World Chess Championship 1910 (Lasker-Schlechter)

Emanuel Lasker faced Carl Schlechter in the 1910 World Chess Championship. It was played from January 7 to February 10, 1910 in Vienna and Berlin, Lasker successfully defending his title.

Results

Best of 10 games. The match was drawn, so Lasker retained the world title.

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2 point margin?

Lasker drew the match by winning the final game. It may be that Schlechter needed to win by a two point margin in order to win the title, and so had no choice but to play for a win in the final game, in which he missed first a win, then a clear draw, before losing the game.

Historians are divided over whether the two point margin was required. For instance Israel Horowitz writes that a two point margin was required, ["From Morphy to Fischer", Israel Horowitz, Batford 1973, p.64] and researcher Graeme Cree writes,

"There are still some who doubt whether this two-point clause existed, and as far as I know, positive proof does not exist. But the evidence of Schlechter's play in that final game, plus the difficulty of imagining a cagey bird like Lasker risking his title in such a short match without some extra protection seems pretty telling. Not to mention the fact that negotiations for a Lasker-Capablanca match broke down the very next year over that very same 2-point tie clause." [ [http://members.aol.com/graemecree/chesschamps/world/world1910.htm 1910 World Chess Championship] , by Graeme Cree]

In contrast, journalist Larry Evans writes,

"The truth is Schlechter probably never saw a clear draw! He missed 35...Rd8! with good winning chances. Later he said he intended 38...Qh4 39 Kg2 Qg4 40 Rg3 Qxc8 overlooking 41 Qg6! Flustered, he then missed a draw -- and the title -- by 39...Qh4! 40 Kd2 Qh2 41 Ke3 Rxf3 42 Kxf3 Qh3 43 Ke2 Qxc8 44 Qxb5, etc. The last hope to hold was 46...Qa2." [ [http://www.worldchessnetwork.com/English/chessNews/evans/021028.php Column by Larry Evans] at worldchessnetwork.com, accessed in October 2006 - inaccessible in July 2007]

References