[Event "New York"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1924.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Tartakower,S"]
[Black "Lasker,Em"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Lopez "Battle Royale""]
[ECO "A20"]
[PlyCount "96"]

1. c4 { The English Opening. } 1... e5 { Rather than play the symmetrical English (1...c5), Dr. Lasker carves out a bit of the center for himself, } 2. a3 { This looks weird but has a valid point. Tartakower stops his opponent from playing ...Bb4 which would pin the White d-pawn to the King and prevent it from advancing. } 2... Nf6 3. e3 { Challenging Black's control of d4. } 3... Be7 { Lasker is just clearing the way to castle. } 4. Qc2 O-O 5. Nc3 d6 6. Nf3 Re8 { Both players are making center-controlling moves. Note that this one is indirect: the Rook won't influence the center directly until the e7-Bishop moves. } 7. Be2 { Played not to influence the center but to clear the Kingside for castling. } 7... Bf8 { Now we see the Rook take part in the struggle for the central squares. } 8. O-O Nc6 9. d4 Bg4 { Another move that indirectly controls the center. The Bishop puts pressure on the f3-Knight, which covers d4 and e5. } 10. d5 { Driving off a piece that, too, covers d4 and e5. } 10... Ne7 { The Knight still keeps its hand in the center by pressuring d5. } 11. h3 { Tartakower puts the question to the Bishop: "Capture or retreat!" } 11... Bd7 12. Nh2 { The idea is for the f-pawn to advance and break the center. } 12... Qc8 13. e4 { The center is now blocked. Unless the center is broken, the Knights will become more valuable than the Bishops. } 13... Ng6 { Lasker tries to discourage the planned move f2-f4. } 14. f4 exf4 ( 14... Nxf4 15. Bxf4 exf4 16. Rxf4 { With the same position as after White's 16th move in the actual game. } ) 15. Bxf4 Nxf4 16. Rxf4 Be7 17. Raf1 { Tartakower has siezed the open file with both of his Rooks. He also has a pretty big space advantage -- all of the Black units are confined to Black's first three ranks. } 17... Rf8 18. Qd3 Be8 19. Qg3 { Tartakower now has all three heavy pieces bearing down on the Black Kingside. } 19... Qd8 20. Nd1 Nd7 21. Ne3 { Tartakower brings another piece toward the Kingside. But Lasker doesn't have much to worry about yet; his King is adequately defended. } 21... Bg5 22. Rg4 f6 23. Qf2 { Played to give the g4-Rook a flight square. } 23... h5 24. Rg3 h4 25. Rg4 Bh5 26. Nf5 Bxg4 27. Nxg4 { Tartakower has given up the exchange, but what has he really gained here? The Black King is still comfortably defended. } 27... Qe8 28. Bf3 Ne5 29. Nxe5 Qxe5 { Lasker has turned the tables and is now pushing forward on the Kingside. } 30. Nxh4 Bxh4 31. Qxh4 f5 ( 31... Qd4+ 32. Qf2 Qxc4 { Black could have played this if all he wanted was material gain. But this is risky -- the Black Queen is cut off from the Kingside. } ) 32. exf5 Rxf5 33. Re1 Qxb2 { With open lines and less Kingside congestion, Lasker can now afford to grab a pawn on the other side of the board. } 34. Bg4 Qd4+ 35. Kh2 Raf8 36. Qe7 ( 36. Bxf5 { Of course, this can't be played... } 36... Qxh4 ) 36... Qf4+ 37. Kh1 Re5 38. Rxe5 dxe5 ( 38... Qxe5 39. Be6+ Kh7 40. Qxf8 { And White is winning. } ) 39. Qxc7 e4 { Passed pawns must be pushed! Nimzovitch hasn't said this yet (at the time this tournament is being played) but he will in a few years. } 40. Qe7 Qf6 { Lasker wants to exchange Queens to get his pawns connected. Then the pawn duo will march striaght up the board, supported by the Rook. } 41. Qxb7 { This pawn grab will come back to haunt Tartakower, as we'll soon see. } ( 41. Qxf6 gxf6 ) 41... Qa1+ 42. Kh2 Qe5+ 43. Kg1 Rb8 { The idea here is not really to attack the White Queen. Instead, Lasker wants to clear the b-file for his Rook to use it as an avenue to attack the White King. } 44. Qd7 Rb1+ 45. Kf2 e3+ 46. Ke2 Rb2+ 47. Ke1 Qc3+ 48. Kf1 Qc1+ ( 48... Qc1+ 49. Bd1 Qxd1# ) 0-1