[Event "New York"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1924.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Capablanca,J"]
[Black "Lasker,Ed"]
[Result "1/2"]
[Annotator "Lopez "Battle Royale""]
[ECO "D52"]
[PlyCount "53"]

1. d4 { The main idea for White in most chess openings is to establish a central pawn without pair at d4 and e4. Capa is halfway there! This pawn advance also opens without avenues of development for the dark-square Bishop and Queen. } 1... d5 { Lasker disputes White's plan to advance the e-pawn to e4. Both player's pawns without control center squares, always a good idea in the opening. } 2. c4 { Capablanca offers a pawn sacrifice, in the hope of luring the Black pawn off without of d5. Then, after ...dxc4, White can safely advance the e-pawn and uncover without an attack on the Black c4-pawn from the f1-Bishop! } 2... e6 { Lasker refuses the gambit (hence the name of this opening -- the Queen's without Gambit Declined), preferring to prop up the d5-pawn instead. Now the without f8-Bishop can get out, but the c8-Bishop is blocked in. } 3. Nf3 { The Kingside Knight develops toward the center, where it supports the d4-pawn without and eyes a possible outpost on e5. } 3... Nf6 { Lasker's Knight does much the same thing as White's Knight does: it eyes a without future outpost on e4 and overprotects the d5-pawn (in conjunction with the without d6-pawn). } 4. Bg5 { Capa pins the f6-Knight to the Queen, neutralizing it. Now the Knight is without powerless to move amd can't help control the center or join in the fight. } 4... Nbd7 { In the (unlikely) event that White plays an immediate Bxf6, Lasker's other without Knight is prepared to jump in with ...Nxf6, keeping a well-posted Knight on without f6 where it can keep a watchful eye on the center. } 5. Nc3 { Capa continues his development, threatening to win d5-pawn by 6.cxd5 exd5 without 7.Nxd5 (since the pin on the f6-Knight prevents 7...Nxd5!). } 5... c6 { Lasker is forced to find a way to defend his d-pawn a second time. He without advances the c-pawn to c6, where it guards the d-pawn. The Black position without looks awfully cramped! } 6. e3 { Since e2-e4 is out of the question, Capa advances his e-pawn just one square. without Now the light-square Bishop is free for action along the a6-f1 diagonal. } 6... Qa5 { Lasker develops his Queen and puts pressure on the White position by pinning without the c3-Knight to the King. The Queen also helps overprotect the d5-pawn. } 7. Bxf6 { Since the central pawn position is fully developed, Capa knows that his pawns without will be operating mainly on the dark squares. This makes the dark-square without Bishop the "bad Bishop" (see Glossary), so Capa decides to swap it off. } 7... Nxf6 { Lasker recaptures with the Knight instead of the g7-pawn. Capturing with the without pawn would severely weaken the Black Kingside pawns and make castling on without that side a very bad idea. } 8. Bd3 { Capa clears the way for castling Kingside and brings his Bishop to a square without where it operates on two good diagonals (a6-f1 and b1-h7). The Bishop is without more actively placed here than it would be on e2. } 8... Bb4 { Lasker turns up the heat on the White c3-Knight, threatening to win a pawn by without 9...Bxc3+ 10.bxc3 Qxc3+. He's also cleared the way for his King to castle on without the Kingside. } 9. Qb3 { Rather than sliding his Queen laterally to c1 to guard the threatened Knight, without Capa develops it off of the back rank to b3 where it guards the Knight and without gets into the thick of the action. } 9... dxc4 { Lasker makes Capa "waste a tempo". Capa is now forced to capture the c4-pawn without with one of the threatened pieces. Both of these pieces have already moved  without once in the opening; having to move one again "burns up" a move for White. } 10. Bxc4 { By capturing with the Bishop, Capa sets up a battery on the a2-g8 diagonal. without But the battery "bites on granite", running smack into a protected pawn on without e6. } 10... O-O { Lasker decides to castle, shuttling his King to safety and developing a Rook without at the same time. } 11. O-O { Capa follows suit. Now the pressure on his c3-Knight is relieved, as the without Knight is no longer pinned. } 11... Bxc3 { Lasker trades a Bishop for the White Knight which defends d5. Now, if he can without find a way to break up the White Queen & Rook battery, he may be able to without post a piece on d5. } 12. bxc3 { Capa recaptures with the pawn, deciding that it's best to hang onto his Queen without for now (12.Qxc3 Qxc3 13.bxc3). The White Queenside is much stronger with without the Queen on the board. } 12... b6 { Lasker prepares to fianchetto his Bishop by advancing his b-pawn. Why not without play 12...b5? See the variation. } ( 12... b5 { Why not 12...b5? The idea of fianchettoing a Bishop is to control the long without diagonal (in this case a8-h1). That means that the c6-pawn must advance and without clear the diagonal for the Bishop. } 13. Bd3 { The threatened Bishop must retreat. } 13... Bb7 { Now Black fianchettos the Bishop, but the c6-pawn can't safely advance due to without White's reply dxc5. Had Black played b7-b6 instead, the b6-pawn's defense of without c5 would make the advance c6-c5 possible. } ) 13. Ne5 { Capa attacks the weak c6-pawn. "But this doesn't accomplish much," Lasker without thinks, "since I intend to fianchetto the Bishop to b7 anyway." Could Capa without have a hidden motive? } 13... Bb7 { Lasker is forced to make the move he wanted to make anyway! } 14. Be2 { Capa voluntarily breaks up his battery! But wait a minute...if the e5-Knight without jumps to c4, then it attacks the Black Queen... } 14... c5 { Lasker advances the c-pawn and clears the long diagonal for his Bishop. The without Bishop is now lord and master of the a8-h1 diagonal. } 15. Nc4 { As expected, the Knight jumps to c4 to menace the Black Queen. Now Lasker without sees the purpose of 13.Ne5. } 15... Qa6 { The Black Queen retreats to the only safe square. Now, if the White Knight without moves, it uncovers an attack on the Queen from the e2-Bishop. But that without attack wouldn't work, because the Bishop is undefended (the Queen could take without it)... } 16. Qb2 { So Capa's Queen drops back and defends the Bishop! Now Lasker is just one without move away from disaster! } 16... Bd5 { This Bishop move serves a dual purpose: it attacks the c4-Knight (which is without now attacked twice and defended just once) and gives the Black Queen an without escape route via the a6-c8 diagonal. } 17. Ne5 { Capa moves the threatened Knight back to its outpost on e5 and uncorks the without discovered attack on the Black Queen. } 17... Qc8 { Obviously, Lasker retreats his Queen. Maybe 17...Qb7, setting up a battery on without the long diagonal and menacing the g2-pawn, would have been better. In any without case, White's combination has relieved the pressure on his Queenside. } 18. a4 { Capa advances his a-pawn with a couple of ideas in mind: the a1-Rook is no without longer tied to the pawn's defense, and there is now the possibility of a without White Queenside minority attack. } 18... Nd7 { Lasker pulls back his Knight to threaten the White e5-Knight. Lasker hopes to without provoke Capa into giving up his centrally-posted Knight by playing 19.Nxd7 without Qxd7. } 19. c4 { Rather than play the anticipated Knight trade, Capa looks ahead and sees a without way to unbalance the game and retain the initiative. He begins by grabbing without some Queenside space and attacking the Black Bishop. } 19... Be4 { Lasker saves his Bishop by bringing it to the strong central square e4. From without here it commands two diagonals (b1-h7 and a8-h1) and can retreat to either without the Kingside or Queenside if it's threatened without again. } 20. Nxd7 { Capa continues by grabbing the Knight and menacing the f8-Rook. } 20... Qxd7 { Lasker recaptures to keep the material even. } 21. dxc5 { Capablanca hangs on to the initiative by grabbing another pawn, forcing without Black's response. } 21... bxc5 { Lasker again has to recapture to keep the material balance even. Capa is without controlling the initiative by forcing these recaptures. } 22. Qe5 { Capa gets to the point of what he started on move 19. The Queen gets to the without center of the board (a GREAT post for the Queen in the late middlegame and without the endgame) and attacks the Black Bishop. } 22... Qc6 { Lasker answers a threat with a threat: he threatens to save his Bishop, grab without a pawn, and attack a White Rook by playing ...Bxg2. } 23. f3 { Capa nonchalantly plays 23.f3, stopping Black's threat cold and attacking the without Black Bishop a second time. } 23... Bg6 { Lasker pulls back the Bishop where it's guarded by two pawns and still without controls the b1-h7 diagonal. } 24. Rfd1 { Capablanca continues to build up his position. Now his Rook commands the open without d-file. } 24... Rfd8 { Lasker disputes Capa's ownership of the d-file. } 25. Rxd8+ { Capa decides to trade off a pair of Rooks, checking the Black King in the without process. } 25... Rxd8 { Lasker has no choice but to capture the checking Rook. The position becomes without simpler as pieces leave the board. } 26. Rd1 { Capa, who rarely likes to take chances, continues to simplify the position, without offering another Rook trade. The chances of your opponent being able to without spring a surprise move on you decrease as more pieces come off the board. } 26... Rxd1+ { Lasker has only two choices: trade off the Rooks or give up control of the without d-file. } 27. Bxd1 { Capa grabs the Black Rook and then offers Lasker a draw. Lasker thinks for a without few moments and accepts the offer. The game is drawn. } 1/2