[Event "New York"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1924.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Lasker,Em"]
[Black "Janowski,D"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Lopez "Battle Royale""]
[ECO "C87"]
[PlyCount "163"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 { So far this is just basic opening theory that we examined in the early games of the tournament. White has attacked the e5-pawn with his Knight, while Black has defended it with his own Knight. } 3. Bb5 { White puts pressure on Black by attacking the e5-pawn's sole defender. The immediate idea is to play Bxc6 followed by Nxe5. } 3... a6 { This is called the Morphy Defense. Black "puts the question" to White's BIshop: capture or retreat? } 4. Ba4 { The only retreat that maintains the pressure on the Black position is this one. } ( 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. Nxe5 Qd4 { Now we see why Bxc6 doesn't really work. The Queen attacks both the White Knight and e4-pawn. White can't save both, so he'll retreat the Knight (the more valuable piece). After Qxe4, Black has regained the lost material. } ) 4... Nf6 { Black counters with a threat of his own against the e4-pawn. } 5. O-O { White is unafraid of Nxe4 and instead completes his Kingside development. } 5... d6 { This move hasn't a thing to do with guarding the e5-pawn (that's just a side benefit). The pawn advances to release the c8-Bishop. You'll notice that the c6-Knight is now pinned. This is a matter of no concren to Black. He can always play ...b5 to eliminate the pin with a threat on the Bishop to boot. } ( 5... Nxe4 6. Re1 Nd6 7. Nxe5 Nxe5 8. Rxe5+ { The material balance stays even. Now we see why ...Nf6 wasn't much of a threat. } ) 6. Re1 { White proceeds with his development by moving the Rook to a center file. } 6... Bg4 { Black pins the f3-Knight. This is more of a minor annoyance to White than anything else, but could become crucial later if the center opens up. } 7. c3 { This is a standard move in the Ruy Lopez. White creates an "escape hatch" for the Bishop on c2. If Black now plays ...b5 and ...Na5, the Bishop just flees to c2. Otherwise Black could play ...Nxb3, inflicting doubled pawns on White. } 7... Be7 { Now Black is ready to castle. } 8. h3 { White now puts the question to Black's Bishop. } 8... Bh5 { The light-squared Bishop is Black's "good Bishop", so he decides to keep it. } 9. d3 { White props up the e4-pawn. Note how the moves have all followed a logical sequence and have a purpose: development, attack, or defense. } ( 9. g4 { This is also possible, to harass the Bishop, but would generally be a better idea if White had managed d2-d4-d5 and Black had already castled. } 9... Bg6 10. Nh4 { White will trade his Knight for the Bishop and give Black doubled Kingside pawns. But the empty space in front of the White King gives Black some counterattacking chances. } ) 9... Qd7 { Now we start to leave familiar territory and get into uncharted areas. Janowski's plan in putting the Queen on an open diagonal is to support a Kingside pawnstorm (...g5-g4xh3, etc.). } 10. Bxc6 { Lasker hates to make the swap, but he wants to divert the Black Queen from the open diagonal. } 10... Qxc6 11. Bg5 Bg6 12. Nbd2 { The Knight is headed to e3 via f1. This is a fairly common maneuver in Ruy Lopez positions. } 12... h6 13. Bxf6 Bxf6 14. Nf1 O-O 15. Ne3 Rae8 16. Qb3 Bd8 { A word is in order here. This move is completely unexplainable unless you know something about Janowski. The Bishop is his favorite piece. He will go to great lengths to make sure that he keeps both of his Bishops on the board if he can. He was afraid of White's upcoming Nd5 followed by Nxf6. He didn't want to lose the Bishop this way, so he retreated it. } 17. Qd5 Qxd5 18. Nxd5 f5 19. Nd2 Bf7 20. Ne3 f4 21. Nec4 { Janowski's pawn advance has made the Kingside a bit cramped, so Lasker switches his attention to the Queenside. } 21... Bf6 22. a4 Rd8 23. Na5 Rb8 24. Nf3 { Playing on both wings. This is a good example of why Knights are better than Bishops when the center is closed. One of the Black Bishops is stuck behind it own pawns (a "bad Bishop") while White's Knights are free to leap all over the board. } 24... g5 25. Nh2 h5 { Cutting off White's intended Ng4. Despite the mobility of his Knights, Lasker is at a disadvantage here: Black controls more space. Black is slowly crushing the life from the White position. } 26. Nc4 Be6 27. f3 Rfd8 28. Re2 Kf7 29. a5 Rg8 { Janowski is probing, looking for ways to break the pawn chain to open files for his Rooks. } 30. Ra4 { Lasker is going to move his Rook out in front of the pawns. } 30... Rbd8 31. Rb4 Bc8 32. b3 Rh8 33. Nb2 d5 34. exd5 Rxd5 35. Rc4 c6 36. b4 Bf5 37. Rd2 Rhd8 38. Kf2 Rb5 { Why? Janowski could easily have won the d-pawn (see the variation). } ( 38... Bxd3 39. Nxd3 Rxd3 40. Rxd3 Rxd3 41. Ke2 Rd7 { Black, a pawn up with a huge space advantage, is winning. } ) 39. Ke2 { Now all threats against the d-pawn have been stopped. } 39... Rbd5 40. Kd1 Ke6 ( 40... Bxd3 41. Nxd3 Rxd3 42. Rxd3 Rxd3+ 43. Ke2 Rd7 { With the same position as in the previous variation. } ) 41. Kc2 Be7 42. Nf1 { When you have nothing else to do, try to improve the position of your weakest piece. That is what Lasker is doing with this Knight move. } 42... c5 43. bxc5 Bxc5 44. Ra4 R8d7 45. Rd1 { Preparing d2 for occupation by the Knight. } 45... Ba7 { Note that the Bishop still controls the a7-g1 diagonal, cutting across the board's center. } 46. Ra3 g4 47. hxg4 hxg4 48. c4 { Lasker counterattacks, rather than recapturing on g4. } 48... R5d6 49. Nd2 Be3 50. Rh1 gxf3 51. gxf3 Rg7 52. Rh2 Bg1 53. Re2 Rg3 54. Nd1 Rd7 ( 54... Bc5 { This was a better move as it keeps up the pressure and maintains the initiative by attacking White's a3-Rook. } ) 55. Rb3 Rdg7 { Janowski's idea is to switch to an "end run" and attack from the Kingside. But this has taken the pressure off of the center. } 56. Nc3 Be3 57. Nd5 { Suddenly the tables have turned and it's Janowski who will be put on the defensive. } 57... Rg2 58. Rxe3 { A startling move! Lasker sacrifices the exchange to kill the annoying Bishop which has dominated the center for too long. But why not Nxe3? Because he's also spotted a combination that will win back the material... } 58... fxe3 59. Rb6+ Kd7 60. Nxe3 Kc7 { Janowski blunders horribly. He must be expecting Nxg2, after which ...Rxg2 pins the d2-Knight. But he's down material either way. No one will ever be able to figure out what he was thinking here, I'm sure. } 61. Nxf5 ( 61. Nxg2 Rxg2 62. Rf6 Rg5 63. Ne4 Rh5 64. Kc3 Bh7 65. Rf7+ Kc6 66. Nf6 Rf5 67. Nd7 Rxf7 68. Nxe5+ { White will win with his extra pawns. } ) 61... Rh7 62. Nd6 Rhh2 63. Ne4 { Knights are at their weakest when they're forced to defend each other, but in this case we'll see how the Knights work together to totally baffle Black and his attempts to turn the tables. } 63... Rh1 64. Kc3 Rc1+ 65. Kb4 Rd1 66. Nb3 { Watch carefully the co-operation of the Knights throughout the game's finale. } 66... Rxd3 67. Rxb7+ Kc8 ( 67... Kxb7 68. Nbc5+ ) 68. Rf7 Rb2 69. Nc5 Rd6 70. Rf5 Re2 71. Ne4 Rd3 72. Rxe5 Rb2 ( 72... Rxf3 73. Nd4 ) 73. Nc5 Rxf3 74. Re8+ Kc7 75. Re6 Rc2 76. Nxa6+ Kb7 77. Nac5+ Ka7 78. Re7+ Ka8 79. Na4 Rh2 80. Nbc5 Kb8 81. Rb7+ Kc8 82. a6 { As there is no way to stop the pawn's promotion, Janowski gives it up. } 1-0