Chess Tactics: Edward Lasker - G. Thomas (London, 1912)

[ubernetworkgeek2]

Castling on the kings side by black was not the best move with that open pawn imho. I would have pushed d5 first to try and move his knight away or possible trade and then eventually a queen side castle if they responded with a bishop check and developing my queenside pieces. Then again hind sight is 20/20 :)

[CurtisRoxYerSox]

This game was exactly 100 years ago...just think about all the chess theory that has developed thanks to the old masters sense then...

[MegaSaginaw]

poor king he kept getting further and further away from his team. lol

[esraretin]

1:32 i would directly do Nxf 6:)

[pirvu1]

@esraretin He could take the Knight with the Pawn .

[esraretin]

@pirvu1 i know.i meant i coudnt see these moves

[VladBlok28]

Chess is a strange game. The only winning move is not to play. Well, that and a queen sacrifice apparently :)

[lionheart76100]

At 04:19 Be4++

[nextmorphy]

@lionheart76100

Be4 ?? Bxe4

[alexandre312993]

@lionheart76100 the e4 sqare is under attack by the black bishop on b7

[GODZILLA1111000]

Couldn't you just move the king to f 1 at 4:44 and then win?

[Leutwein]

@GODZILLA1111000 ? f1 is protected by the black king!?!

[StarCraftiNator]

@GODZILLA1111000 you cant attack a king with your own king... that would make his king able to capture your king...

[RK831]

When the black king advanced to f3, white can O-O and mate the next move with Nh2. It would be a faster mate, but not as dramatic. Because Lasker gone through that length to show off, he should have ended the game with O-O-O# instead of Kd2#.

[Wisdombluetooth]

@RK831 No,the only way was the queen sacrifice. E4 kn to f6,pawn takes it. queen is now exposed to queen, and if you took it to G6 same thing, instead of capturing it with bishop he moves pawn forward from g7 to g6..So the only way was to bring him in and Check him.

[beardedvulcan]

Instead of B-e2ch, why didn't white play b-e4 mate. That is mate, correct?

[varmman]

@beardedvulcan if be4,thn Bb7xBe4

[RK831]

The bishop on b7 protects the e4 square.

[OGrumblehacker]

If white bishop moved from d3 to e4 when black king was at f3, it would've been checkmate there

[zeremi90]

@OGrumblehacker

No, it would not! Because black bishop would capture white's bishop who is checking the king..

[warnie2121]

@IK0Nx white would take queen you dumbass

[MilitaryMan006]

How was Lasker able to visualise that? The margin for error is so high! Truly amazing player

[drzeitnot]

@MilitaryMan006 No, the margin for error is not high. This is what is called 'straight line' analysis. It is all forced, there are no complicated branches to analyse. As soon as you consider the queen sac, you should be able to see the rest of the game. There were not even any captures to make 'visualisation' difficult. (visualisation is the ability to 'see' the board after several/many hypothetical moves ahead and is not the same as analytic correctness).

[marstuber96]

great!!!



[stevenvercettiful]

English is not my native language but I still manage to understand this guy. Although i it took me some time to figure out that "zen" is "then" :)

[duf101101]

Are you dead??? Did you die??? Or just need a coffee enema??

[ambagoli21]

god damn crazy russians... gotta love em : )

[TheManowarBabsi]

his language ist just so understandable, i really like the speed he uses to describe the issues happening on the board, especially because you dont get blown away by inapropriate words which can cause massive confusion

[simplyron82]

dont mind the accent but mind the game

[w3irdTHPS]

It's probably just me, but at the end, I kinda smirked at O-O-O#.

[john17972]

It was an incredible Q sacrifice. A Q sacrifice is often overlooked or not even considered by most players in a timed game due to rarity of it happening.

[john17972]

THIS GUY IS A MUCH BETTER HOST THAN Itzospain. Itzospain says nothing.

[RK831]

Just before the Queen sacrifice, Lasker announces mate in eight moves with a King move at the end.

[Wisdombluetooth]

@RK831 I just wonder if those 8 moves were well planned by the winning player....do you think?

[Wisdombluetooth]

Sir, One question, did the winning player see all these moves in his head already? or he just did good moves and another good moves followed?

[RK831]

@Wisdombluetooth Lasker already saw the eight moves.

[laputadetumadre11]

@Wisdombluetooth he saw everything in his head. No chess player, specially a world champion, would sack a queen for a pawn for anything less than mate.

[253able]

@Wisdombluetooth He calculated the last 9 moves before sacrificing the queen

[viharsarok]

@253able Not a big deal if all 9 moves are forced.

[253able]

@viharsarok why don't you play such games Mr. smart guy

[viharsarok]

@253able Watch this: /watch?v=wPm9k6ul9EI

The moves between the rook sacrifice and the end of the game were all calculated and and a lot of them were not forced! Now THAT's what I call skill.

[TheMrDwarf]

"and that's great" favourite part

[asistancepleaseyes]

your accent is so annoyinggggggggggggggggggggggg­g SHECK ZMOVE ZSQUAR ZPROTECZTED

[john17972]

@asistancepleaseyes YOU LOUSY PRICK! DO YOU THINK THAT EVERYBODY MUST SPEAK PERFECT ENGLISH WITH NO ACCENT?

[Shovlbum]

@MrPelotinha if Be4+ then B at b7 takes e4

[RocketDan]

why not play knight on E4 takes bishop on F6 at 1:30

looks like checkmate in two moves?

[MRr3n3gade]

@RocketDan black has a pawn, queen, and rook defending that bishop. the white knight would just get taken

[DVAFP]

@MRr3n3gade so what? you would check mate with the bishop and the queen, or am i not seeing something?

[MRr3n3gade]

@DVAFP well, after knight takes on f6, then black can take back with the pawn. then the white queen cant take on h7 because black's queen is defending h7.

[Zee96969696]

they say you need talent for this game, but the only thing you need is to be able to see these possibilities, surely with enough practice anybody can learn to see

[strategie2]

black played horrible.. still this is my FAVORITE GAME OF ALL TIME!!!!!!!!! AMAZING!!!!! amazing play by white!!!

[Tomasovich15chess]

WOW MY RESPECT as chess player to that, MONSTER!!

[aOmmyLuv]

wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

[TheMcilwee]

At 4:22, couldnt he have move bishop to e4 mate?

[Tomasovich15chess]

@TheMcilwee dont you see the big black bishop on b7?????

[TheMcilwee]

@Tomasovich15chess Ahh didn't see that, thanks.

[Shovlbum]

@TheMcilwee No, the black bishop at b7 is guarding that square

[technomegabit]

castle mate... lol

[sukarestu]

Great tactic

Never thought of sacrificing such a great piece to lure out a king to death

Definitely a high level play

[Hemn2016]

when i puse the vid i so much faster mate this is how : nxf6 + and if Qxf6 or g7xf6 it is mate with one move wich is Qxh7 , and if Rxf6 then Qxh7+ Kf8 Qh8 # .

[PurpleDavidBowie]

@Hemn2016

Those are all faster, expect g7xf6 allows the Black queen to protect h7, therefore, making the queen sacrifice a 'force' mate.

[chanabnagar]

@Hemn2016 yes I also thought about this in the pause. This is the fastest checkmate. But if you want to play with the opponent's king and give him checkmate with casteling then the other solution is better :)

[TheManowarBabsi]

@wickedjargon, King Takes f4+, 0-0 (Short): where is the mate? Also by declining the f4 pawn and moving to g3 its no checkmate, just Imagine you could mate yourself with your own move..

[MrArib92]

1. d4 f5 2. e4 fxe4 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 e6 5. Nxe4 Be7 6. Bxf6 Bxf6 7. Nf3 b6 8. Ne5 Bb7 9. Bd3 O-O 10. Qh5 Qe7

After this why we cant make 11. Nxf6+ Qxf6 12. Qxh7# (or) 11. Nxf6+ Rxf6 12. Qxh7+ Kf8 13.Qh8#

if any problems to make this moves pls reply............

and sorry for my English...

[shorbock]

@MrArib92

not Qxf6?? or Rxf6?? but gxf6 and h7 is defended by the queen ! That's why black played Qe7

[MrArib92]

@shorbock  thanks man...........

[martialtaichi]

Fascinating game - it seems unimaginable to me, to be able to sacrifice a queen with such confidence, given how many additional moves were required to secure the checkmate.

[djbl1973]

because of the bishop on b7 obviously

[boomqwer]

why not mate straight away with the Be4 ?

[tnoble711]

heeeee heeeeee heeeeeeee thats a nice clean W! Ha a lil too demoralizing but thats even better

[Pavankuma786]

[iminent=BdBRn7YVffOB] 

[kirbmaster5]

my bad on my last post im blind and didn't see the bishop on b7

[kirbmaster5]

ok i dont get this when the king is on f3 why not just play Bishop e4 and have mate 2 moves earlier?

[boomqwer]

@kirbmaster5 my point aswell :)

[WickedJargon]

@kirbmaster5 that's absolutely right. in fact there is a faster mate in an earlier move. instead of h4 play f4. from there it's one move. if black king capture f4, white castles (checmakte). if black king retreats to h4, white checkmates with g3

[shorbock]

@WickedJargon f4+ Kxf4 00?? is not mate : Kg5 and you've botched a masterpiece ! f4+ Kxf4 g3+ Kf3 00 (or Kg5 h4)mate. Also if king h4 g3 is not mate yet either : Kh3 Bf1+ Bg2 Nf2 mate is a nice finish

[WickedJargon]

@shorbock kg5 is protected by white's light squared bishop

[MrWolfscratch1]

Gee Whiz! At the 1:40 frame, Knight takes Bishop check!, any move by Black, then Queen captures h7 Checkmate. My elementary grade kids can see this one.

[ourgreylove]

@MrWolfscratch1 no... pawn takes knight, and black queen guards h7

[Live2Break]

@MrWolfscratch1 you are absolutely right!!!

[PabloPena108]

@MrWolfscratch1 Wrong my friend. Knight takes bishop pawn recaptures and the queen on the 7th trank defends h7.

[garfunkel23]

@MrWolfscratch1 Exactly

[TheRVD420]

@MrWolfscratch1 Unless black captures the knight on f-6 with his rook. That would leave the king with an escape route. You should study the board before you say stupid things.

[PabloPena108]

Instead of h4+ which was nice f4+! also wins (If kxf4 g3+ [kg5 h4 mate], kf3 0-0 mate!) so black must decline and then kh4 g3+ kh3 bf1+ bg2 and nf2 mate! I could be wrong doint it in my head but seems right!

[masafa1990]

Nice, first time ever I see mate with King move!!

[guyNbluejeans]

What a game!

[djbl1973]

@guyNbluejeans u are totally wrong, there is never a single point in the game when Nxbf6 is even possible, and it isnt a clear mate in 2 at all u moron, which is why he does carry on. unless u have seen something in this game that GMs for nearly 100 years have missed. oh yeah, the impossible NxBf6?????

[guyNbluejeans]

@djbl1973 Gee, I come here and make a friendly comment of exclamation and I get called a name for it. Well Merry Christmas to you, too!

[TheReddwarff100]

Well its check mate in 3 actually NxBf6+ Rxf6, Qxh7+ Kf8, Qh8#

[TheReddwarff100]

It is a clear check mate in 2 when he talks about the forced mate, why carry on?

[emper999]

if the black takes the knight with the rook then we have queen to h7 then black play king to f8 and finally the white paly queen to h8 and check mate

[djbl1973]

@emper999 point is it is double check ok, meaning he cant take anything, he has to move his king, simple as that. there is no faster mate, there is no Qh8 mate either, do the math.

[emper999]

i think its not nesecery all this road

[emper999]

and what about if the first move for the white was knight takes bishop at f6? if the black captures knight with queen its checkmate with white playing queen at h7 am i right?

[TheReddwarff100]

@emper999

Yes that is right.

[djbl1973]

@emper999 Nxf6+ ...gxf6 (knight is attacked) then black picks up at least a pawn when knight moves with ...Bxg2 (losing castling) or a danegerous attack after...Qb4+ with tempi

[djbl1973]

@emper999 Nxf6+ ...gxf6 (knight is attacked Nf3 etc). rybka plays Qxh7 as well in this position with a mate in 7. there is simly nothing better than the Q sac. unless u think that slightly exposing a king after gx is better than a forced mate.

[emper999]

@djbl1973 yeah you right i didnt made the calculations right or with chess engine

[InkosiDeVinyl]

looool thumbs up if you agree. At the start of the vid he was like "Oh man we gotta do this shit again?"

[commodoreherring]

i do it and i understand.

[a7md50]

lol fynny game

[DSXmachine]

The only game I've seen where the king was kidnapped. :P

[jabrightlefthook]

@DSXmachine i think black let white win its obvious because he just walked to the other side and surrendered lmao

[fullhungry]

@DSXmachine There is the "Mate in 16"-blindfolded!!!

[wakko380]

@DSXmachine You mean were, not where..

[Xelna]

@DSXmachine The king has been kingnapped.

[kez730]

What a boring old fart...

[rookman64]

wat about g6?

[skerskies]

i cant understand. it looks like the guy is playing alone? whos playing????

[NumbFlynn]

@skerskies He's recreating an old game.

[richter85]

we should do this move on osama bin laden and make him come to the united states.

[Tomasovich15chess]

@richter85 u damage such a beautyfull game, with internal problems USA sucks

[deputyVH]

Totally pwnd

[shutupjustdoit]

those are great moves but what if the black side didnt castling?

[dannyboy12357]

quicker would ke4xkf6 threatening mate with Qh5xQh7 right?

[tatomuck18]

is it possible to be in triple check or quadruple check in chess?

[furiousfingers27]

@tatomuck18 No. In order to create a triple check, you'd have to move a piece in such a way that that piece not only checked the king, but it also uncovered two additional checks. Before the move, that single piece would have to be blocking two pieces from checking the king, which is impossible.

[pawnscrusher]

@tatomuck18 err no tripple checks dude... you can move one piece a time and in case of double check combine a simple check with a discovered check to get some kind of double rainbow. but no tripple rainbows as far as I know

[FreeMan1990PK]

wonderful combination! Lasker rules!! =)

[BeastJustChillin]

if you look when he tells you to pause there is actually a much faster forced mate that is actually only two moves. instead of the queen sacrifice at h7 the knight can just take the bishop at f6 while at the same time opening up the way for the bishop d3 like he said. This forces either the king to move or for the knight to be captured. once black has done either, white can then move to h7 while being protected by the bishop and thus mate! correct me if I'm wrong but i believe that works.

[iconsajaraja]

@BeastJustChillin if Kf6 black can take the knight with the pawn defending h7 with his Queen. That's is the reason black played Qe7.

[PrimitiveApeCreature]

@BeastJustChillin You need to work a bit harder on your calculation skills. He recaptures the knight with the g pawn. This allows the queen at e7 to protect the h7 pawn.

[Ruxistico]

@BeastJustChillin you are wrong. If for instance after Nxf6 black recaptures with the rook, then your mate does not work since the king now has the f8 square.

[qrchai]

@BeastJustChillin Black will just capture the knight with his g7 pawn. Then the h7 square will be protected by his queen. No force mate here. In fact, white will now lose a tempo trying to remove his knight after the capture.

[kolibrrik]

Oh no @qrchai gxf6 its illegal move....

[qrchai]

@kolibrrik Sorry, correct me if I'm wrong, but I was referring to a check by the knight on e4. I don't suppose the gxf6 move is illegal?

[IK0Nx]

@BeastJustChillin you are absolutely right

[jpd04]

Wow, that castle mate is basically saying, "IN YO FACE BEEUTCH". Amazing game :D

[serrie85]

@jpd04 Y but Kd2 was played in the game. I liked the castle option more.

[speedproductions797]

wow, that's amazing, chess phenomenon

[hoahoc1056]

Hahahahahaha stairway to heaven for the poor black king. Nice game!

[ameier021087]

thats embarassing

[kapullas]

Why Lasker didn' t play 16. Bishop e4 (Checkmate) ??

[brrrdman85]

@kapullas Black has a bishop on b7.

[kapullas]

@brrrdman85 Mmmmmm..... I see.

[ProdigiousAsian]

beautiful game

[andthatsforthewin]

It's great that Thomas finished the game, otherwise, it would not have be detracted from this work of art.

[CliveFromEngland]

19.0-0-0 would have been a flashier way to win.It is what I would have played :)

It is strange that a player of Thomas's ability did not even consider the forced line when playing ..Qe7.

[Sookie626]

im sorry, i just saw that.. 11. NxB+ is followed by 11...PxN .. which in turn defends the mate.. sorry

[Sookie626]

whites move... 11.NxB +

Does this not lead to mate without having to sacrifice the queen?

Im pretty sure this move forces mate..

[Stormgebieder]

thank you very much for sharing!!

[NarutoSSj6]

he sounds extremely friendly.

[ShivihS]

@NarutoSSj6 Lol

[AustrianAtheist]

At move 16 white could have played the beautiful 0-0 and then Knight h2 checkmate, or Bishop f1 and then Knight h2. So there are just a couple of checkmates. Black just made a stupid mistake with the Queen move, i am not that impressed

[AustrianAtheist]

At move 9 and 10 black could have taken the knight on e5, his position would be at least equal. I think, that Thomas did not think of the checkmate after 0-0-0 and therefore played Queen e7. The motive is very clear and I am sure Qxh7 was not a surprise for him.

[kazearaki]

awesome, Black's King got mated all the way on the other end of the board!

[GreatImperium]

that was awesome

[whatelse041]

SERGUEI, you're the man! thanks for this upload :)

[tarzanlordofthe]

How could anyone give this the thumbs down?

[rickeyboy42]

lol castle and mate

[rickeyboy42]

lol castle and mate

[TheManowarBabsi]

after gxf6, blacks h-pawn is once more defended by the black queen, so checkmate on h7 with the queen and bishop combination is no longer possible, as 0nhj said :)

[regalgsx]

come here and take your medicine!

[Duracellary]

Black got fucking powned!