The 1907 World Chess Championship was a chess match contested between reigning world champion Emanuel Lasker of Germany, and challenger Frank J. Marshall of the United States, for the world chess championship. It took place in six American cities from January 26 to April 6. Lasker defended his title in dominant fashion, holding Marshall winless throughout the series, while winning eight games and drawing seven.
This was the first world championship since 1897, partly because Lasker had taken a break from chess to pursue his PhD in Mathematics.[1] He made his return to chess in the London 1899 chess tournament, and after that, several players would try to challenge Lasker to the world championship, including Dawid Janowski, Géza Maróczy, Carl Schlechter and Siegbert Tarrasch. Each bid fell apart at some stage, however, with the latter eventually playing for the world championship in 1908. Frank Marshall had come ahead of Lasker in the 1904 Cambridge Springs International Chess Congress,[2] and the discussion of the terms of a world championship match began in 1906, with the players agreeing to reduce the number of game wins for a match victory from ten to eight, a precedent that would continue in the next world championship.
As was widely predicted, the match was a walkover for Lasker, and it was believed that Marshall wasn't his most worthy challenger. This match was seen as a side show to the next years championship between Lasker and Tarrasch.[1] Marshall himself summed up the match in his autobiography in one sentence, saying, "Tedious play aimed at wearing down my opponent is averse to my nature.".[3]
Because Lasker had requested the significant sum of $5000, (over $170,000 today) Marshall turned to chess associations in various cities to sponsor the game,[4] which is what led to it being held in so many cities. On March 2, Lasker and Marshall met with then-president of the United States Theodore Roosevelt, and had their Washington game in the Northern Liberty Market.
Despite three World Championship matches in the previous 30 years having been held at least partially in the United States, this would be the last championship on American soil until 1990.
Results
The first player to win eight games would be World Champion.
Lasker won the first three games, then scored one win and seven draws in games 4–11 before winning the last four games. Lasker retained his title.
Game 1: Marshall-Lasker, 0-1
Marshall-Lasker, game 1
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Position after 35.. a6. White is now in zugzwang, as no pawn can move without being captured, the knight cannot move without abandoning the e4 pawn, and if the king tries to prevent the infiltration of the black king with Ke1, Kc3 will happen anyway as the same problem applies, except with any king move abandoning the knight and any knight move abandoning b3.
In this game, Marshall played the obscure 5.O-O!? and played into a balanced middlegame, trading queens and one pair of rooks. Lasker began to get the better of the endgame, and put white in zugzwang with 35.. a6. Marshall found it impossible to save the endgame, and was unable to prevent promotion after 50.. b2.
In this game, Marshall had better winning chances, but managed to lose his attacking chances after a significant piece trade, and entered a losing knight and pawn endgame, which Lasker converted.
Final position of the game. Either king move out of check would lead to Rg5#.
Though Marshall went up the exchange at a point in this game (31. Qxc8+), Lasker seemed to be getting the better of a largely drawn position. The game seemed likely to draw until Marshall blundered checkmate in 6 with 42. Rf1??
Position after 39. Kg2??. A blunder if white finds 39.. gxf4, as now white taking blacks bishop would lead to the creation of two connected passed pawns. (40. Kxh2 fxg3+ 41. Kg2 Kf4). Also 40. gxh4 loses for white, as it leads to 40.. Bg3, and though white can recoup the lost piece by advancing the a-pawn and forcing the bishop to sacrifice itself to prevent its advance, black's pawns are still too numerous. 40. g4+ would also lose, as it encourages the king to the centre to escort the c-pawn to promotion. Black missed the opportunity, however, playing 39.. Bxg3? leading to an uncapitalisable pawn advantage and a draw.
Marshall made a blunder that was surprisingly missed by Lasker with 39.Kg2??. 39.. gxf4 would capitalise on this, as 40. Kxh2 leads to 40.. fxg3 and the creation of two connected passed pawns. 40. gxh4 also fails here to 40.. Bg3.
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Emanuel Lasker 
Frank J. Marshall 
