queen side castling

@BigDogg

Fabulous game ! Thanks Dogg.

@BigDogg
Wow, what a game!
Thanks for sharing this.

@greenpawn34 said

Hi Big Dog,

It was later discovered that here;

[fen]rn3r2/pbppq1p1/1p2pN2/6k1/3P2N1/3B4/PPP2PPP/R3K2R w KQ - 0 14[/fen]
If white plays 14.f4+ instead of 14.h4+ White can checkmate faster ending not with 0-0-0 but 0-0!
[pgn]
[FEN "rn3r2/pbppq1p1/1p2pN2/6k1/3P2N1/3B4/PPP2PPP/R3K2R w KQ - 0 14"]
14. f4+ Kxf4 {14... Kh4 15. g3+ Kh3 16. Bf1+ Bg2 17. Nf2 Mate ...[text shortened]... 3 {15... Kg5 16. h4 Mate } 16. O-O {Checkmate. White has to 0-0 so the WK covers g2.}[/pgn]

That's how you know you've 'owned' your opponent: when his King is so trapped behind enemy lines that you can checkmate him with either castling move. 😂

Just realized my note on move 10 is ambiguous: "BxN" can be Bxe5 or Bxe4. I meant Bxe5.

I'm surprised more people have not seen this game. Didn't anyone own Chessmaster 2100 back in the day? It had many of these stored.

@bigdogg said
That's how you know you've 'owned' your opponent: when his King is so trapped behind enemy lines that you can checkmate him with either castling move. 😂

There is something very aesthetically satisfying about marching the opponent's K all the way to the 8th rank and mating him there. Lasker was an artist.

@bigdogg said
I'm surprised more people have not seen this game. Didn't anyone own Chessmaster 2100 back in the day? It had many of these stored.

It is a famous game, I first knew of it in the 60's seeing it a book of miniatures.
Great game and famous enough to enough to have it's own page on
Edward Winter's site where the moves have appeared in many publications
and in many different move orders. Winter calls the page 'Chaos in a Miniature.'
Edward Lasker who was white has published at least two different move orders.

It is well worth a read. https://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/laskerthomas.html

It starts off with Kibbey - Dorman, USA 1942 where 14.f4+ was played.

@greenpawn34

Another lovely variation. Thanks GP.