Ghengis Pawn II: A few excerpts from Laskers "Chess Secrets I learned from the Masters""This game was played at the University Club in New York. We were roped off in the centre of a room of vast proportions, in which a large number of members and guests followed the contest with intense interest. To my suprise Marshall opened with the King's Pawn and steered into the Vienna Game..."
"...But I saw a tempting sacrifice, with which I could hold White's King in the centre of the board for some time, witha chance of getting a dangerous attack before White could mobilize his Queen wing.
11....Nf5!?
I was perfectly aware of the fact that the sacrifice might not stand up under analysis. But I also realized that Marshall would have to defend himself most carefully for a long while, something I knew to be most distasteful to him. And in a game played under a time limit the defender is frequently unable to calculate some of the variations involved far enough ahead.
I could see from the expression on Marshall's face that the sacrifice came to him as a suprise, probably because the simple reply Qg5 seems to refute the combination with ease. I remember there was tremendous excitement among the onlookers, most of whom probably saw only that Marshall could not take the Knight because of the disovered check p x p would win his Queen. The referee finally established silence, and the game proceeded as follows..."
"...Marshall pondered his reply for a long time, when an extraordinary occurrence broke the silence again. One of the onlookers, overcame by the excitement, collapsed with a heart attack and had to be carried from the room. I felt much perturbed, but I was assured that a doctor was taking care of the case, and I returned to the board."
"...Now only seven moves are required to queen my Bishop's Pawn. Meanwhile White's Rook's Pawn gets only as far as the sixth rank. Marshall resigned after another four moves.
I was much gratified by the prolonged applause with which the members of the University Club rewarded this victory. It was a nice contrastto the prejudiced manner in which the chess reporter of the New York Times had reviewed the game. Marshall was distinctly his favorite, and instead of giving me credit for a courageous sacrifice I had brought he called it merely a "showy" move and suggested that I had been "playing to the gallery."
Kibitzing
sac: 15...d5