The video examines two blindfold games in which Emanuel Lasker, world champion for 26 years, used the Turkish Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5!?). They come from a 1900 exhibition in which he played five boards at once without looking at the board.
First game: centre and sacrifice
Playing Black, Lasker chose 2...d5; when the opponent took on d5 he went on the attack with ...dxe4. While White played passively, Lasker took a development lead. The critical moment came when, instead of retreating the bishop, he strengthened his knight in the centre with ...Nf5 and was ready to sacrifice the bishop (2:14). The opponent tried to defend by castling long but the pressure continued; following his famous maxim “If you find a good move, look for a better one”, Lasker put his queen on an effective square. The game ended with a ...Ba4+ check and mate (5:16).
Second game
In the second example Lasker is again Black with the same opening. The themes are a queen exchange and dominant development. See the video for details.
This article is adapted from the video on the Satranç Okulu YouTube channel.
