A Casual King Chase, Part 2

We left off at a dramatic point in the game Edward Lasker versus George Thomas. It was an offhand - casual - game, in a chess club, not a tournament. Many spectators are gathered around, watching the gripping battle. Some are sipping cups of coffee. Some are smoking cigars (which is bad for you, but very common in those days, especially in chess clubs). Nobody expects the move that Lasker now plays. When he plays it, normally quiet chess players start murmering and talking to each other in excitement.

See if you can find it though! If you can't, just click "solution" at the bottom of the board to see what he played:

 

 

Did you get it right? If you did, congratulations! The queen sacrifice draws the black king out of its home and into the line of fire of the bishop on d3. Of course, when he gave up an entire queen, Lasker had to be sure he would checkmate his opponent. Otherwise he would lose. So he had to see quite a ways ahead. Let's see what happened now:

Check out the final position - the black king has simply been kidnapped by the white pieces and taken back the enemy's fort! Certainly not a common occurence. I hope you have enjoyed this little king chase.