The Nottingham 1936 tournament was one of the strongest of all time and at the time it was played it was the most important event the chess world had seen.
It was one of the very few tournaments in chess history to include five past, present, or future world champions (Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Euwe and Botvinnik) plus a number of other leading players (Fine, Reshevsky and Flohr). Also playing were leading veterans Vidmar, Bogoljubow and Tartakower.
According to the Chessmetrics estimated ratings the top eight players in the world were playing: Euwe, Botvinnik, Alekhine, Flohr, Capablanca, Reshevsky, Fine, Bogoljubow.
The event is also notable for being Lasker's last major event and for Botvinnik achieving the first Soviet success outside the Soviet Union.
At the same time the 1936 British Women's Championship was held. It was won by Edith Holloway (1868-1956) at the age of sixty-eight. She had also won the Championship in 1919.
Final Standings:
1-2) Botvinnik and Capablanca (10.0)
3-5) Euwe, Fine and Reshevsky (9.5)
6) Alekhine (9.0)
7-8) Flohr and Lasker (8.5)
9) Vidmar (6)
10-11) Bogoljubow and Tartakower (5.5)
12) Tylor (4.5)
13) Alexander (3.5)
14) Thomas (3.0)
15) Winter (2.5)
It should be noted that although the British players took the last four places, their presence made a huge difference in the final standings.
Winter drew with Botvinnik in the last round, preventing Botvinnik from taking sole 1st place. Winter also drew with Reshevsky, preventing Reshevsky from tying for first.
Tylor and Thomas both drew with Alekhine, preventing the former world champion from tying for first. Thomas also drew with Fine, preventing Fine from tying for first place.
Finally, Tylor and Alexander both beat Flohr, preventing him from taking first place.
The four British players all drew with each other and all lost their games against Capablanca, Euwe, Lasker, and Bogoljubow.
One of Lasker’s first books was Der Kampf (The Struggle) in which he tried to discover general laws for overcoming the difficulties of life. Lasker’s most famous book though was his Manuel of Chess in which he expounded theories of others, but added nothing of his own.
Lasker’s view was that chess was nothing more than a struggle and the goal was to defeat your opponent no matter what theoretical rules had to be broken...you do it by any means permitted by the rules. Reti called him a philosopher who happened to play chess.
His approach often meant that his play was governed by considerations apart from the way it was played by most master, i.e. always finding the absolute best line of play.
In the New York 1924 tournament Lasker finished first, but in at least half his games at some point or other he was strategically lost, but only actually lost one of them. His tactical play and superb endgame skill saved the day.
It was also claimed that psychologically he knew his opponents and what kinds of risks he could take against them. That was part of his philosophy...the game is a fight and making use of an opponent’s strengths and weaknesses was part of it.
Writing in his book Kings of Chess (Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Euwe and Botvinnik), William Winter wrote of Lasker:
His attitude to chess is well exemplified by a game which I played against him in the Nottingham International Tournament of 1936. After over half an hour's thought I placed a Knight on a square on which it could be taken by a Pawn. Lasker replied instantaneously with a quiet defensive move and I soon found that all I had gained by my brilliancy was the loss of valuable thinking time. After the game was over a spectator asked him what would have happened had he taken the Knight. "I do not know," he replied. "I was playing a strong master and if a strong master thinks for half an hour and then plays a pieced where I can take it, I think that it will not be healthy for me to take, and I let it alone."
Let’s take a gander at the game.
[Event "Nottingham"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1936.8.27"]
[Round "14"]
[White "William Winter"]
[Black "Emanuel Lasker"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]
%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
{Colle System} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. e3 e6 {At the time this game was played
Euwe prefered 3...Bf5 which was introduced by Alekhine in his game against
Colle at San Remo, 1930. Today equally popular are 3...e6 and 4...c5 or 3...c5
and 4...e6. My personal preference is 3...g6 which quashes white's dreams of a
routine K-side attack with spectacular sacrifices.} 4. Nbd2 c5 5. c3 Nc6 6.
Bd3 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. e4 Qc7 10. Qe2 {Here Gilg-Alekhine,
Kecskmet, 1927 continued 10...Bd6 11 Re1 Ng4 (in order to control e5) with
about even chances. Alekhine called 10...Re8 risky and added that Lasker
probably hoped to obtain more than equality. Alekhine is correct...black's
next move is risky and 10...Bd6 has become the standard move in this
position.} 10... Re8 11. e5 Nd7 { Alekhine called Winter's next move
superficial because it allows black a successful counterattack in the center
and said he should have played 12.Nb3 Bb6 13.Bf4 and if 13...f6 then 14.Re1
thus keeping control over the important e5 square. It would be difficult for
Black in that case to find a suitable line of development. Indeed, Stockfish
prefers 12.Nb3 also.} 12. Re1 f6 { Winter's next move is the one that he
thought over for half an hour. It's a bad move that leads to lines very
favorable to black. Alekhine recommended 13. b4 Bb6 14.exf6 Nxf6 15,b5
followed eventually by c4 and white could have complicated the situation in a
way not too unpromising for himself. No argument from Stockfish!} 13. Ng5
{Alekhine stated that white probably hoped for 13...fxg5 14.Qh5 g6 15.Bxg6
with a draw...apparently Alekhine assumed black had to play 15...hxg6 which
would lead to a draw. Alekhine overlooked that after 15...Rf7 black is
winning. Actually, the best line after 13...fxg5 is 14.Bxh7+! Kxh7 15.Qh5+ Kg8
16.Qxe8+ Nf8 with a position that in the long run is liekly to be to black's
advantage.} 13... Qxe5 {Best...and played immediately by Lasker!} 14. Bxh7+
Kf8 15. Qxe5 {Alekhine correctly wrote that after this the B at h7 is in
danger beyond a hope of salvation. Necessary was 15. Ngf3 though after
15...Qxe2 or 15...Qh5 black would still keep an appreciable positional
advantage.} 15... Ndxe5 {According to Alekhine, white must be glad now to be
able to save a piece at the price of a P. Here is the line Alekhine was
probably referring to: 16.Ngf3 g6 (trapping the B) 17.Nxe5 Nxe5, but he
apparently overlooked 18.Rxe5! fxe5 19. Bxg6. Stockfish give black about a
one P edge here, but in a Shootout was unable to win by a convincing margin,
white scoring +1 -2 =2. Let's call the position unclear with chances for both
sides.} 16. b4 {This loses at once, or should have. After the better 16.Ngf3
Nxf3+ black could safely play ...Kf7 and after the B retreats to c2 then ...e5
with a comfortable advantage. Speaking of black's next move Alekhine
wrote-After Bb6 17 b5 Black would have to reckon with a possibility of Ba3+
from White. Everybody missed the fact that after 16...fxg5! 17.bxc5 g6
(trapping the B) 18.c4! Re7 19.Bb2 Nd3 (Leaving the P on g6 undefended and
releasing the B, but forking the R on e1 and th eB on b2. White can't save
everything so black is winning.)} 16... Bd6 17. Ngf3 {Well, white's dream of
an attack were short lived. The game's essentially over here.} 17... g6 18.
Nh4 Kg7 19. f4 Kxh7 20. fxe5 Nxe5 {Black has now not only a material surplus,
but also a far superior position: a strong center and a pair of Bs. Alekhine
added that it is therefore rather surprising that the technical realization of
these advantages takes so long from this point. White tries to defend his game
with great determination; but he is fighting a lost cause. Stockfish puts
black's advantage at a winning 3+ Ps. Komodo 10 is a bit more modest, putting
it at 2. 5 Ps.} 21. Nhf3 Bd7 22. Nxe5 Bxe5 23. Bb2 Rac8 24. Re3 Bf4 {This
leads to a simple exchange; but after all this is what black needs in the
circumstances. (Alekhine and Stockfish)} 25. Rd3 Bb5 26. Rh3+ Kg7 27. a4 Bc4
28. Nxc4 Rxc4 29. Rd1 Be5 30. a5 Rec8 31. Re1 R8c6 32. Kf1 g5 33. Kg1 g4 34.
Rh4 Rc8 {In order to force a further exchange.} 35. g3 Rh8 36. Rxh8 Kxh8 37.
Kg2 Kg7 38. Kf2 Kf7 39. Ke3 Ke7 40. Re2 Re4+ {Forcing the exchange of the last
pair of Rs; an effective, but rather monotonous technical process. (Alekhine)
Also acceptable was 40...Bxc3 with a R+P ending. Practically speaking the B
ending is safer to play because R+P endings can sometimes contain surprises!}
41. Kd3 Rxe2 42. Kxe2 Kd6 43. Kd3 Kc6 44. Bc1 Kb5 45. Be3 a6 46. Bh6 f5 47.
Bg5 Bg7 { Winter resigned.} 0-1
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