[Event "New York"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1924.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Lasker,Ed"]
[Black "Janowski,D"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Lopez "Battle Royale""]
[ECO "A50"]
[PlyCount "124"]

1. d4 { Lasker (White) remembers Janowski's reputation as a tactician, so he opens without with a move that usually leads to slower, more positional play. This will without give Janowski less of an opportunity to show off his tactical skills. } 1... Nf6 { Rather than commit himself to occupying the center with pawns (with 1...d5), without Janowski develops a Knight to a center-controlling square and adopts a "wait without and see" attitude. } 2. Nf3 { Lasker develops a Knight to a center-controlling post. From f3, the Knight without controls d4 and e5. } 2... b6 { By advancing the b-pawn, Janowski clears b7 for his light-square Bishop. } 3. c4 { Lasker increases his center control with this move. He now controls three of without the four central squares (e4 being the only one that he doesn't control). } 3... Bb7 { The Bishop moves to b7 to be able to command the long a8-h1 diagonal and to without bear down on White's Kingside. Janowski now has two pieces exercising without control over e4. } 4. Nc3 { Lasker strengthens his grip on d5 and begins to dispute Black's control over without e4. } 4... d6 { Janowski prevents White from playing Ne5. He also sets up an e7-e5 pawn push. without He can't push the pawn yet, though, because of 5...e5 6.dxe5 dxe5 7.Qxd8 without Kxd8 and Black loses his right to castle. } 5. Bg5 { Lasker tries to make the e-pawn push less attractive for Black. If Black now without advances the e-pawn, his f6-Knight will be pinned to his Queen. } 5... Nbd7 { Janowski makes the e-pawn push possible. Now it's safe to play 6...e5 7.dxe5 without dxe5 because the d7-Knight blocks the exchange of Queens. } 6. Qc2 { Lasker continues to position his pieces so that they control e4. If he can without put more control over this square than Black can, he'll be able to safely without play e2-e4. } 6... e5 { Janowski doesn't want White to have the d4-e4 central pawn duo, so he lashes without out at the d4-pawn. } 7. e3 { If White plays dxe5, he loses the central pawn duo. With 7.e3, he protects without the d-pawn and holds the threat of e3-e4 in reserve for the future. } 7... h6 { Janowski could have played ...exd4, but opening up the game would be in without White's favor (since White has a lead in development). He "puts the without question" to the Bishop instead. } 8. Bh4 { 8.Bxf6 Nxf6 doesn't really get White anywhere, so Lasker retreats the Bishop without to a square where it maintains the pin on the f6-Knight. } 8... g5 { Janowski goes headhunting after the White Bishop. } 9. Bg3 { Lasker's only chioce. } 9... Nh5 { Janowski traps the White Bishop like a rat. } 10. O-O-O { His Kingside pawn structure is about to be ruined, so it's only logical for without White to castle on the Queenside. } 10... Nxg3 { Janowski captures the Bishop. He now has the advantage of owning the Bishop without pair (but it's just a small advantage in closed positions. It may become a without significant advantage later on after the game opens up). } 11. hxg3 { "Capture toward the center." It's a valid principle, and Lasker follows it without here. } 11... Bg7 { Janowski fianchettoes his other Bishop. When the game opens up later, his without Bishops will attack both wings and strike scissor-like in the center. } 12. Bd3 { Lasker completes his development by getting the Bishop off of the first rank without and connecting his Rooks. } 12... g4 { The frisky pawn advances to dislodge the f3-Knight from its defense of d4. } 13. Nh4 { It's not much of an outpost, but at least h4 is free from future pawn without attacks. } 13... exd4 { Janowski decides that now's the time to open up the center. The reason will without become obvious in a minute. } 14. exd4 { Lasker has to play 14.exd4 or be behind by a pawn. Sadly, this capture opens without up the c1-h6 diagonal... } 14... Qg5+ { ...a fact which is not lost on Janowski. By checking with the Queen, he without forces White to use his next move to get out of check. This buys Janowski without time to get his King off of the open e-file. } 15. Kb1 { The White King ducks out of check... } 15... O-O-O { ...and the Black King ducks to the Queenside. Janowski has finally completed without his development. White's lead in development has practically disappeared. } 16. Be4 { The Black b7-Bishop was threatening the g2-pawn. Lasker challenges the without powerful fianchettoed Bishop and hopes for 16...Bxe4 17.Nxe4, dislodging the without Black Queen. } 16... Rhe8 { No two ways about it: Janowski must either lose the Bishop or keep it and without give up the long diagonal. He decides to trade one type of positional without advantage for another: lose the a8-h1 diagonal, but get control of the open without e-file. } 17. Bxb7+ { Lasker snaps up the Bishop... } 17... Kxb7 { ...giving up his Bishop in return. Black still has a minor-piece advantage: a without Bishop and Knight against two Knights. } 18. Ne4 { The White Knight, protected by the White Queen, occupies a good central without square and forces the Black Queen to move. } 18... Qa5 { Black's open fourth rank allows the Queen's rapid transit from one side of without the board to the other. } 19. Nf5 { White's other Knight jumps ahead and attacks the Black Bishop. But there's without nothing protecting the Knight from the Black Queen! How is this possible? } 19... Bf8 { Janowski makes the wise choice and retreats his Bishop. To see the without unfortunate consequences of 19...Qxf5, look at the variation. } ( 19... Qxf5 { Here's why Janowski didn't play 19...Qxf5. Notice that both Queens are on the without b1-h7 diagonal with just the White Knight between them. Now if White can without just find a way to move the Knight while gaining a tempo... } 20. Nc5+ { A-HA!! SUCCESS!! The White Knight moves off of the diagonal while giving without check and uncovers an attack on the Black Queen at the same time. } 20... dxc5 { Black has no choice but to respond to the check, leaving the Queen to her without fate. } 21. Qxf5 { White, of course, wastes no time in grabbing the Queen and gaining a winning without advantage. } ) 20. Rh5 { Lasker is gunning for the Black Queen. His plan is to win the exchange: without 21.Ng7 Qa6 (21...Qxh5 22.Nxh5) 22.Nxe8 Rxe8. } 20... Qa6 { Janowski pulls back the Queen, making Lasker's planned Ng7 impossible. } 21. Ne3 { Lasker finds another useful move for his Knight: by moving to e3, the Knight without attacks the g4-pawn. } 21... c5 { Janowski is unable to defend the g4-pawn. Instead, he proceeds with a plan to without open up lines for his Queen (which is sitting uselessly on a6). } 22. Nxg4 { Lasker goes up a pawn in the material count. } 22... cxd4 { Janowski captures a pawn and opens a space for his Knight on c5. But his real without plan is to clear b6. Watch... } 23. Rxd4 { Of course, Lasker recaptures and retains his one-pawn lead. } 23... Nc5 { The Black Knight swoops in and attacks its White counterpart on e4. } 24. Nxc5+ { With a one-pawn lead, Lasker would be foolish to not trade down. } 24... bxc5 { Janowski clears b6 (the real point of this operation) and attacks the White without Rook with his pawn. } 25. Re4 { Lasker invites a Rook swap which will be advantageous for White (25...Rxe4 without 26.Qxe4+, trading closer to the endgame and giving White the initiative). } 25... Qc6 { Janowski wants no part of an even Rook swap. Instead, he doubles up on the without e4-Rook, threatening to win it unless White takes some defensive action. } 26. Nf6 { Lasker can't move the Rook away (26.Rf4 Re1+ 27.Qc1 Rxc1 28.Kxc1 gives Black without a winning advantage), so he moves the Knight to the Rook's defense. The without Knight does double-duty by attacking the e8-Rook at the same time. } 26... Re6 { By advancing the Rook to a protected square on the same file, Janowski without maintains the pressure on the e4-Rook and attacks the f6-Knight. } 27. Rf5 { The second White Rook slides over to defend the menaced Knight. } 27... Kb8 { The King pulls back on the general principle that it's usually a bad idea to without have the King and Queen on the same diagonal. Keeping them on the same without diagonal sometimes invites ugly pins that force unfavorable trades. } 28. f3 { The f-pawn advances to overprotect the e4-Rook. Now the White Queen or Knight without are free to perform other tasks. } 28... Bg7 { That f-pawn advanced just in time! Janowski ruthlessly attacks the f6-Knight. } 29. Nd5 { The Knight saves itself and comes to rest on a good protected outpost on d5. } 29... Rd7 { Janowski prepares to shift this Rook to the Queenside by advancing it to a without rank with open access to that side of the board. } 30. b3 { Black's plan was to move the Rook to b7, setting up a double attack on the without b2-pawn (from the Rook and Bishop). Lasker advances the target pawn, forcing without Janowski to devise another plan. } 30... a5 { Janowski launches a minority attack to weaken the White Queenside. He wants without to trade his a-pawn for the obstructing White b-pawn. } 31. a4 { Lasker advances the a-pawn and stops any further encroachment by its Black without counterpart. } 31... Ra7 { The Rook stands guard over the a-pawn, preventing a White breakthrough without attempt (such as Qc2-d2-a5, for example). } 32. Qe2 { Lasker schemes to win another pawn by 33.Rxe6 fxe6 34.Qxe6. } 32... Qe8 { The Queen backs up the threatened Rook. } 33. Nf6 { The Knight can safely come to f6 and attack the Black Queen (33...Bxf6 without 34.Rxf6 and Black can't play 34...Rxf6 because 35.Rxe8+ loses the Queen. without Also, the e6-Rook would be attacked three times and defended just twice). } 33... Qc8 { The Queen moves out of danger and still covers the e6-Rook. } 34. Nh5 { Lasker keeps control of the initiative by making another threat: this time, without it's against the g7-Bishop. } 34... Bd4 { If the Bishop retreats to f8, its own pawns on c5 and d6 block it in. The without Bishop stays active by moving to the outpost square d4. } 35. Nf4 { Here's another threat from White: the Knight becomes the e6-Rook's third without attacker. } 35... Re5 { The menaced Rook advances and counterattacks the White Rook on f5. } 36. g4 { Lasker sets a trap for Janowski. He plans to give back the pawn he previously without captured in order to open up the e-file, allowing White's pieces to invade without Black's position. } 36... Rxf5 { Janowski sees nothing wrong with trading down now; after all, isn't he about without to get his pawn back? } 37. gxf5 { Lasker finishes the Rook swap... } 37... Qxf5 { ...and Janowski regains his pawn, levelling the material balance. White can't without immediately invade by way of the e-file because the White Rook is pinned to without the King. } 38. g4 { Lasker attempts to break the pin by attacking Black's Queen. } 38... Qh7 { The pin is maintained as long as the Black Queen stays on the b1-h7 diagonal. } 39. Kc1 { Lasker has no choice but to expend a tempo in moving the King off of the without diagonal... } 39... Be5 { ...giving Janowski time to close off the e-file with his Bishop. } 40. Nd5 { The White Knight jumps to the d5 outpost square, clearing f4 for the advance without of the White f-pawn. Once the pawn advances, the Black Bishop will have to without move and the e-file will again be open for the White pieces. } 40... f5 { Janowski decides to do a little line-clearing of his own. He starts by without striking at the e4-Rook. } 41. gxf5 { Retreating the Rook would allow 41...f4, short-circuiting White's plans. without Lasker determines that it's better to remove the attacking pawn. } 41... Rg7 { Janowski doesn't recapture! Instead, he sacrifices the pawn so that he can without take charge of the open g-file and use it as a highway leading to behind the without White lines. } 42. f4 { Lasker continues with his established plan of opening up the e-file. } 42... Rg1+ { Janowski ignores the threat to his Bishop and starts his invasion, picking up without a tempo by attacking the White King. } 43. Kd2 { The King moves to safety behind the Queen. } 43... Rb1 { Janowski continues his threats, giving White no time to capture the Black without Bishop. The new threat is 44.Rb2+, skewering the King to the White Queen. } 44. Qh5 { Lasker prevents the skewer by moving his Queen off of the second rank. From without h5, the Queen can move to e8 and attack the Black King. } 44... Qg7 { The Black Queen can now use the open g-file to join in the attack on the without White King. } 45. Qe8+ { Lasker grabs the initiative by checking the Black King. Unfortunately, he without missed the winning move! See the variation. } ( 45. fxe5 { Lasker should have just captured the Bishop, as this variation by Alekhine without shows. } 45... Qg2+ { This move is what Lasker was trying to delay or prevent. But the check is without harmless (as we'll soon see). } 46. Re2 { White can interpose his Rook and attack the Queen. } 46... Rb2+ { Black would then logically attack the White King from the other side. } 47. Kc3 { The White King must move, trapping the White Rook between a rock and a hard without place. } 47... Rxe2 { Black could also play 47...Qxe2 without affecting the final result. } 48. Qe8+ { NOW White should check the Black King (instead of on move 45). This leads to without a forced mate! } 48... Ka7 { The King must move out of check. 48...Kb7 is also possible (but doesn't without change the result). } 49. Qd7+ { The Queen keeps up the attack by checking again. } 49... Ka8 { The King is forced to retreat again. } 50. Qc6+ { Again, a check from White... } 50... Kb8 { ...followed by another evasion by Black. } 51. Qc7+ { The Queen, protected by the Knight, zeros in on the King. } 51... Ka8 { The King makes the only move possible. } 52. Nb6# { The Knight delivers the fatal blow. CHECKMATE! } ) 45... Ka7 { The Black King gets out of the way. Notice that the combination we saw in the without variation to White's last move doesn't work here due to the presence of the without Black Queen and Bishop. } 46. Qg6 { Lasker, shook up by the possibility of the Black Queen's invasion behind his without lines, offers to trade Queens. 46.fxe5 Qg2+ leads to the same winning without variation that we looked at before. } 46... Bxf4+ { Janowski, still a clever tactician after all these years, finds another way without to get his Queen behind the White lines. To do so, he must offer up his without Bishop... } 47. Rxf4 { ...an offer that Lasker gladly accepts (especially because the Bishop was without checking the White King!). } 47... Qb2+ { By removing his Bishop from the long a1-h8 diagonal, Janowski opened it up without for his Queen's use. The Queen slides down the diagonal and attacks the without White King. } 48. Ke3 { The King has no choice but to flee to the third rank. } 48... Qxb3+ { Janowski nabs the pawn with check. } 49. Kf2 { The White King continues to back away. } 49... Qc2+ { Janowski shows no mercy. The checks keep coming. } 50. Kg3 { This is really ugly for White! The King and Queen are on the same file, which without should give you a good idea of what's next! 50.Ke3 is worse for White, without though. See the variation. } ( 50. Ke3 { This is worse for White than what was actually played, believe it or not! The without key here is that the White King is heading straight into the Black pawns. } 50... Rb3+ { Black closes in for the kill. } 51. Nc3 { White stops the check by interposing his Knight. But this is just a temporary without measure... } 51... Rxc3# { The axe falls. The White King has no retreat square (since d4 is held by a without Black pawn). MATE! } ) 50... Rg1+ { OUCH! Some members of the crowd groan audibly. The King is skewered to the without Queen. } 51. Kh3 { And since the King is compelled to move out of check... } 51... Rh1+ { ...Black can take the Queen -- wait a minute! Janowski doesn't capture the without White Queen! Oh, I see...he's hoping for 52.Kg4 Qg2#. } 52. Kg3 { Lasker sees the mate threat. It's (marginally) better to lose the Queen than without lose the game. } 52... Rg1+ { Janowski checks again. } 53. Kh3 { The King retreats again. This time I'm sure that the Queen is history. } 53... Rxg6 { Yes. The net result here is that Janowski has traded a Rook and Bishop for a without pawn and Queen. In economics, this is called "good business practice"! } 54. fxg6 { By recapturing the Rook, White has an advanced passed pawn on g6. Don't without expect it to live long... } 54... Qxg6 { Sorry. I miscalculated. Black has given up a Bishop and Rook for a Queen and without TWO pawns. In economics, this is known as a "windfall profit". } 55. Kh4 { Lasker could resign, but a Queen vs. Rook and Knight endgame can be a tough without one for both sides, and Lasker is feeling up to the challenge. } 55... Kb7 { Janowski, realizing that Lasker has no intention of resigning, prepares for without the endgame by centralizing his King. } 56. Kh3 { Lasker has no real position-improving moves at hand, so he plays it safe by without shuffling his King back and forth, waiting for further developments. } 56... Qe8 { Janowski increases his options. He could capture the White a-pawn and try to without force his own a-pawn through to promotion, or his Queen could invade the without White position again (via the e-file this time). } 57. Kh4 { Lasker continues to follow his "wait-and-see" policy. } 57... Kc6 { Well, at least we know Janowski won't capture the a-pawn now. By coming to without c6, the King is ensconced in a pocket, safe from attacks by the White Rook. } 58. Rg4 { The Rook moves to the g-file, where it may be able to generate counterplay without (Rg4-g7-a7, perhaps). } 58... Qe2 { The Queen prevents the White Rook from moving to g7 (59.Rg7 Qxc4, eliminating without the Knight's defender). } 59. Kg3 { Lasker doesn't want to give up the g-file (his only source of counterplay) without but he's forced to make a move. The King moves, remaining adjacent to the without Rook so that the Rook will be protected. } 59... Qd3+ { Janowski buys clock time by quickly making the obvious check. This allows him without to think about how to obtain the win while Lasker searches for the best way without to get out of check. } 60. Kh4 { Lasker is forced to retreat his King. } 60... Qc2 { Janowski has TWO threats here! He threatens the White a-pawn. Do you see the without second threat? } 61. Ne7+ { Lasker makes an "annoyance" check while he thinks about the situation. } 61... Kd7 { The best response is to get out of check while making an attack at the same without time. } 62. Nd5 { Did you spot Janowski's second threat yet? If you didn't, don't feel bad. without Lasker didn't spot it either... } 62... Qh2# { Here's a rarity for you: a master-level game that ends in an actual mate without instead of a resignation! Janowski feels like he's on top of the world! } 0-1