move seems odd, but has a purpose. Lasker intends to play Rc2 followed by Rdc1 to double his Rooks on the open c-file. Getting the Knight out of the way allows the Queen to support the c2-Rook. } 17... Nb6 18. Rc2 Na4 19. Rdc1 Qa8 { The Queen adds its support to the Knight. } 20. h4 Na7 21. h5 { Now this is interesting. Black seems to be stymied on the Queenside; since his pieces are concentrated on the a- through c-files, Lasker suddenly switches his attention to the Kingside. } 21... Be4 22. Ne1 { To make Nxd3 possible. Otherwise, after ...Bxd3 Qxd3, Black can play ...gxh5, ...Kh8, ...Rg8 and suddenly have a strong attack on the White King. } 22... Bxd3 23. Nxd3 Rxc2 24. Rxc2 Rc8 25. hxg6 hxg6 { White has managed to open the h-file but will have a tough time getting his heavy pieces over there to exploit it. } 26. Na5 Nb6 27. Ne1 { Now the Knight is backing up to overprotect the c2-Rook. This frees the Queen for other duties. } 27... Qe4 { The c2-Rook has suddenly become the center of attention. It's attacked twice and defended twice. } 28. Bg3 { Lasker makes a waiting move to see if Alekhine will reveal his plans. } 28... Rxc2 { Alekhine does just that, deciding to wipe the material off of the board. } 29. Qxc2 Qxc2 30. Nxc2 Kf8 { The material is even, the pawn structure is balanced, and neither player has been able to outplay the other up to this point. The combatants decide to call it a day and agree to split the point. } 1/2