04 March 2007

Réti + Reti vs. Lasker

Continuing with Lasker's Moves that Matter, in the game Réti - Em.Lasker (Reti Opening), New York 1924, I had the same problem as in Finding the Critical Move. I applied the same technique...

[Event "New York"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1924.??.??"]
[Round "16"]
[White "Reti, Richard"]
[Black "Lasker, Emanuel"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A12"]

1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 c6 {GK:!?} 3.b3 Bf5 {GK:!?} 4.g3 Nf6 5.Bg2 Nbd7 6.Bb2 e6 7.O-O Bd6 8.d3 O-O 9.Nbd2 e5 {GK:?!} 10.cxd5 cxd5 11.Rc1 {GK:?!} Qe7 12.Rc2 a5 {GK:! AS:!} 13.a4 h6 14.Qa1 Rfe8 15.Rfc1 Bh7 16.Nf1 Nc5 {GK:!?} 17.Rxc5 {GK:!? AS:!?} Bxc5 18.Nxe5 Rac8 19.Ne3 Qe6 20.h3 Bd6 {GK:? AS:?} 21.Rxc8 Rxc8 22.Nf3 {GK:? AS:?} Be7 23.Nd4 Qd7 24.Kh2 {GK:?!} h5 {GK:! AS:!} 25.Qh1 {AS:!} h4 {GK:! AS:!} 26.Nxd5 hxg3+ 27.fxg3 Nxd5 28.Bxd5 Bf6 {GK:! AS:!} 29.Bxb7 Rc5 {AS:!} 30.Ba6 {GK:? AS:!?} Bg6 31.Qb7 Qd8 32.b4 {AS:!} Rc7 33.Qb6 Rd7 {GK:! AS:!} 34.Qxd8+ Rxd8 35.e3 axb4 36.Kg2 Bxd4 {AS:!} 37.exd4 Bf5 38.Bb7 Be6 {GK:! AS:!} 39.Kf3 Bb3 40.Bc6 Rd6 41.Bb5 Rf6+ 42.Ke3 Re6+ {GK:! AS:!} 43.Kf4 Re2 44.Bc1 Rc2 45.Be3 Bd5 0-1

...and derived the following trail markers from Kasparov and Soltis. Lasker's 12...a5 and 24...h5 (both '!'; both moves by Rook Pawns), and Reti's 17.Rxc5 (!?) are all worth further study. The double blunder on 20...Bd6 and 22.Nf3 (both ?) was a missed opportunity. The move 30.Ba6 (GK:?, AS:!?) represents a significant difference in opinion. Lasker's 28...Bf6, 33...Rd7, 38...Be6, 42...Re6+ (all '!' by both commentators} could be discussed under the heading 'winning a won game'.

When I saw Kasparov's notes that 'Alekhine attached an exclamation mark to [9...e5]' and 'Alekhine attached an exclamation mark to [30.Ba6; Kasparov: '?']', I wanted to include Alekhine's notations from the tournament book. In fact, Alekhine didn't use these notational conventions in that book. They must have been inferred by Kasparov or by whatever source he was following. • Alekhine wrote, '9...e5: Now a Pawn formation similar to that in the game between Reti and Yates, is reached, which is the more favorable for Black since his QB has already been developed', and '30.Ba6: Threatening Qa8+, etc.'

To play through the complete game see...

Richard Reti vs Emanuel Lasker, New York 1924
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1102115

...on Chessgames.com.

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