5/26/2020 – Former World Champion Dr. Emanuel Lasker had won the tournament in New York with one round to spare, and current World Champion José Raúl Capablanca was certain to finish second. But the final round of the top-tournament was still fiercely fought and four of the five games ended with a decision - and in all four games it was White who won.| Photo: The Statue of Liberty in New York (Source: Library of Congress)

5/25/2020 – With one round to spare former World Champion Dr. Emanuel Lasker (pictured) won the New York Tournament 1924. In the 21st and penultimate round, the 55-year-old Lasker won against Dr. Savielly Tartakower with fine defensive play. With 15 points from 19 games (+12, =6, -1) Lasker is now 1½ points ahead of World Champion José Raúl Capablanca, who, after a nice endgame victory against Richard Reti, is now on 13½/19 and certain to finish second.

5/24/2020 – Former World Champion Dr. Emanuel Lasker and reigning World Champion José Raúl Capablanca lead at the New York Tournament 1924. However, in round 20 they both were lucky not to lose. But while Lasker managed to win a bad position against Geza Maroczy, Capablanca "only" drew a bad position against Frederick Yates which allowed Lasker to extend his lead. With two rounds to go Lasker is now almost certain to win the tournament: he leads with 14.0/18 and is 1½ points ahead of Capablanca who is sole second with 12½/18. | Photo: Emanuel Lasker

5/23/2020 – After 19 of 22 rounds Emanuel Lasker, José Raúl Capablanca and Alexander Alekhine lead at the New York Tournament 1924. All three won in round 19: Emanuel Lasker won with Black against Edward Lasker, Capablanca refuted Tartakowers dubious King's Gambit and Alekhine defeated Dawid Janowsky. Lasker now leads with 13.0/17, followed by Capablanca with 12.0/17 and Alekhine with 11.0/18. | Photo: Capablanca (left) and Emanuel Lasker (Archive)

5/22/2020 – In round 18 of the New York Tournament 1924 World Champion José Raúl Capablanca once again showed why he is so hard to beat. After a bad opening he still managed to win against Edward Lasker with strong positional play. Frank Marshall defeated Efim Bogoljubow with a fantastic attack, sacrificing a number of pieces on his way to victory. | Photo: José Raúl Capablanca (Archive)

5/21/2020 – The field at the tournament in New York 1924 consists of eleven players, and in each round one player has a bye. This distorts the table but after 17 of 22 rounds, the situation at the top has cleared up. In round 17 Capablanca had the bye while Emanuel Lasker won with Black against Yates, and with 11½/17 Lasker is now sole first and 1½ points ahead of Capablanca, who is second with 10.0/17. Alekhine follows in third place with 9½/16. | Photo: Lower Manhattan

5/20/2020 – Former World Champion Dr. Emanuel Lasker is back in shape. In round 14 of the tournament in New York he suffered a bitter defeat against Capablanca, in round 15 he had a bye, but now, in round 16, he convincingly won against Reti and his hypermodern opening 1.Nf3. After this victory Dr. Lasker has 10½/14 and is again sole first. In the other games of the round a lot of chances were missed.

5/19/2020 – Round 15 of the New York Tournament 1924 was a lively affair and the spectators in the Hotel Alamac saw five wins. Capablanca won against Janowsky, the strategist Reti was defeated by the tactician Marshall, Alekhine won against Yates, Bogoljubow outplayed Tartakower in the endgame and Maroczy defeated Edward Lasker. Emanuel Lasker had a bye and with 8½/13 he now shares first with Capablanca who has 8½/14.

5/18/2020 – Capablanca against Lasker, that was the top encounter of the 14th round of the tournament in New York 1924. The game was exciting, but the circumstances were even more dramatic. Lasker lost and afterwards claimed that the clock had a defect. However, tournament director Norbert Lederer said that the clock was fine but Lasker had forgotten to press the button to stop his clock from running. A bitter controversy ensued. | Photo: Capablanca (left) and Lasker at a previous occasion (Photo: media2-web.britannica)

5/14/2020 – Two clear wins, three draws and many missed chances - that was the result of round 10 in New York. Emanuel Lasker crushed Reti and Bogoljubow made short work of Yates, but Capablanca squandered the advantage he had easily secured against Marshall. Tartakower, too, had chances against Janowsky and Alekhine was lucky not to lose to Edward Lasker. | Photo: Emanuel Lasker

5/13/2020 – With four draws and a loss World Champion José Raúl Capablanca started badly into the tournament in New York, but he now seems to be back in shape, and in round 9 he defeated Efim Bogoljubov with a fine positional performance. But sole leader remains Emanuel Lasker, who allowed himself a couple of bad moves against Frank Marshall but still managed to escape with a draw. Meanwhile, Richard Reti showed the advantages of "hypermodern" chess. | Photo: José Raúl Capablanca (Archive)

5/12/2020 – Former World Champion Emanuel Lasker, at 55 years of age the second-oldest player in New York seems to be in splendid shape in New York. In round 8 he defeated Efim Bogoljubow with persistence and good endgame technique. In the second top encounter of the round Alekhine won against Reti, while World Champion Capablanca only drew against Maroczy. Lasker now leads with 5.5/7, half a point behind is Alekhine with 5.0/7. | Photo: Emanuel Lasker (Archive)

5/11/2020 – In round 7 of the New York Tournament World Champion Capablanca showed Yates what knights can do while Janowsky showed Bogolyubov the strength of bishops and Emanuel Lasker won a very modern game against Maroczy. Reti also played in modern fashion, but won with a classic motive: the dim knight on the rim. Alekhine and Marshall played the only draw of the round but showed some fascinating tactics. | Photo: Modern parking in New York

5/10/2020 – Round 6 of the New York Tournament saw the clash of the two Laskers: Emanuel vs Edward Lasker. It was a remarkable fight that lasted for 103 moves and gave Emanuel Lasker an opportunity to demonstrate his amazing defensive skills. World Champion José Raúl Capablanca played an endgame brilliancy against Savielly Tartakower and showed why it is worth remembering to look for sacrifices and mating attacks in the endgame. Alexander Alekhine smashed Dawid Janowsky. Geza Maroczy defeated Frank Marshall, and Richard Reti won in hypermodern style against Frederick Yates. | Photo: Emanuel Lasker (right) and Edward Lasker (left, with Black)

5/9/2020 – World Champion José Raúl Capablanca is often called a "Chess Machine" because his games seem to be so smooth and flawless. In fact, since his defeat against Oscar Chajes on January 21 , 1916 Capablanca has not lost a single game in the last eight years. But now, in round 5 of the tournament in New York, he suffered a sensational defeat against Richard Reti (pictured). | Photo: Ernst & Cesanek (Archive)

5/8/2020 – His convincing win against Alexander Alekhine in round 3 of the tournament in New York seems to have inspired former World Champion Emanuel Lasker, and in round 4 he won his second black game in a row, this time against his old rival Dawid Janowsky. In the prestige duel between Capablanca and Alekhine the Cuban dominated once again, but in the end Alekhine managed to escape into a draw. Bogolyubov came to a nice win against Reti and Yates won against Edward Lasker. Tartakower and Maroczy drew but Tartakower enriched the theory of openings with an original concept.

4/27/2020 – Last month Edward Winter announced his decision, due to other commitments, to curtail his Chess Notes column, which began in 1982. Additions are now made only occasionally, but thousands of C.N. items and hundreds of feature articles remain online. It is a body of work unlike any other, covering a vast array of topics and spawning four anthologies. Edward Winter is also the author of one of the most acclaimed books in chess history: his monograph on Capablanca.

4/7/2020 – In his weekly show IM Lawrence Trent takes a look at a classic and analyses a typical and typically instructive win by Capablanca. | Lawrence is on air from 16:00 UTC (18:00 CEST, 12 Noon EDT) and free for a limited time, or forever on-demand with a ChessBase Basic Account. You can always register a free 90-day account to watch.

2/27/2020 – Berlin has always had a vibrant chess history, but there was a particularly interesting period in the years following World War I that highlighted the richness of the city’s chess life. Alan McGowan, author of a widely acclaimed biography about the German master Kurt Richter (1900-1969), took a close look at the history of those chess cafés.

7/23/2019 – Today, in the times of data gathering, data security and strict privacy rules, it is hard to imagine but in the 1960s chess yearbooks could and did publish the addresses of famous chess players. Which now allows you to virtually visit the houses in which Fischer, Fine, Denker and other chess players had lived in New York in 1966. | Photo: World Chess Hall of Fame, St. Louis

6/29/2019 – When on May 26th 2017, in Netanya, a man died during the preparations to celebrate his 80th birthday, the jubilee turned into a memorial for one of the greatest study composers from Israel. Many chess composers have an endless love and passion for chess, but he also had it for raising other young talents. | Photos: Arves.org

6/1/2019 – Many will know the Austro-Hungarian (and later Czechoslovakian) Richard Réti as a world-class player, but also as a great composer of endgame studies, so — in time for his 130th birthday — we continue our exploration of European chess composers with him. (Read part 1) | Photo: Ernst & Cesanek, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

3/18/2019 – He beat two legends — Capablanca and Alekhine in succession on their way to the world championship. In those days, 'Capa' was invincible and Alekhine irresistible. This son of Barcelona made his city proud even if it those victories came about “only” in simultaneous displays. But it is not on these chance victories that this player’s claim to fame rests. Valentin Marin y Llovet (1872-1936) was a composer with more than 250 problems to his credit. If the name rings a bell, we showed a challenge from Vladimir Kramnik and a solution with Vishy Anand last month. Here is a tribute to the great master. Don’t miss the problems in the end. They are for you.

11/19/2018 – Today, November 19th, José Raúl Capablanca, would have celebrated his 130th birthday. After World War I the Cuban was the world's best player and World Champion from 1921 to 1927. During his career, he played more than 500 tournament games but lost only 36 of them. | Photo: Screenshot from the movie "Chess Fever"