The chess

Chess

Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...

 game between Emanuel Lasker

Emanuel Lasker

Emanuel Lasker was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years...

 and Johann Bauer played in Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

 in 1889 is one of the most famous on account of Lasker's sacrifice

Sacrifice (chess)

In chess, a sacrifice is a move giving up a piece in the hopes of gaining tactical or positional compensation in other forms. A sacrifice could also be a deliberate exchange of a chess piece of higher value for an opponent's piece of lower value....

 of both bishop

Bishop (chess)

A bishop is a piece in the board game of chess. Each player begins the game with two bishops. One starts between the king's knight and the king, the other between the queen's knight and the queen...

s to eliminate the pawn

Pawn (chess)

The pawn is the most numerous and weakest piece in the game of chess, historically representing infantry, or more particularly armed peasants or pikemen. Each player begins the game with eight pawns, one on each square of the rank immediately in front of the other pieces...

 cover around his opponent's king

King (chess)

In chess, the king is the most important piece. The object of the game is to trap the opponent's king so that its escape is not possible . If a player's king is threatened with capture, it is said to be in check, and the player must remove the threat of capture on the next move. If this cannot be...

, winning material and the game.

The same sacrificial pattern was echoed in a number of later games, notably Nimzowitsch

Aron Nimzowitsch

Aron Nimzowitsch was a Russian-born Danish unofficial chess grandmaster and a very influential chess writer...

–Tarrasch

Siegbert Tarrasch

Siegbert Tarrasch was one of the strongest chess players and most influential chess teachers of the late 19th century and early 20th century....

, St Petersburg 1914; Miles

Tony Miles

Anthony John Miles was an English chess Grandmaster.- Early achievements in chess :Miles was born in Edgbaston, a suburb of Birmingham...

–Browne, Lucerne 1982; and Polgar

Judit Polgár

Judit Polgár is a Hungarian chess grandmaster. She is by far the strongest female chess player in history. In 1991, Polgár achieved the title of Grandmaster at the age of 15 years and 4 months, the youngest person ever to do so at that time.Polgár was ranked No...

–Karpov

Anatoly Karpov

Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. He was the official world champion from 1975 to 1985 when he was defeated by Garry Kasparov. He played three matches against Kasparov for the title from 1986 to 1990, before becoming FIDE World Champion once...

, Seventh Essent 2003.

The game against Bauer was played at the beginning of Lasker's career in the first round of the 1889 Amsterdam tournament, Lasker's first high-level closed event. Lasker finished second with a 6/8 score, a point behind the winner Amos Burn

Amos Burn

Amos Burn was an English chess player, one of the world's leading players at the end of the 19th century, and a chess writer....

, and ahead of James Mason

James Mason (chess player)

James Mason was a famous chess player and writer. He was born in Kilkenny in Ireland. His original name is unknown: he was adopted as a child and only took the name James Mason when he and his family moved to the United States in 1861...

 and Isidor Gunsberg

Isidor Gunsberg

Isidor Arthur Gunsberg began his career as the player operating the remote-controlled chess automaton Mephisto, but later became a chess professional....

, among others. Bauer finished sixth of the nine participants with a score of 3½/8.

It is interesting that a similar sacrifice occurred earlier in Burn–Owen, 1884, but in this case the sacrifice by John Owen

John Owen (chess player)

John Owen was an English vicar and strong amateur chess player.In 1858 he won a game against Paul Morphy, which led to a match between the two...

 was not correct and he lost the game. Nevertheless it may have been an inspiration for Lasker.

The game

White: Lasker Black: Bauer Opening: Bird's Opening

Bird's Opening

Bird's Opening is a chess opening characterised by the move:Bird's is a standard but never popular flank opening. White's strategic ideas involve control of the e5-square without occupying it, but his first move is also non-developing and slightly weakens his kingside...

 (ECO A03)

1. f4 d5 2. e3 Nf6 3. b3 e6 4. Bb2 Be7 5. Bd3 b6 6. Nc3 Bb7 7. Nf3 Nbd7 8. 0-0 0-0 9. Ne2 c5 10. Ng3 Qc7 11. Ne5 Nxe5 12. Bxe5 Qc6 13.Qe2 a6?? 14. Nh5 Nxh5 (see diagram)

13...a6 is a fatal error. 13...g6 would give Black solid equality. Instead, this blunder hands Lasker his double-bishop sacrifice, which eventually wins material and the game by force.

15. Bxh7+ Kxh7 16. Qxh5+ Kg8 17. Bxg7 Kxg7

Refusing the second bishop does not save Black: 17...f5 loses to 18.Be5 Rf6 19.Rf3 with Rg3 to follow, and 17...f6 loses to 18.Bh6.

18. Qg4+ Kh7 19. Rf3

Black must give up his queen to avoid mate.

19... e5 20. Rh3+ Qh6 21. Rxh6+ Kxh6 22. Qd7

Were it not for this move, fork

Fork (chess)

In chess, a fork is a tactic that uses a single piece to attack multiple pieces at the same time. The attacker usually hopes to gain material by capturing one of the opponent's pieces. The defender often finds himself in a difficult position in which he cannot counter all threats. The attacking...

ing the two bishops, Black would have adequate compensation for his queen, but now Lasker has a decisive material advantage. Now Lasker converts this advantage into the win.

22... Bf6 23. Qxb7 Kg7 24. Rf1 Rab8 25. Qd7 Rfd8 26. Qg4+ Kf8 27. fxe5 Bg7 28. e6 Rb7 29. Qg6 f6 30. Rxf6+ Bxf6 31. Qxf6+ Ke8 32. Qh8+ Ke7 33. Qg7+ Kxe6 34. Qxb7 Rd6 35. Qxa6 d4 36. exd4 cxd4 37. h4 d3 38. Qxd3 Black resigns (under "Bauer").