Emanuel Lasker

Emanuel Lasker was a German mathematician, philosopher, and chess player. He became the second officially recognized World Chess Champion in 1894 and held the title for 27 years, the longest reign of any champion, winning six world championship matches. At his peak, he was considered one of the most dominant players ever. His contemporaries often described his style as "psychological," claiming he would sometimes play deliberately weak moves to confuse opponents. Modern analysis, however, suggests he was simply ahead of his time, employing a more flexible approach that baffled many rivals. He was well-versed in contemporary opening theory but disagreed with much of it. Lasker published chess magazines and five books on the game, though later players and commentators struggled to extract clear lessons from his methods.

Beyond chess, Lasker made contributions to other games. He was a top-level contract bridge player and wrote about bridge, Go, and his own invention, Lasca. His books on games posed a problem still considered notable in the mathematical analysis of card games. As a research mathematician, he is known for work in commutative algebra, particularly proving the primary decomposition of ideals in polynomial rings. He also wrote philosophical works and co-authored a play, though both received little attention at the time.

Lasker was born on December 24, 1868, in Berlinchen, Neumark (now Barlinek, Poland), the son of a Jewish cantor. At age eleven, he moved to Berlin to study mathematics, living with his older brother Berthold, who taught him chess. Berthold was among the world’s top ten players in the early 1890s. To earn money, Emanuel played chess and cards for small stakes, often at the Café Kaiserhof. He won the café’s annual winter tournament in 1888–89 and the Hauptturnier A at the sixth DSB Congress in Breslau, earning the master title. That tournament involved two groups of ten, with the top four from each advancing to a final. Lasker won his group by 2½ points, but scores were reset. Trailing amateur von Feierfeil by 1½ points with two rounds left, Lasker won both his games while von Feierfeil lost one and drew the other, forcing a playoff that Lasker won. This master title launched his professional career.

He placed second at an international tournament in Amsterdam, ahead of Mason and Gunsberg. In spring 1892, he won two London tournaments, the second without a loss. At New York City in 1893, he won all thirteen games, one of the few perfect scores in a major tournament. His match record was equally strong: a drawn playoff against his brother in 1890 and wins in all other matches from 1889 to 1893 against top opponents like Curt von Bardeleben, Jacques Mieses, Henry Edward Bird, Berthold Englisch, Joseph Henry Blackburne, Jackson Showalter, and Celso Golmayo Zúpide. In 1892, he founded *The London Chess Fortnightly*, published from August 1892 to July 1893, with a ten-week gap in 1893 due to printer issues. Soon after its last issue, he left for the United States. He challenged Siegbert Tarrasch, who had won three major tournaments in a row, but Tarrasch refused, saying Lasker should first win a major international event.

Rebuffed, Lasker challenged reigning champion Wilhelm Steinitz. He initially wanted a $5,000-a-side stake, but after difficulties raising money, the match was set at $2,000 a side. Played in 1894 in New York, Philadelphia, and Montreal, Steinitz predicted an easy win, but Lasker won the first game. Steinitz won the second, and the match stayed even through six games. Lasker then won games seven through eleven, prompting Steinitz to request a week’s rest. After the break, Steinitz looked stronger and won the 13th and 14th games, but Lasker took the 15th and 16th. Lasker won the match with ten wins, five losses, and four draws, becoming the second world champion on May 26. He confirmed the title by beating Steinitz even more decisively in their 1896–97 rematch, with ten wins, two losses, and five draws.