ANovember 18 1911
The Boston Globe, Boston, Massachusetts, Saturday, November 18, 1911
Man Capablanca Has Challenged
Dr. Lasker for 27 Years Has Been Champion.
Young Cuban Chess Player Beat Him Once in “Rapid Transit” Tourney.
Dr. Emanuel Lasker, chess champion of the world for 27 years, is in Boston today as the guest of the Boston Chess Club at its rooms, 15 Exchange St., and the visit of the great master will be the object of much interest to the devotees of the ancient, scientific game, because of the fact that he has recently been challenged for the title by Capablanca, the 23-year-old Cuban master.
The bold challenge of Capablanca recalls to mind the sensation that Harry N. Pillsbury of Somerville, the gifted young player, caused in 1895, when at Hastings, Eng., he startled the chess world by taking first prize from the wonderful Lasker.
Tonight Dr. Lasker will play simultaneously against 25 boards, at which will be some of the strongest players in New England, including several members of the Harvard Chess Club, and as the title holder is an adept at rapid-fire chess, and his custom of electrifying spectators with brilliant coups and announced mates and his ability to escape from critical positions, his spectators tonight are bound to learn much from his game.
Dr. Lasker was born near Berlin, Germany., in 1868, and received his degree of Ph D at Erlangen University, and for time taught at Owen College, Manchester, Eng. In 1894, at the age of 26, he wrested the world's championship from the veteran Steinitz, who had held the title for nearly 28 years. He has since defended his title by a good margin against Steinitz in a return match, and has vanquished his challengers, Marshall, Tarrasch and Janowski. Last year, however, he had a narrow escape in a 10-game match with the cautious Austrian, Schlechter, who led almost until the final game, when the present champion succeeded in evening the match.
When the American, Pillsbury, defeated Lasker in the Hastings tournament in 1895 he was considered the only player with a very good chance to wrest the title from Lasker, but he never issued a challenge, although they had, in various tournaments, played 12 hard games, only to break even.
At Hastings in 1895 and at Cambridge Springs in 1904, the Americans, Pillsbury and Marshall, respectively ranked above Lasker in international tournaments, but on four other occasions Lasker has ranked first and once tied for first and second.
The young Cuban, Capablanca, who has challenged for the championship, is admired for his courage. He was a student in Columbia University a few years ago and played in intercollegiate matches against Harvard, Yale and Princeton, and also a cable match against Oxford and Cambridge. He then defeated Marshall, the American champion, by the decisive score of 7 wins, 1 loss and 14 draws, and to further prove his worth he won first prize in what was probably the strongest International tournament that has ever been held at San Sebastian, Spain, last February. Dr. Lasker was the only noticeable absentee in that tournament.
Lasker and Capablanca have never met in serious play, although the Cuban once defeated Dr. Lasker in a “rapid transit” tournament at the Manhattan Chess Club in New York.
A club in Buenos Aires, Argentina, has offered a prize of $7500 for the match between Dr. Lasker and Capablanca, in addition to defraying the expenses of the masters. Of the $7500 prize money, $5000 is to go to the winner and $2500 to the loser. The Havana Chess Club has also made a liberal offer for the championship match, but no definite agreement has been made between the title holder and the challenger.
