[Event "New York"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1924.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Lasker,Ed"]
[Black "Bogoljubow,E"]
[Result "1/2"]
[Annotator "Lopez "Battle Royale""]
[ECO "C41"]
[PlyCount "101"]

1. e4 { Lasker (White) advances his e-pawn. This is White's most aggressive opening without move. It grabs a healthy chunk of the center (the d5- and f5-squares) and without allows White free development of his Queen and light-square Bishop. } 1... e5 { Bogoljubow (Black) responds with an equally aggressive move of his own. He, without too, grabs a couple of center squares (d4 and f4), and opens lines for the without development of his Queen and dark-square Bishop. } 2. Nf3 { Lasker continues in an aggressive fashion. He develops his Kingside Knight without and attacks the Black d5-pawn at the same time. } 2... d6 { Most people play 2...Nc6 here in order to guard the e5-pawn. Instead, Bogo without opts to play Philidor's Defense (named after the greatest chessplayer of the without 18th Century), in which Black defends the pawn with 2...d6. } 3. d4 { Lasker's d-pawn charges ahead and attacks the Black e5-pawn a second time. without Notice, too, that the White dark-square Bishop is now free to without develop. } 3... Nf6 { Rather than try to defend the pawn again (see the variation), Bogo launches a without counterattack. The f6-Knight threatens the White e4-pawn. Will White capture without the Black e5-pawn or defend his own endangered pawn? } ( 3... Nc6 { In this variation, Black tries to defend his e5-pawn a second time. } 4. d5 { White advances his d-pawn and attacks the Black Knight! Now Black must move without it or lose it! } 4... Nce7 { The Knight retreats to e7. Now his position is horribly cramped. He'll have a without hard time developing his pieces since White controls so many of the squares without that Black needs (like c6, e6, and f5). } ) 4. Nc3 { Lasker chooses to develop another piece and defend the e4-pawn at the same without time (doing two things with one move!). In your games, look for moves like without this that serve more than one purpose. } 4... Nbd7 { Since c6 is off limits for the Knight (because of White's reply d4-d5), Bogo without develops it to d7. The problem is that now the Knight blocks in the Bishop without on c8. } 5. Bc4 { Lasker clears the deck for Kingside castling by developing his light-square without Bishop. This Bishop helps to control d5 and puts pressure on Black's without vulnerable f7-square, adjacent to his King. } 5... Be7 { Bogo gets his Bishop off the back rank, paving the way for castling on the without Kingside. Notice how cramped the Black position is. Bogo lacks good squares without for his pieces. } 6. O-O { The King heads for the safety of the flank, while the Rook develops toward without the center. } 6... O-O { Black castles as well. The Rook on f8 helps ease the pressure on the f7-pawn. without But now the pawn is pinned by the White c4-Rook. Should the f6-Knight move, without the f7-pawn can't advance because of the pin. } 7. Bg5 { Lasker prepares to trade dark-square Bishops if the Black f6-Knight moves. without All of the White minor pieces are developed, while Black's c8-Bishop is without still at least two moves away from freedom. } 7... c6 { Bogo prepares a Queenside push. He plans to play b7-b5 in order to drive back without the White Bishop on c4, and then follow it up with b5-b4, driving away the without c3-Knight, the e4-pawn's only defender, making ...Nxe4 possible. } 8. Bb3 { Lasker sees the coming pawn push and pulls his Bishop back now. However, without a2-a4 would have prevented the Black pawn push b7-b5 just as easily, and without would have grabbed still more space for White. } 8... h6 { Bogo threatens the other White Bishop and forces Lasker to decide whether to without capture the f6-Knight now or waste a tempo by moving the Bishop again. This without is known as "putting the question to the Bishop". } 9. Bh4 { Lasker decides to spend the tempo necessary to move the Bishop. By coming without back to h4 the Bishop keeps the pressure on the Black f6-Knight. } 9... Re8 { Bogo gets ready for the opening of the e-file by sliding his Rook over. He'll without move his f6-Knight, and if White plays Bxe7, he can play ...Rxe7. Then Bogo without will play...Qe8 and ...exd4, then begin to pile up on White's e-pawn. } 10. Qd3 { Lasker, seeing that Bogoljubow is planning to free his game by opening up the without e-file, hits upon a plan to prevent it. The first step is to bring his Queen without to d3, where it has access to the a6-f1 diagonal. } 10... Nh5 { Bogo, unaware of Lasker's counterplan, proceeds with his own plan. He expects without Lasker to play Bxe7. } 11. Qc4 { Now Lasker threatens to win material by 12.Qxf7+ Kh8 13.Qxh5, getting a pawn without and Knight for free! } 11... Rf8 { This forces Bogo to bring his Rook back to f8 to defend the pawn. Now it's without White's move. His Bishop on h4 is threatened. Should Lasker exchange it for without the e7-Bishop, or retreat it to g3? } 12. Bxe7 { Of course, he exchanges it. If he had played Bg3, then Black could have without replied ...Nxg3, forcing White to double his pawns on the g-file (and without doubled pawns are weak, remember?). } 12... Qxe7 { Bogo has to re-capture or be behind in material. Now look at the board. without Because of the exchange of Bishops, Black's position is now less cramped. without How should White proceed? } 13. Ne2 { Lasker doesn't like the looks of Black's threatened ...Nf4 (establishing an without outpost in the heart of the White position). The e2-Knight covers f4 and without keeps the Black Knight from occupying it without threat of without capture. } 13... a5 { Bogo begins to expand on the Queenside. His obvious threat is a5-a4, winning without the b3-Bishop. Among his other threats is ...exd4, to be followed by ...Nc5 without (allowing him to pile up on the e4-pawn). } 14. Qc3 { Lasker doesn't play c2-c3 to give the Bishop an escape hatch. Instead, he without pulls back his Queen to let the Bishop escape to c4. } 14... a4 { At first glance, b7-b5 (to prepare to trap the Bishop via a5-a4) might look without tempting. Look closer -- you'll see that White's reply Qxc6 loses a pawn! } 15. Bc4 { The White Bishop makes good its escape! } 15... b5 { Now that the White Bishop blocks the White Queen from capturing Black's pawn without on c6, it's safe for Bogo to continue his Queenside pawn mobilization. He's without getting more room, little by little! } 16. Bd3 { The White Bishop finally retreats to a safe haven on d3. Of course, the poor without Bishop has no squares to move to. It's stuck like a fly in a block of amber! without Now it's Lasker who is finding his position cramped! } 16... Bb7 { Since White was threatening Qxc6, Bogo has to make a move to protect it. He without (finally!) develops his light-square Bishop. He can also later play c6-c5 to without get more room for his d7-Knight (...c5, then dxc5, Nxc5). } 17. dxe5 { Lasker decides to open the d-file for exploitation by his Rooks. He forces without the elimination of both d-pawns with this move. } 17... dxe5 { Obviously, Bogo recaptures with his d-pawn. } 18. Rad1 { The a1-Rook slides over to d1 where it would command the file except for that without problem d3-Bishop in its way. How will Lasker free the trapped Bishop? } 18... Rfe8 { Seeing that the e5-pawn is attacked twice and defended twice, Bogo decides to without overprotect the pawn. This will free up one of the three defending pieces without should one of them be required elsewhere. } 19. Ng3 { Lasker decides that the fastest way to free his trapped Bishop is to provide without it an outlet on e2. He clears this square by moving his Knight to g3. Of without course, Bogo can now make White double his pawns with ...Nxg3... } 19... Nxg3 { ...which he does. Bogo didn't want the g3-Knight to jump to f5 and establish without an outpost there. Now Lasker is faced with the choice of which pawn to without recapture with. } 20. hxg3 { He chooses to recapture with the h-pawn. Taking back with the f-pawn would without leave him with TWO weaknesses: doubled g-pawns and an isolated e-pawn. These without would be somewhat offset by the open f-file for his Rook, though. } 20... Nf6 { Here's where Black's overprotection of the e5-pawn pays off. One of the without protecting pieces, the Knight, jumps to a better square and attacks the pawn without on e4, while the other two pieces stay behind to defend the e5-pawn. } 21. Nh4 { Like a bulldog with a bone, Lasker hangs on to the idea of posting a Knight without on f5. He shifts his remaining Knight to h4 and eyes up f5. } 21... g6 { Bogoljubow denies Lasker yet again. The g-pawn advances and prevents the without White Knight from occupying f5. } 22. Qd2 { Lasker brings his Queen back to menace the Black h6-pawn. Will Bogo now without protect the pawn by advancing it or by defending it with another without piece? } 22... Kg7 { Bogo decides to make the Black King earn its keep by putting it to work without defending the h-pawn. } 23. Qe3 { Lasker repositions his Queen, preparing to attack Black's Queenside by moving without to b6 later. } 23... Ng4 { Bogo attacks White's Queen. He secretly hopes that Lasker will proceed with without his plan to invade the Queenside by Qb6, because ...Ra6 will trap and win without the White Queen (see the variation to White's next move). } 24. Qd2 { Since the White Queen is prevented from moving to b6 (see the variation) and without is also attacked by the Black g4-Knight, Lasker has no choice but to retreat without the piece. } ( 24. Qb6 { Here's why White can't attack the Black Queenside with his Queen... } 24... Ra6 { The Rook advances and attacks the Queen, trapping it. The White Queen has no without square to retreat to (remember the Knight on g4?) and so is without lost. } ) 24... Qc5 { Bogo sees that the White position is very cramped and understands that White without would like to play f2-f4 to get some more elbow room. The Black Queen on c5 without pins the f2-pawn to the White King and prevents the pawn's without advance. } 25. Be2 { The Black Knight sticks in the White position like a bone in Lasker's throat, without so he dislodges it by threatening it with the Bishop. } 25... Nf6 { The Black Knight is forced to abandon its advanced post, and retreats to the without only safe square available. } 26. Bd3 { Now Lasker is troubled by the possibility that one of the Black Rooks might without move to d8 and menace his Queen. His Bishop comes back to d3 to block that without threat. } 26... Rad8 { Bogo moves his a-Rook to the central d-file. Now there is every possibility without of the Black Knight returning to g4, because the White Bishop is now pinned without to the Queen and can't move to e2 again to kick the Knight back out. } 27. Qe2 { Since the White Bishop or f-pawn can't keep the Black Knight from reoccupying without g4, the White Queen is forced to come over and defend that square. This has without a further cramping effect on White, since the Queen no longer holds a5-e1. } 27... Bc8 { Bogo again demonstrates the advantages of having greater space and mobility. without His Bishop moves to c8, which springs a new threat: ...Bg4! which wins without either the White Queen or d1-Rook. } 28. Kh1 { Lasker is moves his King to h1 to dissolve the pin on the f-pawn. If Black without plays ...Bg4, Lasker can now reply f2-f3, saving both his Queen and d1-Rook. without . } 28... Bg4 { The Black Bishop predictably advances to g4 and attacks the White Queen, and without should the Queen move, the d1-Rook. } 29. f3 { Lasker saves the two threatened heavy pieces. (Qxg4 was impossible because of without ...Nxg4, and Nf3 lets Black advance his pawns). Now White has a bad Bishop, without an immobilized Knight, a weak g3-pawn, and restricted heavy pieces! What without next? } ( 29. Nf3 { White doesn't want to use his Knight to block the attack on his Queen, without because then White gives up his threat of Nh4-f5, which prevents the Black without g6-pawn from advancing... } 29... g5 { ...like so. Since Black no longer had to worry about guarding against a White without Knight outpost on f5, his g-pawn can advance and restrict White's mobility without even further! } ) 29... Be6 { The Black Bishop was attacked by the White f-pawn, so it had to move away. without Now it threatens White's a2-pawn! Bogo is smiling a little now. Why not? without Just look at White's position: the White pieces are all in each other's without way! } 30. a3 { Lasker sighs and advances the a-pawn. Pushing the b-pawn to b3 instead would without be bad for White because it would allow Black to pry open the Queenside without through pawn exchanges. } 30... Re7 { Bogoljubow prepares to double his Rooks on either the d- or e-files. } 31. Rde1 { It's a old chess saying: when you're cramped, free your game by exchanging without pieces. Lasker prepares to exchange Queens with this move. He plans to next without play Qe2-e3 or Qe2-f2, offering to swap Queens with Bogo. } 31... Qd4 { Bogo seems to like the idea of a trade, but he wants White to initiate it by without playing Qxd4. After exd4, Black will enjoy a 4-3 Queenside pawn majority without that he should be able to convert into a win. There's also a hidden point... } 32. Qf2 { Lasker feels that the exchange of Queens on f2 would be more to his advantage without than if it happens on e3, so his Queen comes to f2 to provoke a trade. But without there's a hidden point here, too... } 32... Qxb2 { Bogo's hidden point: he wins a pawn by not trading Queens. But remember that without Lasker had a hidden point as well... } 33. Qc5 { Lasker's hidden point: since Bogo didn't trade, the White Queen is suddenly without set loose on the Queenside! White now has a lot more maneuvering room. So without who fooled who? Did Lasker sacrifice the pawn on purpose? Hmmmm... } 33... Rc7 { Bogo has to defend the endangered c6-pawn. He could have protected it with without the other Rook (...Rd8-c8) but that would take a square away from his Bishop without and tend to cramp his game. } 34. Rb1 { Lasker shifts his Rook over to strike at the Black Queen. } 34... Qd4 { The Black Queen must retreat to d4, as it's the only square where it's without protected (by the e5 pawn). } 35. Rxb5 { The White Rook comes crashing in and wins back the pawn. If the Black c6-pawn without captures the Rook, White's Queen takes the Black Rook on c7 and the material without stays even (although the game becomes complex -- see the next variation). } 35... g5 { Bogo begins counter-measures on the Kingside. This pawn advance threatens the without White Knight. He could also have played ...cxb5 (see the variation). } ( 35... cxb5 { Let's examine what might have happened had Black decided to capture the Rook. } 36. Qxc7 { The White Queen captures the c7-Rook and the material stays even. } 36... b4 { Black advances his pawn in order to obtain a passed pawn on either the a- or without b-files. } 37. axb4 { White makes the capture on b4 and is now ahead by a pawn. Black now has a without passed a-pawn, while White has connected passed pawns on the b- and c-files. without The Black a-pawn is more dangerous due to its potential rapid advancement. } 37... a3 { Black proceeds to advance the pawn another step toward promotion, making it without still more dangerous to White. } 38. Qa5 { White's Queen comes back to a5 to threaten the Black a-pawn, while still without keeping an eye on the d8-Rook (if the Black Queen moves off of the d-file, without the Rook falls). } 38... a2 { The passed pawn advances to a square where the e6-Bishop protects it. Now the without a-pawn is just a step away from promotion. } 39. b5 { White feels that it's high time he came up with a threat of his own. He without begins the advance of his passed b-pawn. Notice that Black can't play a2-a1 without because the White Queen and Rook both defend that square, stopping the without pawn's advance. } 39... Rb8 { Now the White b-pawn can't advance either (because of the Black Queen and without Rook). Things are really knotted up now. Both players will have to do a lot without of maneuvering to press home an advantage. (Variation by Ed. Lasker) } ) 36. Nf5+ { The White Knight leaps to absolutely the ONLY square it had on the board! It without checks Black's King in the process, but it doesn't matter; the Knight is not without long for this world. } 36... Bxf5 { Bogo makes a questionable trade here: he's traded his good Bishop for White's without badly misplaced Knight. He'll win a pawn soon, but the price may have been without too high. We'll see... } 37. exf5 { The recapture must be made to keep an even material balance. Now White has without doubled f-pawns AND doubled g-pawns. OUCH! } 37... Nh5 { The Knight leaps ahead and attacks the g3-pawn, which can't be defended! If without White tries g3-g4, then ...Ng3+ forks the f1-Rook and the King! Kh2 looks without like a good try too, but that leads to checkmate (see the next variation)! } 38. Re1 { Bogoljubow is more clever than we gave him credit for. He's obviously without foreseen that White can't save the g3-pawn. In fact, all that Lasker can do without is move his Rook to prevent the hideous Knight fork after ...Nxg3+. } ( 38. Kh2 { On the surface, Kh2 looks like an excellent way for White to protect his pawn without on g3, but not only does it fail to protect the pawn -- it leads to death without for the White King! } 38... Nxg3 { WOW! What a spectacular sacrifice! The Black Knight grabs the pawn and without menaces the f1-Rook. } 39. Kxg3 { And if the White King snares the Black Knight... } 39... Qh4# { CHECKMATE! Incredible! White thought that his King was safe in taking the without Knight (and that he'd go up by a minor piece) but  he was mated instead! } ) 38... Nxg3+ { So Bogo gets his way, and the White g3-pawn goes off the board and back into without the box. } 39. Kh2 { Lasker makes the only move he has on the board (Kg1 is impossible because of without the Black Queen). Of course, the Black Knight isn't really threatened and without doesn't have to move, because if Kxg3 then ...Qh4#! } 39... Qh4+ { Now the Black Queen gets into the act, checking the White King. Due to the without Black Queen's superior mobility, Bogoljubow is able to switch his whole without focus from the Queenside to the Kingside in an instant. } 40. Kg1 { Literally the only move. No White piece can block check, so the King is without forced to move to its only available square. } 40... f6 { Qh1+ just gets Black a draw (see the variation), so Bogo defends his e5-pawn without which has been left hanging (in chess slang, "leaving a piece hanging" means without leaving it unprotected). } ( 40... Qh1+ { What if Black had decided to keep up the pressure on the White King by Qh1+? without Let's find out... } 41. Kf2 { The King has to come to f2; it's the only possible move to escape check (Kxh1 without is impossible because the g3-Knight guards the Queen). The King move creates without a discovered attack on the Black Queen by the e1-Rook. } 41... Qh4 { The Black Queen moves out of danger, retreating to a file where it has easy without access to both sides of the board. But the e5-pawn is left hanging... } 42. Qxe5+ { ...a fact which is not lost on White, who siezes the chance to grab the pawn without and set up a double attack (checking the Black King and threatening the Rook without on c7)! } 42... Kg8 { The King is forced to retreat. Blocking check by advancing the f-pawn doesn't without work: after Qxc7, Black would be in check again, would have to lose his without other Rook, and would soon be mated! See the variation. } ( 42... f6 { Blocking the check by advancing the f-pawn leads to a quick end for Black, as without we'll soon see... } 43. Qxc7+ { If your opponent is going to let you grab all of his pieces for free, take without them -- especially if it leads to a forced mate! } 43... Kg8 { The Black King is forced to go to the back rank (g6 is off-limits due to the without White f-pawn's influence). } 44. Qxd8+ { White grabs more material. Mate is now only a move away... } 44... Kg7 { It makes no difference whether the Black King moves to f7, g7, or h7; the end without result is still the same... } 45. Re7# { ...CHECKMATE! All of this was caused by one little pawn push. Once that pawn without advanced, mate was inevitable. The moral of the story is: choose all of your without moves carefully -- any miscalculation could be your last one! } ) 43. Qxc7 { White would obviously grab the free material. Now the d8-Rook is threatened, without but Black doesn't plan to give White the chance to capture it... } 43... Ne4+ { The Knight springs back and reveals a double check! The Knight and Queen both without check the White King. } 44. Kg1 { The ONLY way to get out of a double check is to move the King. However, White without had to be careful here: if he'd been silly enough to play Kf1 (to guard the without e1-Rook), Black would have ended it with ...Qf2#! } 44... Qxe1+ { As it is, the White Rook is lost and the White King is in check again. } 45. Kh2 { The King has to retreat to h2. Although Bf1 looks perfectly safe, it leads to without tough times for White! See the variation. } ( 45. Bf1 { It looks like White is perfectly safe in blocking check with his Bishop, but without this choice leads to a draw at best and a loss for White at worst! } 45... Qf2+ { The Black Queen checks yet again! The Black d8-Rook has been hanging for without several turns, but Black has no intention of giving White a chance to without capture it! } 46. Kh1 { The White King is forced to move again. The King could also have gone to h2, without which would lead to a draw by threefold repetition (46.Kh2 Qh4+ 47.Kg1 Qf2+ without 48.Kh2 Qh4+, etc.). } 46... Qxf1+ { The Queen grabs the White Bishop and checks the King again. } 47. Kh2 { White plays his only possible move to get out of check. } 47... Rd2 { Black has finally run out of checks, so he brings his Rook into the attack. without Now Black is threatening a checkmate by ...Qxg2! How should White respond? } 48. Rb8+ { With a check of his own! Now it's the Black King's turn to run... } 48... Kg7 { The only move. If Black plays ...Kh7, then Qxf7 is mate! } 49. Qe5+ { White springs another double attack, this time checking the Black King and without menacing the Black Knight. } 49... Nf6 { The Black Knight leaps to f6 to block the check. Now White has to stop the without threatened mate on g2. } 50. Qg3 { The Queen comes to the rescue of the White King, preventing Black from mating without with ...Qxg2. } 50... Rxc2 { The Rook gobbles the c2-pawn, while keeping up the pressure on the g2-pawn. without Black could also have tried ...Ne4, but if White responds Qe5+ it leads to a without draw, and if White tries Qh3 the g2 pawn is still covered by the White without Queen. } 51. Rb4 { White brings his Rook to a point where it can get into the action on the without Kingside. } 51... Rc1 { This move of the Black Rook sets up a new mating threat. Black threatens without Qh1#. } 52. Kh3 { White moves the King forward to give it an escape square on g4. Black is a without piece and pawn ahead, but the fight is far from over. Even so, with proper without play, Black should have no trouble winning from this position. } ) 45... Qh4+ { The Black Queen checks yet again. } 46. Kg1 { The White King comes back... } 46... Qe1+ { ...and the Black Queen checks again! This will shortly lead to a draw by without threefold repetition of the position. } ) 41. Rxe5 { WHAM! Another startling sacrifice! Lasker seems determined to give away without material in return for other forms of advantage. In this case, he gives up a without Rook in order to obtain a strong attack against Black. } 41... fxe5 { Unlike the last time White offered to give up a Rook, Bogo this time takes without him up on the offer. } 42. Qxe5+ { Now Lasker unleashes a double attack against Black, checking the King and without attacking the c7-Rook. } 42... Kg8 { Bogoljubow has no choice but to retreat the King, leaving his c7-Rook to without White's tender mercy. } 43. Rb4 { Another surprise move! Lasker leaves the c7-Rook alone for the moment and without goes after the Black Queen instead! } 43... Qh1+ { But Bogo has a forcing move up his sleeve. He attempts to grab back the without initiative by checking the White King. } 44. Kf2 { The attempt to sieze the initiative fails, because White's still has a double without attack: the Queen now threatens both the c7-Rook and g3-Knight with without capture! } 44... Rf7 { Faced with the choice of losing either a Rook or a Knight, Bogo goes with the without lesser of two evils and decides to give up the Knight. } 45. Rb8 { WOW! Lasker is relentless in the pursuit of a Black Rook for his trophy case! } 45... Rxb8 { Bogo decides to trade Rooks. If he plays ...Rdf8, White's reply Bc4 puts the without f7-Rook in an ugly pin, while ...Rff8 leads to Black's sad demise (see the without variation). } ( 45... Rff8 { If Black would have played ...Rff8, it leads to a forced mate. Take a moment without and see if you can spot the winning combination... } 46. Bc4+ { Since it's a forced mate, you should look for forcing moves like checks. } 46... Kh7 { The Black King is forced to get out of the line of fire. } 47. Rb7+ { White plays another forcing move (another check). } 47... Rd7 { The d-Rook tries valiantly to block the check... } 48. Rxd7+ { ...but to no avail. The White Rook rudely bowls the Black d-Rook over in its without headlong rush to get to the Black King. } 48... Rf7 { The second Rook bravely throws itself into the path of the oncoming White without locomotive... } 49. Rxf7+ { ...and like its brother, is mashed flat by the White juggernaut. } 49... Kg8 { The Black King makes a last-ditch effort to save himself... } 50. Qg7# { ...but White will not be denied the scalp of the Black King! Checkmate! } ) 46. Qxb8+ { Lasker completes the trade and checks the Black King as well! Also it's a without double attack because the g3-Knight is still squarely in the White Queen's without sights! } 46... Kg7 { Rather than try to block the check with ...Rf8 and have to face Bc4+, Bogo without still hides the King behind the Rook, but on the next rank instead. } 47. Qe5+ { Lasker, down a Rook for a pawn, doesn't see much chance of winning the game without even if he does grab the g3-Knight. So he plays to force a draw instead. } 47... Kf8 { Bogo doesn't like the looks of 47...Kh7 (which leads to a forced mate for without White -- see the variation), so he decides to settle for the draw. } ( 47... Kh7 { If the King retreats to h7 instead, it leads to a pretty gruesome finish for without Black (as we'll soon see...). } 48. f6+ { The clever pawn push by White uncovers a check from the White without Bishop. } 48... Ne4+ { Black blocks check with the Knight (this is known as "interposing"). } 49. Qxe4+ { Not that the interposition of the Knight did a lot of good. White just grabs without it with the Queen and checks Black again. } 49... Kg8 { The King is forced to run away to g8. } 50. Qe8+ { The White Queen ruthlessly checks again... } 50... Rf8 { ...and Black is forced to interpose his Rook to thwart the check. } 51. Qg6+ { Undaunted, White checks the Black King yet again. It won't be long now... } 51... Kh8 { The Black King is forced to cower in the corner. } 52. Qh7# { White administers the lethal blow. Checkmate! } ) 48. Qb8+ { Lasker returns his Queen to b8. } 48... Kg7 { The King hides again. } 49. Qe5+ { The Queen checks again. The players are headed for a draw by threefold without repetition (if the exact same board position occurs three times in the same without game, the game is declared a draw). } 49... Kf8 { The King moves to f8 again. } 50. Qb8+ { The draw is obvious, but the players continue to go through the formalities. } 50... Kg7 { Again, the Black King hides behind the Rook } 51. Qe5+ { And Lasker repeats the position for the third time. This incredible, without hard-fought game, ends in a draw. } 1/2