All Chess Positions Open the map

London, 1912

The King Hunt

Edward Lasker – George Alan Thomas · 1-0

a8b7c6d5e4f3g2h1
Result
1-0
Moves
18
Opening
Queen's Pawn Game
The names end at
1... e6

Watch it on the mapFinal position on the map

The story

An offhand game played in London in 1912 by Edward Lasker, a young engineer from Germany, and Sir George Alan Thomas.

After Black’s 10...Qe7?, Lasker sacrifices his queen with 11. Qxh7+!! and drives Black’s king with checks from h7 through h6, g5, f4, f3 and g2 all the way to g1, where it is mated by the quiet 18. Kd2# (castling long would have mated too).

Thomas’s comment was: “This was very nice.”

The King Hunt: the map where the opening names end
The position where the game leaves the named openings, with every game of the next four moves around it.

The moves

1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 f5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.Bxf6 Bxf6 6.e4 fxe4 7.Nxe4 b6 8.Ne5 O-O 9.Bd3 Bb7 10.Qh5 Qe7 11.Qxh7+ Kxh7 12.Nxf6+ Kh6 13.Neg4+ Kg5 14.h4+ Kf4 15.g3+ Kf3 16.Be2+ Kg2 17.Rh2+ Kg1 18.Kd2# 1-0

Through the openings

  1. 1. d4Queen's Pawn Game
  2. 1... e6Horwitz Defense

Source of the moves: en.wikipedia.org

More famous games

The Opera GameMorphy, Paris 1858Playing from a box at the opera, Morphy mates his two opponents in 17 moves. The Immortal GameAnderssen, London 1851Anderssen gives up both rooks, a bishop and his queen, then mates with the minor pieces he has left. The Evergreen GameAnderssen, Berlin 1852Anderssen sacrifices his queen and mates with a bishop; more than 170 years on, the game is still fresh. The Game of the CenturyD. Byrne – Fischer, New York 1956Thirteen-year-old Bobby Fischer gives up his queen and wins. Kasparov's ImmortalKasparov – Topalov, Wijk aan Zee 1999A rook sacrifice on move 24 starts a hunt that chases Black's king across the whole board. Deep Blue Beats KasparovDeep Blue – Kasparov, New York 1997The last game of the first match a computer won against the world champion, over in 19 moves. The Game Spassky ApplaudedFischer – Spassky, Reykjavik 1972Fischer almost never opened 1.c4; here he did, and at the end even Spassky joined the applause. The Octopus KnightKarpov – Kasparov, Moscow 1985Kasparov's knight digs in on d3 and paralyses White; that match made him world champion. Botvinnik's Bishop SacrificeBotvinnik – Capablanca, AVRO 1938Botvinnik beats former world champion Capablanca with a bishop sacrifice on move 30.