[Event "New York"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1924.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Janowski,D"]
[Black "Lasker,Ed"]
[Result "1/2"]
[Annotator "Lopez "Battle Royale""]
[ECO "D00"]
[PlyCount "142"]

1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 Nf6 3. e3 { We see the point of 2.Bf4 -- the Bishop is outside the pawn chain and isn't blocked in by the e3-pawn. } 3... e6 { Freeing the dark-squared Bishop while trapping the light-squared one. } 4. Bd3 c5 { Lasker offers a gambit pawn... } 5. c3 { ...but Janowski, not wanting to aid Black's development, refuses it. } ( 5. dxc5 Bxc5 { And now Black is a tempo ahead in development. } ) 5... Qb6 6. Qc2 Nbd7 7. Nd2 Bd6 8. Bxd6 { Janowski jumps at the chance to get rid of the bad Bishop. } 8... Qxd6 9. f4 { This creates a hole on e4, but restricts the movements of the Black Queen. } 9... Ng4 10. Nf1 cxd4 11. cxd4 ( 11. exd4 Qxf4 ) 11... Qb4+ 12. Ke2 ( 12. Qc3 Qxc3+ 13. bxc3 { And the a-pawn gets left on its own. } ) 12... Nb6 13. a3 Qe7 14. Nf3 Bd7 15. h3 Rc8 { Whoops! Janowski has no time to take the Knight because of the threat on his Queen. When your opponent makes a threat, you can sometimes reply with a stronger counterthreat -- look for these opportunities! } 16. Qxc8+ { Wow! Janowski gives up the Queen for a Rook and minor piece! } 16... Nxc8 17. hxg4 { Janowski is the equivalent of a pawn down, but has some play for his minor pieces in return. } 17... Nd6 18. Rc1 Nc4 { Lasker deftly blocks the open file. } 19. Bxc4 dxc4 20. N1d2 b5 21. Rh5 f6 22. g5 Kd8 23. Rch1 Be8 24. Rxh7 Rxh7 25. Rxh7 { This is a pretty wild position. On point count, the material is even. But the position is a little harder to assess than that. Janowski has an advantage in that he has two Knights in a pretty closed position. But the Knights aren't well developed and really aren't doing much at the moment. It's Janowski's job to improve the positioning of his Knights and put them to work. } 25... fxg5 26. Nxg5 { That's a pretty good start. The Knight sits on an outpost square from which it can't be driven off by a Black pawn. } 26... Kc8 27. Rh8 { Pinning the Bishop, but there's no way to intensify the pin. } 27... Kb7 { Breaking the pin. } 28. Nde4 { The other Knight enters the battle. The next stop is the outpost on c5. } 28... Kb6 29. Nc5 Bc6 30. Ngxe6 Bd5 { Threatening to win a minor piece after ...Bxe6 followed by Nxe6 Qxe6. } 31. Ng5 Ka5 ( 31... Bxg2 32. e4 { And the Bishop is trapped -- nearly every square it can move to is covered by White. } ) 32. e4 Bc6 33. Ke3 Be8 34. Nf3 b4 35. Ne5 Bb5 36. a4 Bxa4 37. Nxc4+ Kb5 38. Ne5 Ka5 39. Rb8 Bb5 40. g3 ( 40. Rb7 { Janowski rejects the chance to win another pawn (temporarily). } 40... Qh4 41. Rxa7+ Kb6 42. Rb7+ ( 42. Rxg7 { Dead wrong! } 42... Qe1+ 43. Kf3 Be2+ 44. Ke3 Bd1+ 45. Kd3 Qe2# ) 42... Ka5 43. Kf3 Qe1 44. Kg4 Qe2+ 45. Kf5 Qxg2 ) 40... g5 41. Nf3 gxf4+ 42. gxf4 Qh7 43. f5 ( 43. Rb7 { The fork opportunity was again rejected. Janowski wants to delay the Black Queen from invading his half of the board. } 43... Qh1 44. Rxa7+ Kb6 45. Rb7+ Ka5 46. Kf2 Qd1 ) 43... Qh1 { The Queen invades anyway. } 44. Nb3+ Ka4 45. Nbd2 Qh6+ 46. Kf2 Bd3 47. Rg8 Qf4 48. Rh8 b3 49. Rh4 Qc7 50. f6 Bc4 { Stopping the passed pawn dead in its tracks. } 51. Rh5 Be6 52. Re5 Qf7 53. Rxe6 Qxe6 54. e5 { Janowski has two slow Knights backing up three connected passed pawns. Meanwhile Lasker has two connected Queenside pawns and a Queen (which is limited to stopping the passed pawns from advancing). } 54... Kb4 55. Ke3 a5 56. Kf4 a4 57. Ng5 Qd7 58. f7 Qe7 59. d5 a3 60. bxa3+ Kc3 61. d6 Qf8 62. Nge4+ { Check! This gives Lasker no time for ...Qxf7. } 62... Kd3 63. e6 Qh6+ 64. Kf5 b2 65. d7 Qf8 { Blocking the f-pawn and stopping the d-pawn's promotion. } 66. a4 { Janowski has another passed pawn with which to annoy his opponent! } 66... Qa8 { Blocking the a-pawn while preventing the promotion of the other two advanced pawns. This is a great example of the Queen's mobility in the endgame. } 67. e7 { Now Lasker has a problem. How will he prevent a pawn promotion now?? } 67... Qd5+ { By giving his opponent no time to promote! } 68. Kf6 Qd4+ 69. Ke6 b1=Q 70. Nxb1 Qxe4+ 71. Kf6 Qh4+ { And Black can draw easily by repeatedly checking the White King. This is a great endgame trick to remember -- when your opponent looks like he's going to force a win, look for a draw by repeatedly checking him. } 1/2