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"NINTH ROUND (played on May 3rd).

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"[About 12... d4!:] Thereby Black resolves the play in the center in a way that is very advantageous to him and obtains the markedly better game; he has long had the better development.

"[After 17... Qxd4:] Disregarding castling on both sides, Black has now made five developing moves opposed to White's two-and-one-half. Likewise, his position is thoroughly superior. From the weakness on the c-file there will soon be strenght, for the c-pawn advances.

"[About 15.Nb3:] Nf3 or Qe2 also came into consideration. Black's advantage can still not be eliminated thereby. Lasker's move looks best; he forces the exchange of Queens and brings his Queen's rook immediately into effective action. In exchange, of course, he obtains a doubled pawn, which will take its toll in the endgame.

"[After 23... Bxd8:] Now in the endgame, White is at a disadvantadge because of his doubled pawn and his opponent's pawn superiority on the Queen's side. Black's King can also attack sooner than White's.

"[After 28.Kg4:] White is obliged to give up the pawn, for otherwise Black's King goes to c6 - after previously securing the h-pawn, which up to now could not be captured on account of the shutting off of the bishop through g6 - and then the pawn on b2 can finally be taken. White wins the h-pawn for the g-pawn and this h-pawn can now be safely captured, since the bishop will be freed by f5 after g6.

"[After 33.Kg5:] If Black captures the b-pawn, White compensates himself with the g-pawn after Kg6 and then the passed f-pawn is dangerous. On that account, Black prefers to undertake this hunt.

"[About/after 37.Kf7:] The King may not go to h6, for otherwise Black captures the one bishop with check, then the other, and detains the King on the edge with Kf6. "Here Black could win the pawn on b3 and with it alsothe game with Be6+ followed by the exchange of bishops. He would then have had to sacrifice his bishop against the advancing h-pawn, and then would have had a rather easy game with three pawns supported by the King against the bishop, to which White's King cannot act as a second. The player of the black pieces, however, believed that he could force the victory still more directly with the exchange of all the pieces, but in his previous calculation overlooked a subtle, problem-like reply.

"[About 38... Kxf5:] Even now, victory could probably have been obtained with Bh8 or Bf6.

"[After 39... a5:] In this position, the game appears to be lost for White. How can the King, way across the board, still hold up the a-pawn, which threatens to go for a Queen after 40... c4 41.bxc4 bxc4 and c3? Black had already calculated the following play before the exchange of pieces: 40.h4 Kg4 41.Kf6 c4 42.bxc4 bxc4 43.Ke5 c3 44.bxc3 a4 45.Kd4 a3, and his own pawn on c3 prevents the King, situated in the 'square' of the passed pawn, from approaching it.

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Wow. This is one of those positions where you wish you were playing correspondence chess and could move the pieces around to your heart's content for as long as you liked before choosing a move.

It does seem to me that white's first move isn't all that hard to find. I would certainly play

41 Kg6

The threat of 42 h5 means that black has no time for pawn pushes, he needs to capture the white h-pawn before it starts running.

41...Kxh4 42 Kf5

It's either this or 42 b4, no other move makes any sense. But giving away one of your last pawns doesn't look good either, so we will play the king move.

So, what's black to do? Pushing pawns with 42...c4 43 bxc4 bxc4 44 Ke4 c3 45 bxc3 a4 46 Kd3 a3 47 Kc2 looks like it will allow white to have real chances. After

42...Kg3 43 Ke4 Kf2 44 Kd5 Ke3

white cannot approach the black pawns without losing his own pawns. This looks like it should end in a draw.

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[-1.58] d=20 34.f5 Bh3 35.Bg8+

I don't see why the game move is better, is there some way for black to snatch victory from the jaws of a draw after 41 h5?>

See the analysis provided at move 39. The moves <h5 Kxh5> don't really make any substantial difference in to this.

41. Kf6? c4
42. bc bxc4
43. Ke5 c3
44. bxc3 a4

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The black a pawn will queen because white's path to the queening square his blocked by his own pawn on c3. In this line, black wins by just one move.

41. Kg6! draws because black has to play 41...Kxh4 (otherwise the white h pawn will romp up the board). That gives white's king a turbo boost to f5. That one extra move is enough to sweep up the pawns for a draw.