The Lasker Trap is a chess opening trap in the Albin Countergambit . It is named after Emanuel Lasker , although it was first noted by Serafino Dubois . It is unusual in that it features an underpromotion as early as the seventh move.
26-985: 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 d4 4. e3 ? 4... Bb4+ 5. Bd2 dxe3 ! (see diagram) 6. Bxb4 ?? 6... exf2+ 7. Ke2 fxg1=N+! (diagram) 8. Ke1 Qh4+ 9. Kd2 9... Nc6 In an 1899 consultation game in Moscow that involved Blumenfeld, Boyarkow, and Falk playing as White against Lasker, the players played the Lasker Trap line up through Black's fifth move. White responded to 5...dxe3 with 6.Qa4+?, but Black wins after this move also. The game continued 6...Nc6 7.Bxb4 Qh4 8.Ne2 Qxf2+ 9.Kd1 Bg4 10.Nc3 0-0-0+ 11.Bd6 cxd6 12.e6 fxe6 13.Kc1 Nf6 14.b4 d5 15.b5 Ne5 16.cxd5 Nxd5 17.Qc2 Nb4 18.Nd1+ Nxc2 19.Nxf2 Rd2 0–1 (White resigned ). Bibliography Chess annotation symbols#? When annotating chess games, commentators frequently use widely recognized annotation symbols. Question marks and exclamation points that denote
52-454: A checkmate . A "??"-worthy move may result in an immediately lost position, turn a won position into a draw, lose an important piece or otherwise severely worsen the player's position. Though more common among weaker players, blunders occur at all levels of play. A single question mark "?" indicates that the annotator thinks that the move is a mistake and should not have been played. Mistakes often lead to loss of tempo , material, or otherwise
78-1129: A World Chess Champion was named Book of the Year by the Chess Journalists of America and the English Chess Federation . Other honors for his books include the 1994 British Chess Federation award for Frank Marshall , United States Champion and the Cramer Award in 2006 for Soviet Chess 1917–1991 and in 2006 for Why Lasker Matters . He is credited with the Soltis Variation of the Sicilian Dragon Yugoslav Attack , characterized by 12...h5, after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.Bc4 Bd7 10.0-0-0 Rc8 11.Bb3 Ne5 12.h4 h5. Previous experience showed that Black ran good chances of getting mated if he allowed 13.h5. He also gave names to chess openings such as
104-676: A competitive player when he was rated the 74th best player in the world, in January 1971. He has written a weekly chess column for the New York Post since 1972. His monthly column "Chess to Enjoy" in Chess Life , the official publication of the United States Chess Federation , began in 1979 and is the longest-running column in that magazine. He was named "Chess Journalist of the Year" in 1988 and 2002 by
130-399: A cunning trap in a lost position. Typical moves receiving a "!?" are those involving speculative sacrifices or dangerous attacks that might turn out to be unsound. Andrew Soltis jokingly called "!?" the symbol of the lazy annotator who finds a move interesting but cannot be bothered to work out whether it is good or bad. An exclamation point "!" indicates a good move, especially one that
156-492: A far stronger move. A question mark followed by an exclamation mark "?!" usually indicates that the annotator believes the move to be dubious or questionable but to possibly have merits or be difficult to refute. The "?!" may also indicate that the annotator believes the move is weak or deserves criticism but not bad enough to warrant a "?". On certain Internet chess servers , such as Chess.com and Lichess , this kind of move
182-540: A how-to-play book in the public library in Astoria, Queens where he grew up. He took no further interest in the game until he was 14, when he joined an Astoria chess club, then the Marshall Chess Club and competed in his first tournament, the 1961 New York City Junior Championship. In 1970, Soltis played second board on the gold-medal winning US team in the 17th World Student Team Championship and tied for
208-536: A move as bad or good are ubiquitous in chess literature. Some publications intended for an international audience, such as the Chess Informant , have a wide range of additional symbols that transcend language barriers. The common symbols for evaluating the merits of a move are "??", "?", "?!", "!?", "!", and "!!". The chosen symbol is appended to the text describing the move (e.g. Re7? or Kh1!?); see Algebraic chess notation . Use of these annotation symbols
234-404: A move that he considered inferior but that he did not wish to comment on further; Simon Webb used it to indicate a move that is objectively sound, but was in his opinion a poor psychological choice; and Robert Hübner (see below) used it to indicate a move that is inaccurate and makes the player's task more difficult. When put in parentheses, "(!)" usually indicates a subtlety which demonstrates
260-402: A worsening of the player's position. The nature of a mistake may be more strategic than tactical; in some cases, the move receiving a question mark may be one for which it is difficult to find a refutation. A move that overlooks a forthcoming brilliant combination from the opponent would rarely receive more than one question mark, for example. The symbol can also be used for a move that overlooks
286-412: Is marked as an "inaccuracy", denoting a weak move, appearing more regularly than with most annotators. A sacrifice leading to a dangerous attack that the opponent should be able to defend against if they play well may receive a "?!". Alternatively, this may denote a move that is objectively bad but sets up an attractive trap. Similar to "?!" (see above), an exclamation mark followed by a question mark "!?"
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#1732798556490312-399: Is one of the most controversial symbols. Different sources have slightly varying definitions, such as "interesting, but perhaps not the best move", "move deserving attention", "speculative move", "enterprising move" or "risky move". Usually it indicates that the move leads to exciting or wild play but that the objective evaluation of the move is unclear. It is also often used when a player sets
338-406: Is subjective, as different annotators use the same symbols differently or for a different reason. Move evaluation symbols, by decreasing severity or increasing effectiveness of the move: The double question mark "??" indicates a blunder , a critically bad mistake. Typical moves that receive double question marks are those that overlook a tactic that wins substantial material or overlook
364-606: Is surprising or requires particular skill. The symbol may also be interpreted as "best move". Annotators are usually somewhat conservative with the use of this symbol; it is not usually awarded to obvious moves that capture material or deliver checkmate. Reasons for awarding the symbol vary greatly between annotators; among them are strong opening novelties , good psychological opening choices, well-timed breakthroughs, sound sacrifices , moves that set traps in lost positions, moves that avoid such traps, moves that punish mistakes well, sequential moves during brilliancies, and being
390-570: The International Grandmaster title in 1980 (which is commonly referred to as "Grandmaster"). Soltis won the championship of the prestigious Marshall Chess Club a record nine times: in 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1974, 1977, 1979, 1986, and 1989. He also competed in four US (closed) Championships, in 1974, 1977, 1978 and 1983. Soltis tied for first prize in the 1977 and 1982 US Open Championships . Soltis has been inactive in tournaments since 2002. He reached his playing peak as
416-876: The Nimzo-Larsen Attack , the Baltic Defense and the Chameleon Sicilian. Several names for pawn structures and moves, such as the Marco Hop and the Boleslavsky Hole, were popularized by his book Pawn Structure Chess . He introduced the Russian chess term priyome to English literature in Studying Chess Made Easy . Soltis graduated from City College of New York in 1969. He has been married to Marcy Soltis,
442-967: The "!!" mark too. For example, in what is known as the Game of the Century , there are two moves by 13-year-old Bobby Fischer which annotators typically award a double exclamation point – 11...Na4!! and 17...Be6!!, knight and queen sacrifices respectively. The majority of chess writers and editors consider symbols more than two characters long unnecessary. However a few writers have used three or more exclamation points ("!!!") for an exceptionally brilliant move, three or more questions marks ("???") for an exceptionally bad blunder, or unusual combinations of exclamation points and question marks ("!?!", "?!?" etc) for particularly unusual, spectacular, controversial or unsound moves. For example, when annotating Rotlewi–Rubinstein 1907 , Hans Kmoch awarded Rubinstein's 22...Rxc3 three exclamation points. Annotators have also awarded
468-755: The Chess Journalists of America. Soltis was one of the few Americans in the 20th century who earned the International Grandmaster title but was not a professional chess player. He worked as a news reporter and editor for the New York Post from 1969 until he retired in 2014. He continued writing his weekly chess column for the Post after he retired. He is considered one of the most prolific chess writers, having authored or coauthored more than 100 books and opening monographs on chess. His books have been translated into Spanish, French, German, Italian and Polish. In 2014 his work Mikhail Botvinnik : The Life and Games of
494-511: The analysis in any case; an exclamation mark can only serve to indicate the personal excitement of the commentator. When the solution to a certain chess problem is given, there are also some conventions that have become a common practice: These symbols indicate the strategic balance of the game position: There are other symbols used by various chess engines and publications, such as Chess Informant and Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings , when annotating moves or describing positions. Many of
520-534: The best overall score, 8–1. He was also a member of the silver-medal winning US teams in the 14th and the 18th World Student Team Championships. Soltis won the annual international tournament at Reggio Emilia, Italy, in 1972 and was awarded the International Master title two years later. His first-place finishes in New York international tournaments in 1977 and 1980 resulted in his being awarded
546-471: The convention is not being used unless there is a specific note otherwise. The Nunn convention cannot be used to annotate full games because the exact evaluation of a position is generally impractical to compute. In 1959, Euwe and Hooper made the same use of the question mark, "... a decisive error ...". German grandmaster Robert Hübner prefers an even more specific and restrained use of move evaluation symbols: I have attached question marks to
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#1732798556490572-533: The final move of Levitsky–Marshall 1912 (the "Gold Coins Game"), 23...Qg3 the "!!!" symbol. An exceptionally bad blunder which has sometimes been awarded three or more question marks ("???") occurred in Deep Fritz–Kramnik 2006, when Kramnik played 34...Qe3, overlooking a mate in one with 35.Qh7#. Sometimes annotation symbols are put in parentheses, e.g. "(?)", "(!)". Different writers have used these in different ways. Ludek Pachman used "(?)" to indicate
598-466: The moves which change a winning position into a drawn game, or a drawn position into a losing one, according to my judgment; a move which changes a winning game into a losing one deserves two question marks ... I have distributed question marks in brackets to moves which are obviously inaccurate and significantly increase the difficulty of the player's task ... There are no exclamation marks, as they serve no useful purpose. The best move should be mentioned in
624-510: The only good move that maintains the player's position. The double exclamation point "!!" is used for particularly strong moves, usually difficult-to-find moves which require a high level of skill and calculation. Annotators are generally more conservative and withhold this rating more than they do the "!". Typical moves that receive a double exclamation mark include sound sacrifices of large amounts of material and counter-intuitive moves that prove very powerful. Endgame swindles sometimes receive
650-619: The player's skill rather than a spectacular move. Some writers take a less subjective or more formalized approach to these symbols. In his 1992 book Secrets of Rook Endings and other books in the series ( Secrets of Minor-Piece Endings and Secrets of Pawnless Endings ), John Nunn uses these symbols in a more specific way in the context of endgames where the optimal line of play can be determined with certainty: This convention has been used in some later works, such as Fundamental Chess Endings and Secrets of Pawn Endings by Karsten Müller and Frank Lamprecht , but it can be safely assumed
676-534: The symbols now have Unicode encodings, but quite a few still require a special chess font with appropriated characters. Andrew Soltis Andrew Eden Soltis (born May 28, 1947) is an American chess grandmaster , author and columnist. He was inducted into the United States Chess Hall of Fame in September 2011. Soltis learned how the chess pieces moved at age 10 when he came upon
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