Emanuel Lasker vs Siegbert Tarrasch - St. Petersburg 1914.05.03

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Emanuel Lasker vs Siegbert Tarrasch
St. Petersburg St. Petersburg RUE round 9 1914.05.03
Ruy Lopez: Open, Breslau Variation 1/2-1/2

[Event "St. Petersburg"]
[Site "St. Petersburg  RUE"]
[Date "1914.05.03"]
[EventDate "1914.04.21"]
[Round "9"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[White "Emanuel Lasker"]
[Black "Siegbert Tarrasch"]
[ECO "C83"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "94"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3
d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.c3 Be7 10.Nbd2 O-O 11.Re1 Nc5 12.Bc2 d4
13.cxd4 Nxd4 14.Nxd4 Qxd4 15.Nb3 Nxb3 16.axb3 Qxd1 17.Rxd1 c5
18.Bd2 Rfd8 19.Ba5 Rxd1+ 20.Rxd1 f6 21.Bc3 fxe5 22.Bxe5 Rd8
23.Rxd8+ Bxd8 24.f4 Kf7 25.Kf2 Bf6 26.Bd6 Bd4+ 27.Kf3 Bd5+
28.Kg4 Ke6 29.Bf8 Kf7 30.Bd6 Bxg2 31.Bxh7 Ke6 32.Bf8 Kd5
33.Kg5 Bf6+ 34.Kg6 Be4+ 35.f5 Ke5 36.Bxg7 Bxf5+ 37.Kf7 Bxg7
38.Bxf5 Kxf5 39.Kxg7 a5 {In this position, the game appears to
be lost for White. How can the King, way across the board,
still hold up the a-pawn, which threatens to go for a Queen
after 40... c4 41.bxc4 bxc4 and c3? Black had already
calculated the following play before the exchange of pieces:
40.h4 Kg4 41.Kf6 c4 42.bxc4 bxc4 43.Ke5 c3 44.bxc3 a4 45.Kd4
a3, and his own pawn on c3 prevents the King, situated in the
'square' of the passed pawn, from approaching it. -- Tarrasch}
40.h4 Kg4 41.Kg6 {This is the problem move. Black must capture
the h-pawn and White's King thereby wins space and time. It is
as though, in the variation just given, White had not moved to
f6, but in one move, at once to f5. From there he can easily
hold up the a-pawn, since his journey does not lead him over
e5 and d4, but over e4 and d3, where his own pawn is not in
the way. Now Black must still make exertions to save the
game. -- Tarrasch} Kxh4 42.Kf5 Kg3 43.Ke4 Kf2 44.Kd5 Ke3
45.Kxc5 Kd3 46.Kxb5 Kc2 47.Kxa5 Kxb3 1/2-1/2

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Updated: 3 February, 2022
Created: 3 February, 2022