World Championship 1907: Lasker – Marshall

After a decade away from the title — much of it spent earning a doctorate in mathematics — Emanuel Lasker defended his crown against the dashing American Frank Marshall, and held him winless across the whole match. It was the first World Championship in ten years, and a total mismatch.

◇The mathematician returns

Lasker had scarcely defended his title since 1897, having stepped back to pursue a PhD in mathematics. Marshall — who had famously finished ahead of Lasker at Cambridge Springs 1904 — earned his shot, and the two agreed to reduce the winning target from ten wins to eight, a format that stuck for years after.

To raise Lasker's steep $5,000 fee, Marshall gathered sponsors across the country, which is why the games travelled through six American cities. Mid-match, the two champions were received by President Theodore Roosevelt.

◇No answer for Lasker

The match was a rout. Lasker won the first three games, ground out the middle of the contest with a single win and seven draws, then swept the final four to finish 11½–3½ without conceding a single game. Marshall's brilliant, attacking style found no purchase against Lasker's tenacity.

Marshall later summed it up ruefully: "Tedious play aimed at wearing down my opponent is averse to my nature." The encounter was seen mostly as a prelude to Lasker's far weightier defence against Tarrasch the following year.

“Tedious play aimed at wearing down my opponent is averse to my nature.”