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Lasker’s Manual of Chess by Emanuel Lasker, Foreword by Mark

Dvoretsky, 2008 Russell Enterprises, Figurine Algebraic Notation,
Softcover, 277pp., $29.95

In two earlier reviews – of Capablanca’s Chess

Fundamentals and Lasker’s Common Sense in
Chess – I set forth the criteria by which I think
a new edition of a chess classic should be
judged. In this “21st Century” edition of
Lasker’s Manual of Chess, I’ve had an
opportunity, to some extent, to practice what I Common Sense
preach. I was involved in the final stage of in Chess
editing the manuscript. Truth in advertising and by Emanuel Lasker
all that.

So I might as well admit up front that this will

be a very personal review. To call it “biased” would imply there’s another
side to the story. When it comes to Lasker’s Manual, there isn’t. In any
list of the five greatest chess books ever written (put that in all caps if you
like), or in the late-night shmooze session, with what five books would
you want to be marooned on a desert island, Lasker’s Manual makes
Play through and download
every list. Or should.
the games from
ChessCafe.com in the
Before I make the case for Lasker’s Manual, though, let me make the case
DGT Game Viewer.
for this edition. Taylor Kingston, no stranger to the web-pages of
St. Petersburg 1909
ChessCafe.com, has been meticulous in his editing. While Lasker’s prose
The Complete can sometimes seem too polished – an English learnt formally and later in by Emanuel Lasker
DGT Product Line life – it has a power and a rhythm that, once appreciated, becomes quite
compelling. Taylor wisely refrained from updating Lasker’s words or
style. The edits made were, in the opinion of this Ph.D. in English (now
that’s pretentious!), necessary. Through our email exchanges, it became
clear that Taylor respected the text as much as I did.

Even the decision to place most of the analytical notes, and always to
distinguish between the original and the later (computer-aided)
improvements, bespeaks an appreciation, almost reverence for the
original. In a way, as noted in Taylor Kingston’s introduction the
analytical improvements demonstrate Lasker’s greatness.

This edition has, of course, Lasker’s rather impressive tournament and

match records. It has dropped the Appreciations in the original (Dover) Why Lasker Matters
by Andrew Soltis
edition, which were a collection of praises from other masters. In its
place, there are sprinkled tidbits of “Lasker Lore” and pictures of Lasker
and his contemporaries. Some of the pictures and tidbits will be quite
familiar to even the average chess players. Others will delight as only a
new tidbit of history or rare photograph can.

Anyone who knows the publications of Russell Enterprises knows the

production values are first class. I guess there’s no better description, and
no higher compliment, than to say that the books Hanon Russell publishes
meet the same high standards, of quality, aesthetics and practical value, as
ChessCafe.com does, week in and week out.
I could probably stop here and just say, even if you have the original, you
need to buy this edition. In fact, if you have the original it ought to be so
well used, you actually need a new copy for your library.

But I’ve waited too long to be involved in a project like this. You see, my
copy of Lasker’s Manual is well-worn. It’s one of the few books in which
I’ve underlined passages. I first came across Lasker’s Manual in my late
teens, when I was becoming quite active and growing the fastest (not just
in chess, of course). It became a manual not just for chess, but for life. I
won’t embarrass myself – or spoil your fun and education – by listing
some of the passages I underlined. Suffice it to say that Lasker’s
philosophy of education, of struggle, of the search for truth have had a
powerful influence on my own thinking.

It was an honor and privilege to be involved in bringing Lasker’s Manual

to a new generation, in a new edition, and I want to publicly thank Hanon
and Taylor for including me – and for putting up with some of my
professorial punctiliousness.

This edition of Lasker’s Manual updates it for a modern reader, as Taylor

notes in his introduction: it uses figurine algebraic instead of descriptive.
Awkward or archaic usage has been modified. Taylor says he has edited
Lasker’s English “sparingly,” and I can testify to that. The text in this
edition is Lasker’s; what changes have been made were, as I mentioned
earlier, editorially necessary – no more than things like correcting
grammatical or spelling errors – as likely to be the first editor’s as
Lasker’s.

I have to admit I admire how Taylor handled the difficult question of

what to do with outdated analysis. As he acknowledges, when introducing
the Analytical Notes, Fritz makes it easy to find the holes in even
grandmaster analysis. What’s amazing is how few holes there were in
Lasker’s.

In most cases, the decision seems both logical and respectful: shorter
corrections note in the text, but set them off in brackets and italics.
Longer corrections put in the footnotes, leaving the original text as is but
directing the reader to do what Lasker would have wanted – test, check,
and repeat.

There were a few instances – I don’t think more than half-a-dozen, if that
many, where Lasker’s analysis was so flawed – as Fritz revealed – that
the final assessment was just off. In that case, the revised analysis was
substituted for the original, and the original was reproduced in the
footnotes. Thus, even when a major correction was necessary, the reader
still gets Lasker’s words, Lasker’s analysis, and Lasker’s thoughts.

In this regard, I was particularly impressed how Taylor handled the

difficult question of Berthold Lasker’s analysis of a line in the French.
Emanuel, out of the deepest love for his brother, included it wholesale.
While interesting, the analysis is deeply flawed. The decision to leave the
analysis in the text, and then give an extended correction in the notes,
showed a sensitivity that to me spoke volumes.

I have to disagree somewhat with Taylor’s assessment of the non-chess

aspects of the Manual. While Lasker’s philosophical works are difficult
going (I’ve read some of them), the concept of the struggle, as he
articulates it in the Manual, has profound implications – and relevance –
for our world. When we remember Lasker’s biography – his life outside
chess – his reworking of Steinitz’s chess theory into an observation about
the human condition, our real world struggles, strikes me as quite
profound.

I also think Lasker’s explanation of the double king-pawn openings a first-

rate course in history and practical chess. The chess teachers tell us to
play open games and gambits when we’re starting because we’ll learn
about the center, initiative, time vs. material, attack, etc. Playing over
Lasker’s discussions of the Giuoco Piano, the King’s Gambit, etc. gives
you half the course material. (I think he got tired when he got to the
queen’s pawn openings.)

One thing I noticed while going through the book meticulously myself,
was the appropriateness of so many of the examples, whether they were
combinations or examples of positional play. I was struck how the
examples seemed just right, paradigms from which one learned not just a
position, or even a pattern to recognize, but the underlying logic of chess
itself. (As I played over some of the combinations, or even example of
positional play, I remembered Lasker’s insistence, in the first book, that
the player needed to know the geometry of the chess board.)

Lasker’s Manual is so rich, so powerful, so useful, that as it cannot be

praised too much, any praise seems insufficient. So I’ll just give a quick
run-down of the contents:

First Book (Rather than use “Part” or “Section” Lasker uses the term
“Book” for the major divisions in the Manual): The Elements of Chess.

Sometimes I felt that one had to already know how to play chess to
appreciate Lasker’s explanation how the pieces moved, principles such as
the opposition, etc. Perhaps the sections title provides the clue: while
Lasker does explain how to play chess and provides some basic principles
(“First Proposition: the Plus of a Rook Suffices to Win the Game”), what
he’s really doing is explaining the elements: much as a chemist might
explain the properties of hydrogen or oxygen, and then the combination
of the elements, so Lasker explains the elements of chess.

Second Book: The Theory of the Openings.

I’ve already discussed this. On the double-king pawn openings, until the
Ruy Lopez – study and learn, then play and you will really understand
what’s going on. With the Ruy – a good introductory survey. With the
rest – Lasker gives you enough of an opening’s general idea to get you
into a playable game, but nowadays, you’ll need more. And he doesn’t
touch the Indian openings, or barely does so.

Third Book: The Combination

Wow! Sure, do all the “puzzles of the day” that appear on ChessCafe.
com. Get those tactic books or CDs – and use them.

But if you want to “get” combinations – study this section. Again. And
again. (Mark Dvoretsky in his foreword notes how profound – yeah, I’ve
used it before, but when talking about Lasker you can’t get away from
that word – Lasker’s conception of combinations remains.)

Fourth Book: Position Play

You want to know the history of chess? You want to know what it means
to plan or assess a position? You want to know why you have to know
Steinitz to understand chess, or why chess theory today builds on Steinitz
the way physics built on Newton, then Einstein – it’s here. Other books
may explain the “principle of attack,” but in a way they’re just reworking
what Lasker did here.

Fifth Book: The Aesthetic Effect in Chess

Wherein we come to appreciate and, yes, understand the art, the

achievement, the value of chess. Chess becomes real, because the task,
finding the necessary, is a real task, with a real danger. For art articulates
the otherwise mute and frustrated feeling.
But enjoy this section and learn why there is art in the chess struggle.

Sixth Book: Examples and Models

Great games, and a miniature tournament book for Baden-Baden 1925,

because so many of the examples come from there.

Of the many things I learned, or relearned, on being involved in editing

Lasker’s Manual was just how respectful a player – a person – he was.
One can read between the lines his feelings about Pillsbury and
Rubinstein – he admired them – and Capablanca – he respected him.
Lasker talks of other players, but there is never rancor in his tone. He
does not belittle those he disagrees with, but just tries to assess their
theories.

Well, this has been a rather long review and yet, not long enough, for
there is so much more in Lasker’s Manual, so much that needs to be
mentioned, pointed out, praised, recommended.

But why should I delay you a moment longer? Let us be grateful to

Taylor Kingston, Hanon Russell and everyone involved at Russell
Enterprises for giving us a 21st century edition of Lasker’s Manual.

Oh, wait. I must add a caution, a caveat: You should order two copies,
because the first one will become well-worn in no time. Better, buy three,
and give one to a friend.

Order Lasker’s Manual of Chess

by Emanuel Lasker

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