Frank James Marshall vs Emanuel Lasker - St. Petersburg 1914.05.15

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Frank James Marshall vs Emanuel Lasker
St. Petersburg St. Petersburg RUE round 5 1914.05.15
Old Indian Defense 0-1

[Event "St. Petersburg"]
[Site "St. Petersburg  RUE"]
[Date "1914.05.15"]
[EventDate "1914.04.21"]
[Round "5"]
[Result "0-1"]
[White "Frank James Marshall"]
[Black "Emanuel Lasker"]
[ECO "A53"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "72"]

1.d4 {Notes by Dr. Tarrasch} Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 Nbd7 4.Nf3 e5
5.e3 Be7 6.Bd3 O-O 7.Qc2 Re8 8.O-O Bf8 {What with his somewhat
unorthodox opening, Black is rather cramped.} 9.Ng5 {Marshall
starts a violent attack which would seem to be perfectly
justified. Yet in the midst of it, just as if Lasker had
exercised a spell on him, he falters, and all f a sudden it is
the World Champion who has the winning advantage.} g6 10.f4
exd4 11.exd4 Bg7 12.f5 {Marshall could still complete his
development by Bd2 and Rae1 without the slightest risk, but
now he throws caution to the wind. What with e5 being mainly
defended by the d-pawn, Black will try to eliminate the
defending Pawn by ...c5 and if he can do that and get his own
Kt to e5 before White's attack has prospered, he will be on
top.} Ng4 13.Nf3 c5 14.fxg6 fxg6 15.h3 {? Very feebly played
and almost inexplicable except for Lasker's queer knack of
'willing' his opponents to make weak moves. Against any other
opponent Marshall almost certainly would have played 15 Bg5,
gaining the advantage in every variation. It looks almost like
witchcraft.} cxd4 {Of course!} 16.Bg5 {Too late!} Ne3 17.Qf2
Qb6 18.Nd5 Nxd5 19.cxd5 Nc5 {Now Black is well developed and a
pawn up, but he still has to face some danger on his K-Wing.}
20.Rad1 Bd7 21.Qh4 Ba4 {21...Nxd3 followed by ...Bb5 would be
refuted by Rb3.} 22.Bxg6 {White's best chance in the
circumstances.} hxg6 23.Bd8 {Winning the Queen, but at much
too high cost.} Qxd8 24.Ng5 Qxg5 25.Qxg5 Bxd1 26.Qxg6 Bc2
{White was threatening to win by Rf7, but Black can well
afford to return one of his pieces.} 27.Qxc2 d3 28.Qd1 a5
29.Qg4 Rf8 30.Rd1 Rae8 31.Qg6 Re2 32.Rf1 {Nor can he save the
game by sacrificing the exchange since 32...Re1+ followed by
Be5+ would lead to mate.} d2 33.Rxf8+ Kxf8 34.Qxd6+ Kg8
35.Qd8+ Kh7 36.Qh4+ Bh6 0-1

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Updated: 13 December, 2021
Created: 13 December, 2021