The World Champions' Weirdest Pets - Emanuel Lasker and the Vienna Game

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Introduction

Emanuel Lasker, the second official world chess champion, was, in every sense of the term, a polymath. Not only was he the world chess champion for a record 27 years, but he was also a research mathematician, philosopher, and enthusiast and strong player in several other board and card games. He was known as a very non-dogmatic player who would continuously refine chess practice, as well as a "psychological player." Some people even went so far as to say that Lasker played bad moves on purpose to confuse his opponents, but that's another topic for another day. Lasker was also very much a student of Steinitz's positional school of chess, so it's not so surprising that he rarely deviated from "correct" openings. In this two-part series on Lasker, we'll only cover his adventures with the Vienna Game in part one and the King's Gambit in part two. Almost always, he only played these openings against weaker opposition or in simuls, so he was very much a proponent of the positional school of chess. However, he was a genius as well, and with genius comes creativity!

The Vienna Game

Note: The variations covered will only deal with those that were played in the games featured in this article.

Note 2: Most of the work in this section is taken from "The Vienna Game" section in the first series of articles covering Steinitz's weird opening adventures, "The World Champions' Weirdest Pets - Wilhelm Steinitz and the Vienna Game."

Note 3: All of these games, except the first game vs. Shipley, where Shipley picked the line to be played, were from simultaneous exhibitions.

Note 4: Since this opening appeared in "The World Champions' Weirdest Pets - Wilhelm Steinitz and the Vienna Game," the following text is taken from that article.

The Vienna Gambit, a line of the Vienna Game, is the older sibling of the King's Gambit - more controlled and less flashy. Make no mistake, though, for the Vienna Gambit remains a highly sharp opening with a lot of lines that are very difficult to evaluate. However, the f4 push is delayed and better prepared in the Vienna Gambit, so the wild lines in the King's Gambit are more tame in the Vienna Gambit. The Vienna Gambit is an opening that has stood the test of time as it was highly popular in the Romantic era and is still seen to this day even at the highest levels, especially in rapid and blitz. The Vienna Game itself can also be played quite slowly with moves such as 3. g3, so it's not like the Vienna Gambit is the only line that exists after the Vienna Game. Therefore, the Vienna Game is a very flexible and dangerous weapon.

Contrary to Steinitz, Lasker played more positional approaches in the Vienna Game, though he also played the Vienna Gambit and even the Steinitz Gambit against the legendary Shipley. Thus, we will check both the calmer Vienna Game and the Vienna Gambit.

The Vienna Gambit:

The Vienna Game:

A Crushing Victory

The (in)famous NN! Crusher of worlds, anonymizer of defeat!

Lasker sacrificed more than was necessary, but, he was able to wade through the complications and finished off with a beautiful combination.

A Devastating Defeat

For more information on Shipley, please check out "The World Champions' Weirdest Pets - Wilhelm Steinitz and the Vienna Game."

The Shipley Defense to the Steinitz Gambit strikes again! Lasker was caught off-guard and tried his best to let his king survive, but Shipley was ruthless.

A Slugfest

For more information on Shipley, please check out "The World Champions' Weirdest Pets - Wilhelm Steinitz and the Vienna Game."

A year later, Steinitz tries the second-best defense to the Shipley Defense. Indeed, Lasker had some chances to win the game, but, overall, it was clear this was Shipley's turf.

A Hard-Fought Draw

Aleksei Goncharov was a Russian chess master. He had quite good results in Russian tournaments and also in the international scene; however, clearly he was no match for the mighty Lasker. This game was played in a consultation simul where Goncharov's partners were Nenarokov and Klempner.

Three masters against one Lasker! Lasker, the great swindler, was able to escape a piece-down position with a draw!

A Peaceful Game

Walter Frere was an American chess amateur. He was quite a strong player and had an amazing result in a simultaneous exhibition game against Lasker - a draw! Funnily enough, he played Lasker in a simultaneous exhibition game in 1894, when he drew, and two other times in 1926, where he drew one game and won another.

Lasker started off pretty well but then allowed the snowball in the center to wipe away his powerful pieces. He then risked being worse and actually did end up being worse, but he came up with some good defensive moves and was able to escape with a draw after he had gotten an advantage in the ensuing endgame. What a topsy-turvy game!

Test

Find a brilliant defense!

How did Lasker create a beautiful combination?

Memory test!

So complicated...Convert!

Secure the draw.

Something smells fishy on the kingisde...

Lasker, the great psychological swindler!

Bishop pair!

Conclusion

In conclusion, Lasker very rarely strayed away from his positional school of chess. He played very "correct" openings and only ventured into the dangerous waters of the Romantic school of chess when he played against weaker opponents or in simultaneous exhibitions. Unfortunately, Lasker was also the victim of Shipley's brilliant defense in the Steinitz Gambit, so perhaps he was right in sticking with correct openings!