Lasker vs Capablanca • St. Petersburg, Russia (1914) • Ruy Lopez: Exchange, Lasker Variation (C68)
Francisco Yepes Barrera
1 min read
Edoardo Bortoli - https://unsplash.com/photos/a-black-and-white-photo-of-a-chess-board-bvKxbBnV3Ps
In the grand halls of St. Petersburg during the legendary 1914 International Tournament—a two-stage epic from April 21 to May 22 featuring chess titans like Tarrasch, Alekhine, Rubinstein, and Marshall, with $5,000 prizes—reigning world champion Emanuel Lasker (Germany, 46), trailing challenger José Raúl Capablanca (Cuba, 25) by a point entering Round 7, unleashed a psychological tour de force in their decisive clash. Capablanca led the winners’ group after dominating preliminaries (8/10), but Lasker’s Exchange Ruy Lopez gambit flipped the script, propelling the veteran to tournament glory at 7/8 in finals.
Lasker navigated the Ruy Lopez Exchange, Lasker Variation, via 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.d4 exd4 6.Qxd4 Qxd4 7.Nxd4, trading queens early for structure play. Capablanca’s Ne7 O-O f4 Re8 met Nb3 f6 Bf4 Bxd6, as Lasker infiltrated with Ne6 Rad1 knights dominating. Black’s b5 Rae7 yielded weak pawns; Lasker’s f5 Kf2 a3 Ba8 siege peaked at 35.e5!! dxe5 Ne4 Nd5 N6c5, shattering defenses for rook domination and resignation after Ra8+ Bc8 Nc5 threats overwhelmed.
