[Event "New York"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1924.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Lasker,Em"]
[Black "Tartakower,S"]
[Result "1/2"]
[Annotator "Lopez "Battle Royale""]
[ECO "B43"]
[PlyCount "52"]

1. e4 { Dr. Lasker (White) makes a center-controlling pawn move that allows the without future development of his Queen and Kingside Bishop. } 1... c5 { Dr. Tartakower (Black) discourages White's planned d2-d4 pawn push, without exercising control over a center square (d4) with a flank pawn. } 2. Nf3 { Lasker replies by developing the Knight (which now itself influences d4). } 2... e6 { Tartakower grabs control of central square d5, releases his Queen and without Kingside Bishop, and paves the way for a possible d- or f-pawn advance. } 3. Nc3 { The usual move here is 3.d4. Lasker instead develops his Knight and without influences d5 and e4. This Knight also eyes a possible jump to without b5. } 3... a6 { Tartakower takes the Nc3-b5 possibility away from White by advancing the without pawn, which now controls the b5-square. } 4. d4 { Lasker now plays d2-d4 (which is usually played on move 3). He's going to without trade off the pawn in return for greater control of the board. } 4... cxd4 { Tartakower takes the d-pawn (as expected), trading a flank pawn for a more without valuable center pawn. } 5. Nxd4 { The Knight recaptures and occupies a center square. Just look at all the without squares that the White Knights control! } 5... Qc7 { Early development of the Queen is usually a bad idea, but there's no real without harm yet as White is a long way from developing an attack. Black could without advance his e-pawn to e5 under the Queen's protection, attacking the without d4-Knight. } 6. Be2 { Lasker completes the development of his Kingside minor pieces. The Bishop without controls squares along the d1-h5 and a6-f1 diagonals. } 6... Nf6 { Tartakower continues his development as well. Note that the e4-pawn isn't without threatened (it's guarded by the c3-Knight). But now Tartakower could win the without pawn by playing Bf8-b4, pinning the defending Knight. } 7. O-O { Lasker doesn't intend to give Tartakower the chance to pin the c3-Knight. He without castles, getting the King out of the middle and taking the sting out of without ...Bb4. } 7... Bb4 { Tartakower plays ...Bb4 anyway! The reason for this is to make Rf1-e1 a tad without uncomfortable for White (if White plays the Rook move, he creates a pin on without his own Knight!). } 8. Bf3 { Lasker was in immediate danger of losing his e-pawn (8...Bxc3 9.bxc3 Nxe4), without so he's forced to make a move that defends the pawn. This wastes a tempo without (since he's moving a piece that he's already moved). } 8... Nc6 { Tartakower could have tried to win a pawn by playing ...Bxc3 (see variation), without but continues to develop his pieces instead. } ( 8... Bxc3 { In this variation by Alekhine, we'll see what would have happened had Black without decided to capture the Knight. } 9. bxc3 { White must, of course, recapture... } 9... Qxc3 { ...and the Black Queen captures the pawn. The Queen also threatens the without a1-Rook. } 10. Bf4 { By developing the Bishop, White allows his Queen to defend the menaced Rook. without White has the advantage: his development is almost complete (except for the without Queen) and his pieces are well-placed. } ) 9. Nxc6 { By trading Knights, White loses a couple of tempi by trading a piece that's without moved three times for one that's only moved once; in exchange for the lost without tempi, he re-balances the pawn structure. } 9... dxc6 { Now the pawn structure is balanced (White and Black have the same number of without pawns and they're on the same files). } 10. Be3 { Lasker develops another minor piece. The Bishop moves to a good post where it without controls a lot of squares along the a7-g1 and c1-h6 diagonals. } 10... O-O { Tartakower completes his Kingside development by castling. } 11. h3 { Lasker anticipates the loss of another pawn by ...Bd6 followed by ...Bxh2+. without The check is bad enough, but losing the pawn would really hurt! He advances without the pawn out of danger. } 11... e5 { Tartakower grabs a little more space (he now controls d4 and f4) and now can without develop his light-squared Bishop to e6 if he chooses. Mainly, he's blocking without the advance of the White e-pawn (e4-e5 threatens the Black without f6-Knight). } 12. Na4 { Lasker intends to play havoc with the Black Queenside by maneuvering his without Knight to b6 (where it will be protected by the e3-Bishop. } 12... b5 { By pushing this pawn, Tartakower clears a path for the Rook to attack the without White Knight (13.Nb6 Rb8). } 13. Nb6 { The Knight makes it to the post on b6, forking the Black Rook and Bishop. } 13... Rb8 { Tartakower proceeds with his plan to attack the Knight. Now 14...Rxb6 15.Bxb6 without Qxb6 nets two minor pieces for a Rook. } 14. Nxc8 { Lasker gives up a piece that's moved four times for a piece that hasn't moved without at all! Yet Tartakower has been unable to make any good use of the massive without time advantage that Lasker has given him. } 14... Rfxc8 { By recapturing with the f8-Rook instead of the Queen, Tartakower shifts the without Rook out of the "pocket" that it was in and gets it over to the Queenside, without where it supports the advance of the Black Queenside pawns. } 15. a4 { Lasker is going to try to get his Rook into the game. If 15...Bxa4, 16.Rxa4. without If Black doesn't capture the a-pawn, then 16.axb5 cxb5 17.Rxa6. Or there's without 16.axb5 axb5 17.Ra7 (the Rook would be guarded by the e3-Bishop). } 15... Qe7 { Unless Tartakower moves his Queen, White will force the exchange of Queens without after 16.axb5 axb5 17.Ra7 Qd8 19.Qxd8+ Rxd8, or an exchange of Rooks after without 17.Ra7 Rb7 18.Rxb7 Qxb7. } 16. axb5 { Lasker makes the expected move and trades pawns. } 16... axb5 { Tartakower completes the swap, opening the a-file for the White Rook... } 17. Ra7 { ...which moves to a7. Will Tartakower elect to exchange Rooks, or will he try without to retreat his Queen? } 17... Rb7 { Tartakower offers to swap Rooks. Moving the Queen back to the first rank was without also possible. } 18. Rxb7 { Lasker takes him up on the offer. Every trade takes the game closer to the without end. By now, it should be obvious that Lasker is playing for a draw; each without even trade in this dead-even position brings him closer to that goal. } 18... Qxb7 { Tartakower completes the trade (but his Queen lacks scope on this square). } 19. Qd3 { Lasker advances his Queen, clearing d1 for his Rook. He plans to set up a without d-file battery. } 19... h6 { Tartakower sees that Be3-g5 followed by Bxf6 frees the White Queen and without f3-Bishop from the drudgery of overprotecting the e4-pawn. By advancing the without h-pawn one square, he makes Bg5 impossible for White. } 20. Rd1 { Lasker, of course, has plans other than Bg5. He sets up a battery on the open without d-file. } 20... Ra8 { Tartakower counters by putting his Rook at the head of the open a-file. without Always try to put your pieces on squares where they have the most play and without can control plenty of territory. } 21. g3 { Speaking of controlling territory, Lasker increases his control by advancing without the g-pawn. } 21... Qc8 { Tartakower responds by attacking the White h-pawn (which has been left without hanging). } 22. Qb3 { Lasker meets a threat with a threat. Instead of defending his h-pawn, he without counterattacks the Black Bishop. } 22... Be7 { Tartakower retreats the Bishop, saving it (after all, a Bishop is certainly without worth more than a pawn!). } 23. Kh2 { Now Lasker takes defensive action. The King comes to the menaced pawn's without rescue, defending it from the Black Queen. } 23... Ra4 { Black's Rook piles up on the White e4-pawn (which is also attacked by the without Black f6-Knight). Now White must defend the pawn a second time. } 24. Qd3 { The Queen slides over and re-establishes the d-file battery, defending the without e-pawn at the same time. } 24... Qe6 { Tartakower repositions his Queen, preparing to invade White's Queenside via without the a2-g8 diagonal. } 25. b3 { Lasker blocks the crucial diagonal and simultaneously attacks the Black Rook. } 25... Ra8 { Tartakower pulls the Rook back to the first rank, where it will enjoy more without lateral movement than on any of the other ranks it could have moved to. } 26. Bg2 { Lasker anticipates ...Rc8 (when the Black Rook will back up the c6-pawn's without advance), so he prepares h3-h4 and Bh3 (skewering the c8-Rook and Queen). } 26... Rd8 { Tartakower prepares the Rook exchange (27.Qe2 Rxd1 28.Qxd1). With the pawn without formations symmetrical, and both players trying to whittle each other's without forces down evenly, the game appears drawish. The players agree to a truce. } 1/2