Daniel King’s Power Play Show: Capablanca v Lasker 1921 - Part 2

by Daniel King
4/9/2021 – In this Power Play Show, GM Daniel King looks at another game from the Capablanca-Lasker match played 100 years ago this month. A positional masterpiece. Daniel also presents a two-mover plus a nice trio of two-movers, and a study Lasker and Capablanca jointly composed after their blitz match in Berlin 1914. | Power Play is on air most Fridays. Watch it on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account. All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer.

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A classic

A hundred years ago, from March 15 to April 28, the 1921 World Chess Championship match between Lasker and Capablanca was played in Havana, Cuba. Conversations about organizing a match began in 1911, but the players could not agree on the terms. In the end, Capablanca won the match by a score of 9-5 (4 wins, 0 losses, 10 draws).

Today, Daniel shows the tenth game of this match, a fine win by Capablanca.

In this game Capablanca played what has rightly been hailed as a positional masterpiece. But at this moment, Lasker missed a chance. What should he have played here? White to play.

 

Seven years before the match, in 1914, Capablanca and Lasker published a study together. In their book "The Unknown Capablanca" from 1975 Hooper & Brandreth write:

"A joint composition by Capablanca and Lasker which was first published in Lasker's chess column in the Berlin newspaper Vossische Zeitung on the 26th July 1914 ... A week or so earlier these two masters had met in Berlin, where they played a rapid-transit match of ten games. Capablanca won 6.5-3.5, and afterwards Lasker is alleged to have said 'It is remarkable: you make no mistakes'. The study did not occur in these games, but a position from one of them suggested the idea."

White to play and win

 

And here a number of nice two-movers. The first one is by Henryk Grudzinski. White to play and mate in two.

 

The following trio of two-movers by Alex Casa was published in 1995. In each case it is White to play and mate in two.

 
 
 

This week


Previous shows

You’ll find older broadcasts in the Power Play category. To watch these you'll need a ChessBase Premium Account.


Daniel King is the prolific author of the Power Play series which numbers 28 volumes to date.  The Tactic Turbo for the King’s Gambit is the subject of his most recent DVD.

Here’s a teaser:


Power Play 28: Tactic Toolbox King's Gambit

Daniel King presents 50 puzzle positions in video format, all arising from the King's Gambit. They feature typical tactics from the opening, so this is a great way of becoming familiar with the tricks and traps that you can set your opponent.


Links


Daniel King is a regular on playchess.com. Commentating on live events such as the World Championship or analysing themes for his monthly Power Play Show. He also produces a DVD series called Power Play for ChessBase in the Fritztrainer format.

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