Famous Chess Game: Lasker vs. Capablanca 1914

[dinosaur4]

at 24:37 why didnt that idiot casablanca go knight c7

[berberic]

helo chesswebsite. is it a master who is commenting the game? is it possible that he is not that precise in his analyse? cause at 18.29, the commentator says that black gives up a pawn for gaining a good position for his knight. but what i see, is that black will gain the pawn 4 moves later back. after checking the king on e5, and taking the pawn on h4, black will be able to just gain the g4 pawn. or am i missing something?

[luffaren91]

Good, but some things are just plain wrong that you say. You say that it's very common to exchange the bishop on c6 when it is not, it's very rare.

[snizshizzle]

14:20 why not black move knight to b6 and allowing bishop to move to c8 next move to put pressure on knight?

[securuslol]

ooh, I don't like to see Capablanca lose. Oh well, he was probably not even near his best when he played this game. The games I've been by Capablanca, damn, the guy was a beast. On the other side Lasker is another player I admire a lot, so it's all good.

[mcbhench1]

too long video

[shirshakbt]

at 20:18 black could've still brought knight to c4-->e5.

[jwheyer22]

i love your videos man thanks

[iluvdancin]

great explanation! thank you so much for these vids, I've watched them all now! please upload more :)

[vokuheila]

Ba8 wasnt pointless, it prepared Ra7 =P

[theisraelies]

the best chess blog on you tube, good job man

[Madderhatter85]

Kevin, you seem like you'd be awesome to play in chess lol. Would enjoy a game sometime. Even though I'd get annihilated =D

[ChessYoshi]

in my opinion, Rd7 at 11:33 was the bigger mistake than Rd8 the previous move.

[ChessYoshi]

at 2:38, after Bd7, the doubled c pawns will protect from pawn storms from white.

[iamankushraina]

Nice

[eduardooo123]

Another great video.Thanks

[magnus3318]

at 20.35, could he not move Rh7? Trade off rooks, but it would maybe be stupid?

[Qahoa]

Thank you Mr.Kevin for your work.

[RookieN08]

poor Capablanca......he made a lot of blunders eventhough he is the most visual chess player just like Bobby Fischer

[themafia306]

At 14:20, why couldn't Capablanca play Rd7 followed by an eventual Nb6 and then Nc4, posting the knight on a decent square where it can eye Lasker's rooks and give an additional supporter to d6?

[themafia306]

At 14:20, why didn't (or couldn't) Capablanca play ...Nb6 followed by an eventual ...Nc4, posting the knight to eye Lasker's rooks and give d6 and extra defender?

[NiekoXavier]

Painful Game to watch, i was rooting for Capablanca..

[tuzmor]

This game teaches us a lesson: "Keep your ego in check!"

[itsablackbananaa]

Kevin you rock, your commentary is excellent and I, as a new chess player, find it exceptionally educational! Top notch!

[theREALpromised1]

awesome vid :)

[hume1234561]

this game makes capa look mortal.

[shivguptaias]

great game!! specially at the end. capablanca did some good move in the end.but lasker was far better.his main strength was that he stuck to his plan. And i really appreciate the move when lasker didn't take the pawn at d6 by his rook. that could free the capa's knight and could change the game.if i was there i'd hav taken that pawn..that's why m nt there. lolz.. & people who are saying that they could hav done better.remember guys if u could hav done better u wud hav been dere instead of capa.

[stro32]

Your videos are really amazing, I completely appreciate them but pieces retreating back is superfluous; pieces just retreat.

[brahamella]

Well as a novice I would have played this game completely differently on many moves if I were black. I'm sure I did not see some of the moves the players ran through, but I am also sure no one will be looking at my games a 100 years from now either.

[omer88f]

that one who told u about controlling the center with pawns definitely was me !

[sarsiple]

i don't know why this game became famous.... even THEY ARE SO BORING THIS VIDEO HAS A WRONG TITLE IT MUS BE "The BORING Chess Game"

[timbojoneso]

move king to h8 -.-

[CS5TutorialsMaster]

In defense of the f6 move that Lasker had in mind, I would've moved my pawn on the c file, pinning the knight to the rook. I'm too lazy to think about all the variations that could result from there, but I think that at least at the club level, it would be considered a good move.

[dragon91027]

What level is this guy. Rating?  1600?

[mickilovesya]

sweeeet vid. ive just recently started playing chess and youre analysis are really insightful. i need to watch more of this capablanca characters' games. but one thing i wish all these videos on these games did, is to let it autoplay at the end.

[md65000]

Why on earth do you suggest 10...Bc5 as a potential move? All it accomplishes is the waste of a tempo since the bishop has already been developed to d6 and the "pin" is easily dealt with by 11. Be3, developing another of White's pieces and defending the knight. It also leaves black's bishop on an undefended square. A pin is meaningless unless it can be exploited in some way.

[dnaselfassemby]

@md65000 ur knight remains pinned cause the white bishop is unprotected u can face it by playing Rd8 and then Kh1 or be3 and the Re8. I wonder why lasker played so early f5

[md65000]

@dnaselfassemby I know, I didn't say the pin was broken - I just said it was easily dealt with :-) Mainly I'm just saying it's an embarrassingly crappy move suggestion. No one over 1300 - or 13 years of age for that matter - would seriously consider playing it.

[conwellgeo]

Great game. Capa needed a draw and Lasker a win in the tournament. The Exchange variation often draws and Capa expected fighting variation Capa did not have one sound idea. He was so struck he lost the next day. Lasker played crazy like a fox! Colors reversed Lasker beat Alekhine in the same Exchange variation

[buffalofonix]

Excellent video. Great analysis.

[mackhomie]

really useful commentary - thanks



[dog1339]

very wise and strategic game but as a chess noob i must admit the endgame is always confusing and difficult

[SilentKek]

An imporant aspect of Lasker's opening is that in the position after move 7 if he could exchange all of the minor pieces and the rooks he would have a won king and pawn ending.

[Darxsys]

@18:34 why didnt black just take h4 pawn?

[useurcamera]

does it always have to be this long? O_O

[solardaymon]

and what abot D7-E7 rook? (23:46) why cap did not move his rook there?

[gotaids]

What must be understood about Lasker's 27 year reign as chess champion is that before Botvinnik won the title in a tournament match (Alekhine had died champion), FIDE had no real prominence and there was no regulated "World Chess Championship". So Alekhine, Steinitz, Lasker, and Capablanca all kept their titles because they typically avoided players that might beat them (In fact, Alekhine had to pretend to be a worse player in tournaments So Capablanca didn't perceive as a threat)

[Smartestwar4]

This seems natural.

[Deviantmoon666]

Outstanding video, Kevin. Thank you for your hard work...I always learn so much from your well explained analysis.

[xenekaro]

Why cant knight take pawn e5 after bishop takes knight at the beginning of the game?

[thevividdream]

@xenekaro he can! but after Qd7, kicking the knight, white will lose the e4 pawn (just one possible example). in opening principle, it's generally better to develop as many of your pieces as possible as opposed to moving a single piece multiple times. d4 allows the dark square bishop mobility or a possible location for the b1 knight. hope this helped answer your question!

[SilentKek]

@xenekaro cause of Qd4 atacking the e4 pawn and the knight

[xenekaro]

Very detailed analysis! Excellent. But why didnt black move pawn g6 at 12:46?

It seems to weaken the centralized pawns and pressurize the knight. Sorry I am a chess beginner, I cant see through that much!! :(

[HazyHendrix101]

Bro, I just want to comment on how much I enjoy watching your videos.

I'm fairly new to chess and I don't have much time on my hands to go out to the bookstore and read-up on new material.

Your videos have been very helpful to me thus far, especially your video on the "Caro Kann." I've almost got the mainstream method memorized. Thanks again.

[AnswerManofRome]

How long do the professional games take?

[ocinneid]

great vid kevin, keep it up!!

[CharlesGalofre]

cool beans man :)

[Athalxoz]

Btw after this game was played, Capa never again played the ..a6 move when in Ruy Lopez :D Although this game wasn't lost because of it, it surely bothered capa

[Athalxoz]

good video as always kevin, but i gotta say as an amateur I'd play this game way better than capa did :S seemed to me like very move he did was wrong and basicaly doing alot more bad than good:S

[thechesswebsite]

@Athalxoz i agree. The sad thing is that I've analyzed my own games before and thought "man i could play better than this Kevin guy." It's definitely easy to look at a game after and notice mistakes but I wish I played like Capablanca, even on his bad days.

[majotnf]

great vid, thx

[paulkiss1981]

The very game didn't seem anything unusual to me, no mind blowing unexpected attacks, just an even fight till one of the sides appeared to be weaker. But the way you explained every move of the game, that's what was good, I really liked the analysis, thanks a lot, Kevin.

[thechesswebsite]

@paulkiss1981 I appreciate the kind words and I would agree that there were no super crazy moves, although e5 was pretty incredible to me. I only hope that I can find moves like that in my own games.

[N330AA]

@paulkiss1981 I agree, enjoyable to watch none the less.

[soadbro]

At around 24:53 when white moved the rook to A1. Black knew white was gonna go to A8 next and attack so he moved his king to D8. Why couldn't he move his knight to B6? When the rook moved to A1 that was the next black move I saw. Keep in mind I am a beginner. Thanks

[dreamtheater39]

awesome video kevin! loved watching it :)

[thechesswebsite]

@freddyp91 you should watch my video on "Good vs Bad Bishops "

[ninadbhatt]

you are wrong kevin...sometimes you don't think before you speak... you said in the end if you just attack attack and.....blah blah then you will lose. from the video its apparent that the opposite is true. black lost because he did not attack. by the way thanks for doing these videos they are nice.

[BrandonTheMagician]

@freddyp91 because it limits the freedom of your bishop.

[vfoh1]

I think that when Capablanca placed his rook on a7 is a fatal error because if White at 16:16 capture had peon of the best material would have won because he had captured the tower and then had moved his white knight c7 and Black would lose the last bishop or the tower, I think that the error cause Capablanca was not to move the g7-pawn to g6 would have been easier so that White moved his knight e6

[renumeratedfrog]

The audio quality is worse in the last few videos than it used to be. It sounds like you're on AM radio.

[DSHackerc]

I think capablanca did an awful game

[juufa72]

It looks like Capablanca was very indecisive

[masterffp77]

@juufa72 i agree, he was just waiting to attacked. 

[CharlesGalofre]

momma said, the classics are the devil!! -- :)

[thechesswebsite]

@CharlesGalofre little adam sandler, i like it!

[Yonnu1992]

Great explanation Kevin.The best ;-)

[1arsenal14]

its all about f5

[Sheynan55]

thx for the vid i learned ALOT! thx!

[RoyalDevil3]

tomato

[hackman1911]

I know I already said this, but I can't wait for Byrne vs Fischer, thats next right?

[thechesswebsite]

@hackman1911 i will make it next for you :)

[shubidubar]

potato