Lasker, Emanuel VS Chigorin, Mikhail Ivanovich 1895.??.??

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Hastings, 6 August 1895 (Queen’s Pawn Game). Round 2 — one of the round’s upsets, in which Lasker loses. Tchigorin, meeting lines that Steinitz himself had adopted in his second Havanna match, exploits the fixed doubled Pawn and White’s drifting Rooks, and after a losing blunder on the 55th move White cannot save the mate except at the cost of a Piece. Notes by W. Steinitz.

1. 9.bxc3 Tchigorin’s practical genius is almost privileged to defy theoretical modern principles, but I must consistently dissent. Black’s game is inferior; White’s two Bishops and his compact centre will more than neutralise the drawback of the doubled King’s Bishop’s Pawn, and the two open Knights’ files for the Rooks ought also to outweigh the isolation of the two Rooks’ Pawns, which are practically inaccessible to Black’s attack. With little alterations, chiefly of a transposing character, White has copied the lines of attack first adopted by Steinitz in his second Havanna match against Tchigorin, 1891–92.
2. 10.Rg1 Not good, if only because 10. P to K 4 was so much better, for if, then, 10. Q to K R 4; 11. Q R to Kt sq, threatening R to Kt 5. White had also no reason to abandon so soon his option of Castling King’s side and bringing Rooks into communication. His menace against the adverse King’s wing amounted to nought.
3. 11.Qb3 If 11. R x P, Kt to Kt 3, followed soon by K to B sq, winning.
4. 11…Nd8 If 11. P to Q Kt 3; 12. Q to R 4, and Black dare not capture the Bishop’s Pawn on account of 13. B to Kt 2. Nor would 12. Q x R P; 13. R x P be favourable to Black’s game.
5. 12.Qb5+ Good enough probably; yet a more lively line of play like 12. R to Kt 3, Q x R P; 13. P to K 4, Q to R 4; 14. P to Q B 4 was, I believe, worth the chances of the attack against a Pawn.
6. 15.f4 If he intended in the near future to dissolve the doubled Pawn by P to B 5, then this was all right. But events show that he does not, and no good cause can be given why five of his centre Pawns should all have been placed on black squares and on diagonals where they exercise little command, when 15. P to K 4, with the view perhaps of proceeding with P to Q B 4 later, would have grouped a strong front of Pawns abreast. 15. P to K 4, which perhaps he feared, would have been no good on account of simply 16. P x P, Kt x P; 17. B to K 2.
7. 19…f5 Black’s tactical skill has been assisted by weak strategical disposition on the other side, and the force of White’s two Bishops and of his centre Pawns is at least neutralised. White has neglected to dissolve his doubled Pawn, which is now fixed for good until it will be convenient for the opponent to make it the mark of attack. The useless assertion of the Rooks on the King’s Knight’s file are retracted by Lasker himself from the 24th to the 28th move.
8. 27…Ra5 The manner in which this Rook is shut out later on must create doubts whether this Piece could not have been better employed.
9. 33…Nd6 Now, and not two moves later, was the time for breaking in by 33. P to K Kt 4, with the continuation 34. P x P, Kt x Kt P; 35. R to R 3, Kt to K 5, ch (not 35. Kt to B 6, ch; 36. K to K 2, Kt x R P; 37. P to B 3, &c.); 36. B x Kt, P x B, followed soon by R to K Kt 2, with a winning attack.
10. 35…g5 He has given the adversary time to prepare a cunning device which renders his onslaught ineffectual now.
11. 38.Bxf4 Much better than 38. P x P, P x P; 39. K B x P, R to K 2, ch; 40. K to B 2, Kt to Q 3, and accordingly as the Bishop retreats, Black protects his Pawn by Kt to Q 4 or Kt to R 4.
12. 47.Rd2 White’s Rooks have been moved about thoughtlessly for the most part without sufficient reason or inflicting harm; but this loses a Pawn, which might have been avoided by 47. B to R 2, P to Kt 4; 48. R x Kt P, R x P; 49. R to Kt 2, &c.
13. 48.Rb5 If 48. R x B P, Kt x P, ch, winning the exchange.
14. 52…Ra1 Hardly as reliable as 52. R to K R 3; 53. B to Kt 5, R x P, ch; 54. K to B sq, R to Q R 8; 55. B x P, R x B, ch, followed by R to R 8, ch, and after the exchanges Black’s Queen’s side will win, especially as White’s Queen’s Bishop’s Pawn will also fall soon.
15. 53…Nd3+ Compulsory now, as White threatens B to B 7.
16. 55.Rxd3 A blunder, which loses at once a hard fought game. After 55. B to B 7, R to R 7, ch; 56. K to Kt sq, R (Kt 3) to B 7 (if 56. P to Q 7; 57. R to K sq, followed by R to Q sq); 57. R x Q P, best (not 57. B x P, R (R 7) to B 7, ch; 58. K to K sq, R x B P, threatening R to K 7, ch, and wins); 57. R x P; 58. K to Kt sq, and it is not clear that Black can win.

Horace F. Cheshire, The Hastings Chess Tournament 1895 (1896) · Public domain · source