A Dominant World Chess Championship Match - Best of the 1900s - Marshall vs. Lasker, 1907

World Champion Emanuel Lasker fared pretty well against most of his challengers to the World Chess Championship title, but his victory over many-time United States champion, Frank Marshall, was truly a statement. He won eight games, conceding only seven draws, and losing nary a game.

Marshall was one of the strongest players of the time, and he even outscored Lasker himself in the famed Cambridge Springs 1904 tournament where he dazzled with 13/15. However, when it came to the match, Lasker clearly overmatched Marshall. Marshall's only comment in his autobiography was the following: "Tedious play aimed at wearing down my opponent is averse to my nature."

I'm a big fan of Marshall, but Lasker's play was by no means tedious. It was just consistently good chess, and Lasker (unlike Marshall) was willing to pursue wins in all manner of positions. Marshall proved only interested in pressing when attacking.

The following game is a model be Lasker, he takes risk to create threats, and when Marshall flinches and heads to an endgames, Lasker presses on all side of the board with computer-esque precision.

Top 10 Games of the 1900s

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• #3: Marshall vs. Lasker, 1907
• #4: Halprin vs. Pillsbury, 1900
• #5: Daly vs. Young, 1907
• #6: Toupalik vs. Ort, 1907
• #7: Marshall vs. Capablanca, 1909
• #8: Janowski vs. Tarrasch, 1905
• #9: Krejcik vs. Krobst, 1908
• #10: Chigorin vs. Mortimer, 1900
• See also: Top 10 of the 1910s, Top 10 of the 1920s, Top 10 of the 1930s, Top 10 of the 1940s, Top 10 of the 1950s, Top 10 of the 1960s, Top 10 of the 1970s, Top 10 of the 1980s, Top 10 of the 1990s, Top 10 of the 2000s, and Top 10 of the 2010s

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