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By American Master
Chess Life Editor 1984 - 1988
Author
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The Most Famous Resignations ever
(part 1)
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There is a
distinction between resigning a famous game and tendering a famous
resignation. All famous resignations occur in famous games, but not all
famous games have famous resignations.
Lasker-Capablanca
(St. Petersburg, 1914) is a case in point.
Emanuel Lasker was in a must-win situation, trailing Jose
Capablanca by one point, in the penultimate round of a famous
tournament. If he could
win, he would have a chance to maintain his position as the
acknowledged world master; if he could only draw, then his much
younger opponent would likely become the uncrowned world champion.
Here is the final position in which Capablanca tipped over his
King after Lasker played 42. Ne4-c5:
White threatens 43. Rd7+ Ke8 44.
Rxc8 mate as well as similar catastrophes after either 43. Ne6+ or 43.
Nb7+. Capa’s resignation is
humdrum. He might easily
have surrendered a few moves earlier, or he might have continued
playing by “momentum” for another couple of moves.
The point is that no one remembers this game because of the
resignation.
In chess history, Lasker-Capablanca is remembered as an example
of masterful psychological insight in which the first player essayed
the drawish Exchange Variation (1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5
a6 4. Bxc6) of the Ruy
Lopez against an opponent disinclined to play aggressively for
equality, which this particular line definitely requires.
Further, when Lasker sensed that his opponent was unprepared to
seize equality, he lashed out with 10. f4, which he understood to be
anti-positional if exploited aggressively by Black.
“This move,” Capablanca later wrote, “I considered weak
... and I still do. It
leaves White’s e4 pawn open to attack.”
Yet Capa did not attack the pawn, instead going into a huddle,
which the chess psychologist Lasker probably expected.
Another pivotal game in chess history that is remembered for a
particular feature rather than the fact of resignation is game 23 of
the 1892 world championship match between Wilhelm Steinitz and Mikhail
Tchigorin. Tchigorin, as
White, was up a clear piece and overlooked a mate in two.
Steinitz captured a pawn with a check and would have followed
with mate next move. Tchigorin then, ever so naturally, resigned.
The game is remembered because Tchigorin’s blunder cost him a
chance to contest a short supplementary tiebreak match in the event of
a drawn regular match.
What follows is a countdown of the most famous resignations
ever tendered in the 1,500-year history of chess.
(The article
continues in the next issue.) |
