[Event "New York"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1924.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Yates,F"]
[Black "Lasker,Ed"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Lopez "Battle Royale""]
[ECO "C91"]
[PlyCount "107"]

1. e4 { A strong opening move, controlling the center and allowing easy piece without development. } 1... e5 { Likewise a stong move (as we have already seen in previous games). } 2. Nf3 { Yates (White) develops the Knight and attacks Black's e-pawn. } 2... Nc6 { Lasker (Black) defends his pawn, developing a piece at the same time. } 3. Bb5 { Yates chooses the Ruy Lopez opening. He attacks the Black Knight, the without e-pawn's sole defender. } 3... a6 { Lasker "puts the question" to the Bishop. Will the White Bishop retreat or without capture the Black Knight? } 4. Ba4 { The Bishop pulls back but stays on the a4-e8 diagonal, putting pressure on without the center by attacking the Knight. } 4... Nf6 { Lasker develops his other Knight and attacks the White e-pawn. } 5. O-O { Master practice has shown that if Black takes the pawn, he can't keep it. He without must give up one of his own pawns in return. Yates doesn't defend it; he without completes his Kingside development by castling instead. } 5... Be7 { Lasker continues developing his Kingside, preparing to castle. } 6. Re1 { Yates moves his Rook to the e-file; if the game opens up later, this Rook without will be well-placed here. } 6... b5 { Lasker kicks the White Bishop again, making it move a third time. } 7. Bb3 { Even though this Bishop has moved three times, White really doesn't fall without behind in development. a7-a6 and b7-b5 did nothing to aid the development of without Black's minor pieces. } 7... d6 { Advancing the d-pawn allows Lasker to develop his light-square Bishop, but without his dark-square Bishop is buried on e7. } 8. c3 { By advancing this pawn, Yates gives his light-square Bishop an escape square without in case Black plays ...Na5. } 8... O-O { Lasker completes his Kingside development by castling. } 9. d4 { Yates achieves White's ideal central pawn setup (pawns on d4 and e4). But how without long will it last? } 9... Bg4 { Lasker begins to apply pressure to White's position by pinning the f3-Knight without to the Queen. } 10. Be3 { Yates begins the development of his Queenside pieces by deploying the Bishop. } 10... Na5 { This is a common move for Black in the Ruy Lopez. The Knight advances and without assaults the White b3-Bishop. } 11. Bc2 { If the center opens up later, the c2-Bishop will be bearing down on Black's without Kingside. } 11... Nc4 { The Black Knight continues its advance and this time attacks White's other without Bishop (which is defended by the e1-Rook). } 12. Bc1 { Yates retreats the Bishop. If he allows 12...Nxe3, he gives Black the without advantage of having two Bishops, while White only has one. Yates prefers to without hang on to his Bishop pair. } 12... exd4 { Lasker opens up the game. Since his pieces are better-developed, he opens up without lines to the enemy position so that they can attack White. } 13. cxd4 { Yates trades back, equalizing the material and maintaining a cenrtal pawn without pair. } 13... c5 { Lasker challenges the White center pawns. } 14. b3 { Yates counterattacks the Black Knight. } 14... Nb6 { Of course, Lasker must "move it or lose it". } 15. Bb2 { Yates overprotects the d-pawn. If he advances it later, his two Bishops will without bear down on the Black Kingside. } 15... Rc8 { Lasker anticipates exchanging his c-pawn for White's d-pawn, opening the without c-file. The c8-Rook will command the file once it's been opened. } 16. Nbd2 { Now that the b2-Bishop protects the d-pawn, Yates can afford to block his without Queen along the d-file. Now the d2-Knight defends the e4-pawn. } 16... Nfd7 { Lasker's Knight jumps back to d7 to overprotect the c5-pawn. Now if White without plays dxc5, Lasker has the option of recapturing with either the Knight or without the d-pawn. } 17. h3 { Yates continues his efforts to uncramp his position. The h-pawn "puts the without question" to the Black Bishop. } 17... Bh5 { Lasker retreats his Bishop but maintains the pin on the f3-Knight. } 18. e5 { Now that Yates has caught up to Black in development, it's OK for him to try without to open up the game. He decides to dissipate his pawn center, and advances without the e-pawn. } 18... cxd4 { Lasker decides to capture the d-pawn before the e-pawn. } 19. exd6 { By capturing on d6 (instead of d4), Yates controls the action. Black is now without forced to either recapture the pawn with his e7-Bishop or else move the without Bishop away. } 19... Bxd6 { Lasker makes the recapture, rather than displacing the Bishop. } 20. Bxd4 { Yates captures the d4-pawn and evens up the material balance. } 20... Bb4 { Like a boa constrictor, Lasker squeezes White's position by pinning the without Knight on d2 to the e1-Rook. } 21. Re2 { Yates removes the pin on the d2-Knight by advancing the Rook. Don't look now, without but the f3-Knight is in a real jam! It's pinned to the e2-Rook and without (indirectly) to the Queen! } 21... Nd5 { Lasker advances one of his Knights closer to the White position. } 22. Bf5 { "Turnabout is fair play," thinks Yates, as he pins the d7-Knight to the Rook without on c8. } 22... Nc3 { Lasker finds a way to exchange one of his Knights for a White Bishop, giving without him the advantage of the Bishop pair. He starts by forking the White Queen without and e2-Rook! } 23. Bxc3 { Yates has no other option. He must capture the Knight or else lose material. } 23... Bxc3 { Lasker recaptures and now has the advantage of owning the Bishop pair. } 24. Rc1 { Yates attacks the Bishop. Of course, he can't capture it (25.Rxc3 Rxc3 loses without the exchange); he wants the Bishop to move away so that after 25.Rxc8 Qxc8 without the f5-Bishop will pin the Black Knight to the Queen. } 24... Rc7 { By advancing the Rook, Lasker removes all of the f5-Bishop's pin without possibilities against the d7-Knight. } 25. Re3 { Yates' Rooks double up on the c3-Bishop. } 25... Bxd2 { Lasker ponders the position for a long while, and decides that it's best to without give up one of his Bishops in order to start a series of exchanges that will without simplify the position. } 26. Rxc7 { Rather than recapture the Bishop immediately, Yates decides to clear a pair without of Rooks off of the board. } 26... Qxc7 { Lasker completes the Rook swap... } 27. Qxd2 { ...and Yates grabs the Bishop. Now the f3-Knight is unpinned and he has a without double attack against the Black Knight on d7. } 27... Nf6 { The Knight wasn't especially well-posted on d7, so instead of tying up pieces without by defending it there, Lasker advances it toward the center and gets it out without of harm's way. } 28. Rc3 { Yates maintains the initiative by continuing to make threats. The Rook will without command the c-file after Black's Queen vacates it. } 28... Qa5 { WHOA! Lasker makes the surprise move of pinning the White Rook to the White without Queen! } 29. g4 { Undaunted, Yates keeps up the pressure by starting an operation designed to without compromise the Black Kingside pawn structure. He starts by attacking Black's without Bishop... } 29... Bg6 { ...which flees to the only available square. } 30. Bxg6 { Yates swaps off the Bishops... } 30... hxg6 { ...leaving Lasker with an inferior Kingside pawn position. If Yates can without manage to trade off the pieces, he should be able to win by virtue of his without better pawn setup. } 31. Rc6 { The pin on the Rook was a false pin (the White Knight defends the Queen). without Yates would love to see 31...Qxd2 32.Nxd2 (getting him closer to his goal of without exchanging off all the pieces). } 31... Qxd2 { "YES!" thinks Yates, as he picks up his Knight... } 32. Nxd2 { ...and completes the exchange of Queens. Now his Rook threatens the without a6-pawn... } 32... Ra8 { ...so Lasker has to defend it. The Black position looks pretty solid; how without will White proceed? } 33. a4 { Yates wants to get his Knight over to the Queenside, but the b5-pawn's without control of c4 prevents it. If Yates can eliminate or divert the pawn, his without Knight will be able to utilize c4. } 33... bxa4 { By capturing the a-pawn, Lasker gives up control of c4 and allows the White without Knight to occupy the square. } 34. bxa4 { Yates recaptures the pawn and restores the material balance. } 34... Kf8 { Lasker begins the centralization of his King for the endgame. } 35. Nc4 { Yates achieves his goal of getting the Knight to c4. Now he can begin work on without the next stage of his plan: the capture of the Black a-pawn. } 35... Ke7 { Lasker continues to centralize his King. Unfortunately, he plays right into without White's hands by doing so. } 36. Nb6 { The White Knight dives in and attacks the Black Rook. } 36... Rd8 { The Black Rook is forced to give up the defense of the a-pawn (if 36...Ra7, without 38.Nc8! wins the exchange). } 37. Rc7+ { Yates would have advanced his Rook to the seventh rank anyway, but doing it without with check is even better! Now he keeps the initiative (since the King is without forced to avoid check). } 37... Ke6 { Interposing the Rook doesn't work (37...Rd7 38.Nxd7 Nxd7 39.Ra6 leaves White without ahead the exchange plus a pawn); neither does blocking with the Knight without (37...Nd7 38.Nd5+), so Lasker just moves the King. } 38. Ra7 { Yates attacks the helpless a-pawn. } 38... Ke5 { Since he's powerless to defend the pawn, Lasker centralizes his King. } 39. Rxf7 { Surprise! By moving his King, Lasker left the f7-pawn undefended. Yates, without always the opportunist, snags the pawn, threatens the g7-pawn, and can without always go back for the a-pawn later. } 39... Nd5 { For some reason known only to him, Lasker offers to exchange Knights (almost without always a bad idea when you're behind in material). } 40. Nxd5 { Yates eagerly complies with Lasker's wishes. } 40... Rxd5 { Lasker completes the trade. } 41. Rxg7 { Yates wastes no time in grabbing the pawn. Now his Kingside pawn majority without should be decisive. } 41... Kf6 { Lasker fights on against the odds. The Black King attacks the Rook and without defends the g6-pawn. } 42. Rb7 { Instead of attacking the pawn immediately (42.Ra7 Rd6), Yates looks ahead to without a better way of attacking it (43.Rb6+, double-attacking the King and without a-pawn). } 42... Kg5 { Lasker prevents the double-attack and keeps the White Kingside pawns from without advancing. } 43. Rb4 { 43.Rb6 fails (43...Ra5), so the Rook covers f4, allowing for the f-pawn's without advance and preventing the Black King from moving to f4. } 43... Kh4 { The Black King slips in through the back door and attacks the h3-pawn. } 44. Kg2 { By advancing to g2 rather than h2, the White King does double-duty by without protecting two pawns instead of just one. } 44... a5 { Lasker battles on in a lost cause, attacking the White Rook with his a-pawn. } 45. Rb6 { In saving the Rook, Yates launches an attack of his own by striking out at without the g6-pawn. } 45... Rd4 { The Black Rook will eliminate the a4-pawn, which blocks the forward progress without of Black's own a-pawn. } 46. Rxg6 { Yates kills the Black g-pawn... } 46... Rxa4 { ...and Lasker reciprocates. Now the Black a-pawn's progress is blocked by its without own Rook! } 47. Rh6+ { Yates sees a way to tie up Black's Rook. He begins by delivering a check. } 47... Kg5 { g5 is the only possible flight square. An added benefit of this move is that without the Black King now attacks the White Rook. } 48. Rh5+ { The White Rook checks again, this time from the protected square h5. } 48... Kf4 { The Black King moves out of check. Now the White Rook attacks the Black pawn, without forcing the Black Rook to stay on the a-file to defend it. } 49. Rf5+ { Yates wants to advance his h-pawn, but his Rook blocks the file. He has to without move it, so why not check Black at the same time? He keeps the initiative without this way. } 49... Ke4 { Lasker again retreats to the only possible square. } 50. h4 { Yates begins the h-pawn's advance. } 50... Kd3 { By moving his King, Lasker uncovers an attack on the White g-pawn by the without Black Rook. } 51. Kg3 { The White King comes to the pawn's defense. } 51... Ra1 { Lasker will attack the White position from the rear. The Black Rook will next without move to g1 or h1. } 52. h5 { The h-pawn steps ahead to a square where it's defended by both the g-pawn and without the Rook. } 52... a4 { Before he can move his Rook off of the a-file, Lasker must advance his pawn without to prevent its capture by White's Rook. } 53. h6 { The h-pawn presses ahead... } 53... Rh1 { ...and the Black Rook attacks it! How can Yates protect it? } 54. Rh5 { The White Rook (protected by the g-pawn) blocks the Black Rook's attack on without the h-pawn. Lasker sees that he's fighting a lost cause and resigns. } ( 54. Rh5 { While it's true that Black could have caught the new Queen on h8, he would without have to give up his Rook to do it. } 54... Rc1 { Black has to reposition the Rook to an open file. } 55. h7 { The White pawn continues to advance. } 55... Rc8 { Now the Black Rook controls h8... } 56. h8=Q { ...but that doesn't stop the pawn from promoting! } 56... Rxh8 { Black has no choice but to capture. } 57. Rxh8 { After the recapture, White is a Rook and pawn ahead. He may have to give up without his Rook to kill the Black a-pawn, but one of the other White pawns is sure without to promote to a Queen. } ) 1-0