Emanuel Lasker (1868–1941): playing style, games and openings

2nd World Champion, 1894–1921. A pragmatic fighter who played the opponent as much as the board, famous for resourceful defense and choosing uncomfortable positions for the other side.

1868–1941 · Known for: Pragmatic fighting chess · 894 games in the collection

Explore Emanuel Lasker's games in the analyzerCompare with your own games

Playing style: Universal

No single trait dominates: attacks, defends and grinds endgames as the position asks.

These scores come from the 894 games used for the style profile (classical-length games), measured the same way the analyzer measures your own games.

Results

Emanuel Lasker scored 488 wins, 225 draws and 181 losses (67% score) in 894 games.

• With White: 288 wins, 126 draws and 110 losses (67% score) in 524 games.
• With Black: 200 wins, 99 draws and 71 losses (67% score) in 370 games.

Favourite openings

As White

• Ruy Lopez: 147 games, 68% score
• French Defense: 65 games, 65% score
• King's Gambit: 57 games, 55% score
• Queen's Gambit Declined: 47 games, 77% score
• Sicilian Defense: 36 games, 67% score
• Queen's Pawn Game: 15 games, 80% score

As Black

• Ruy Lopez: 82 games, 67% score
• Queen's Gambit Declined: 75 games, 57% score
• Italian Game: 28 games, 73% score
• Sicilian Defense: 26 games, 81% score
• Four Knights Game: 20 games, 65% score
• Queen's Pawn Game: 18 games, 67% score

Practise related lines: Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Ruy Lopez: Closed, Scotch Game, Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox, Sicilian Najdorf: English Attack, Caro-Kann: Classical, French Defence: Advance, Scandinavian Defence, King's Indian: Classical, Queen's Gambit Declined: Tartakower.

A famous game

• The double bishop sacrifice (Lasker, Emanuel vs Bauer, Johann, 1-0, 1889) — replay it move by move and see Stockfish's verdict.

Other legends

• Paul Morphy
  Rapid development & open lines
• Wilhelm Steinitz
  Positional theory & tenacious defense
• José Raúl Capablanca
  Simplicity & endgame technique
• Alexander Alekhine
  Combinational attacks
• Mikhail Botvinnik
  Scientific preparation
• Mikhail Tal
  Sacrificial attacks
• Tigran Petrosian
  Prophylaxis
• Bobby Fischer
  Clarity & precision
• Anatoly Karpov
  Positional squeeze
• Garry Kasparov
  Dynamic initiative
• Magnus Carlsen
  Universal endgame grinding